Stephen K Amos

I had never been too impressed by Stephen K Amos TV or radio stuff, but had enjoyed a live set he had done at Reading Festival, so when I saw he was on at the Soho Theatre I managed to persuade my mate James to come out on a Friday night and see him. A very wise choice.

Stephen's act was interesting in that it could only work in a venue as small as that - about a hundred people. It worked on his charm and rapport with the audience. I don't think I came away with a single joke in mind, but we both laughed away the entire hour. He is definitely worth catching if you can find him playing the right size of venue.

My trainee ironically enough asked if I had a thing for ethnic comedians because I had just booked to see him, Omid Djalili, Paul Chowdry and Reginald D Hunter. I say ironically because actually I am rather wary of ethnic comics as they often play the race card far too much, essentially assuming a middle-lass white audience will lap it up out of some shared guilt for slavery, even if the material isn't that funny. But Stephen's stuff, although a fair bit of it is about being black, is just funny, and friendly. He is just very likeable on stage.

After that, James and I polished off a very decent Chinese meal down the road, and then popped into a pub for another pint to round off a very jolly evening. The sort of evening where one is having such a good time you don't want it to stop. You know, the best kind of evening!