Stephen K Amos’ first Sydney show for his Welcome To My World Tour was a loose and casual affair from a man who sounds like he should be wearing a cravat.
You got the sense that this suave and trendy Englishman enjoyed being personal and revelled in the fact that everyone – at least for the most part – seemed to get on board and laugh at his observational and conversational comedy.
Amos is particularly good at doing funny accents. He started the show by speaking like an Aussie bogan and saying, “I love youse.” At other points in the gig he talked about his mother and father in a thick African drawl, before returning to the Queen’s English, which made stories like shopping at Target and worrying that he’d need a bodyguard in order to go to Chatswood quite funny.
At the outset, Amos introduced his show as being “all about the laughs”, and not for those expecting “deep and meaningful pathos”. For the most part he delivered with some funny observations about Sydney’s recent torrential rain and Tony Abbott (a man Amos describes as being able to out-gaffe good ol’ Prince Philip, who has turned putting your foot into your mouth into an art form).
Some tired airline jokes were also on the menu. This is territory that has been mined to death, but Amos at least won a laugh with his “stewards with attitude” material and a story about what it was like to have his bag lost.
Elsewhere, he was very interactive with the audience, playing a matchmaker to an Officeworks staff member named Stevie and a pharmacist and only child called Melissa. He drank beer with some Irish lads in the front row and chatted with a family. When he added some extra time at the end, you got the sense that this wasn’t a tightly scripted or polished show – but this didn’t matter and seemed to suit his casual delivery and overall demeanour. A very pleasant and enjoyable evening at the theatre, darling.
3.5/5 stars
Stephen K Amos was reviewedat the Enmore Theatre on Thursday April 23 as part of Sydney Comedy Festival 2015.
