Fasitua Amosa is RUUFLESS!!

Fasitua Amosa (Ruufless!! The Basement, Auckland, April 24 then April 28-May 1. The Garden Club- Ivy Lounge, Wellington May 12 - 15) is a man with an agenda. 

“I’m not being racist but there are so many palagi and Maori comedians in this country that I felt like I needed to add my voice to the mix,” says Amosa.  

“Because my opinion is that Pacific Island stand-up’s been like the little brown fly stains on a big white wall - a little bit here and a little bit there. I just want to add some more brown. Then spread it around.” 

True, there are the likes of The Naked Samoans, Bro Town, Sione’s Wedding and the Kila Kokonut Krew. 

But when it comes to Island stand-up comedians, you’d struggle to count them on one hand. 

Amosa (28) has already had comedy success, selling out previous International Comedy Festivals, with Once Were Samoans and Supa Fresh (Kila Kokonut Krew) and starring in TV3’s Millen Baird Show. But this is his first solo show. 

“I started out last year doing a few gigs at small clubs in Auckland but decided to take things further when Scott Blanks from the Classic seemed to think I had some potential. I took it as a sign.” laughs Amosa. “I was raised a Christian, I’ll take anything as a sign”

Amosa brings with him a natural stage sensibility, developed over 10 years as a theatre, film and television actor. 

“I see this as an extension of my day job – if you can call it that,” he says. “But because it’s my own script, it’s just me and what I think. And that can make it pretty terrifying. It’s like suicide – but you get to live.” 

Amosa brings a unique New Zealand-born Samoan perspective to his material, saying “it’ll be fresh, without necessarily being FOB ... I promise you won’t have seen an Island comic like me before. There’s a reason the show is called Ruufless!!”