Walking into Stephen K Amos’ show in the Council Chambers you’ll notice a lectern on the stage. Little unexpected. The reason soon becomes clear though. Stephen’s first appearance on stage is striking, dressed in the garb of an African Prince and speaking in a ‘foreign’(made up) language addressing the audience as if he were addressing a room full of foreign diplomats (in stark contrast to having seen David O’Doherty enter this venue the previous night and look distinctly out of place, the venue with it’s big leather chairs and parliamentary feel was actually perfect for the premise of Stephen’s opening).
I haven’t laughed so intensely so far this festival as I did in the first ten minutes of this show. Everything about it, from Stephen getting creative as he made up this hilariously bizarre language he was speaking to the unexpected deadpan translations provided by a recording of a female voice to Stephen’s sheer energy made this sequence just fucking hilarious. Stephen even took some shots here at some pretty standard Australian icons which are usually easy targets, but blew away the shackles on those, with shots at both “Neighbours” and John Howard which will be making me giggle for some time to come.
Dropping into English but still with an African accent Stephen moved onto a question and answer session with audience, picking out people and referring to them as if they were foreign diplomats. Although not quite as highly charged as the initial ten minutes the tone became set for the rest of the show. Stephen soon changed out of his robes and reverted to his regular stand up persona. The show overall incorporated a lot of audience interaction (particularly with the first two rows, and although always in good humour, Stephen can be…well…blunt…you’ve been warned) and a lot of stories about his family, growing up and travelling. The show was loosely based on the idea of ‘not fitting in’, and although not always apparent during the course of the show Stephen tied the theme together fairly successfully at the end. But quite honestly, theme or no theme, doesn’t really matter, Stephen is just a high energy package of hilarity. From blurting out blunt home truths to the odd side glace or roll of the eyes, there is always something going on in this show and Stephen invariably delivers the laughs thick and fast.
Undoubtedly a season or two more in Melbourne will see Stephen K Amos moving to one of the big Comedy Festival venues. See him now, while you’ve got the chance to do so, up close and personal.
For booking details go to Stephen K Amos