Alex Brooker:Defined

The Way We Roll

TV presenter, Alex Brooker started his career as a sports journalist at the Liverpool Echo. In 2012 he became part of a brand new comedy show, The Last Leg on Channel 4, now in its 20th series.
He recently made a documentary for the BBC entitled ‘Disability & Me’ which we reviewed, Alex heard that show and now he’s our guest.

We cover disability and identity, what the phrase ‘disability doesn’t define me’ might actually mean. About his family; his mum’s influence, his father’s suggestion that he use his brain not brawn, and being the eldest of many brothers. Alex tells us he pushes himself to exceed those low expectations some people have about disability. He talks about comedy and disability, that he might do more stand up and how some jokes are a risk.

Alex believes the disability aspect of his life is a work in progress. He went from not really talking about it to being named the No.1 most powerful disabled person in the UK in 2019.

He discusses society’s attitude towards disability and the difficulty of being a representative face, whilst also being an individual. He talks naturally, openly and our conversation is peppered with humour and insightful reflection.

Links:

Alex Brooker Twitter

The Last Leg

Disability & Me documentary

The Way We Roll show when we reviewed Alex’s documentary ‘Disability & Me’

Wikipedia Alex Brooker

Chapters

1. Alex Brooker:Defined (00:00:00)

2. Work and the Last Leg (00:00:45)

3. Disability Identity (00:19:07)

4. Disability and Comedy (00:27:14)

5. What's next? (00:38:06)

6. Social Model (00:44:08)