One of our favourite funny men, Stephen K Amos is midway through his UK tour of his latest show Now We’re Talking, and it was a delight to see the Underground in Northampton sold out to greet him. Would he have a support act? He addressed the issue in his opening moments when he candidly confessed, he normally would but decided he couldn’t afford one this week. Consequently, we had a good two hours or more of undiluted Mr Amos, and I for one am not complaining.
His message in his latest show is that, in these awful days where everything seems to be going what my father used to call arse-uppards, we need to talk but moreover we really need to listen. It is still possible to “find the funny” in the most unusual or indeed impossible situations – and Mr A is a master of that art. Everyone says you can’t say anything nowadays, which anyone with an ounce of understanding realises is not true; you can, but you just have to be more skilled at it. As Mr A says, if you think and if you listen, you can say what you like; just don’t imitate your Nigerian doctor – as he gamely demonstrated.
Stephen K Amos has always incorporated his brilliant fluidity with accents and attitude in his act, to tremendous comic effect. He wastes no time getting to know the people in the front rows – beware if you sit close to the stage when he’s on, as you will get involved! We met Andrew and Jo from posh Market Harborough, baker Megan and Police officer Georgie; others who remained nameless included a relentless scoffer of Maltesers and someone who chucked him a caveat which Mr A rightly interpreted as a masked heckle, and as a result he regretted his words for the rest of the evening. For all that he’s a hilarious comic, Mr A can get quite ruthless with the audience, so you’d better have your wits about you if you engage unwisely!
At the end of the act, his astute mind and rigorous memory let loose a terrific final routine where he creates a story populated with all the characters in the audience with whom he’s spoken, imitating their manner using their words back at them. It’s incredibly clever and shows just what a smart cookie he is. Mr Amos’ comedy is always intelligent and thoughtful; his observations are well-reasoned and hit the nail on the head. And despite all the problems with the world, you come away from the show feeling uplifted; his is a very optimistic act, and we definitely need more of that!
Hilarious comic observations? For sure. Wordplay? You got it. Instant comic reactions to anything the audience throws at him? Absolutely! The Now We’re Talking tour continues throughout the UK until 7th February; he’s then touring in Australia from March to May with a couple of dates in New Zealand at the end.