Stephen K Amos - More of Me

A lot of people prefer not to like Stephen K Amos. Talking about that narrow range of issues that exist between being black and being gay, he really is the ultimate cliché. His egocentric comedy takes you on a long winded tour of the various incidents in his life when the subjects of being black and being gay have arisen. Unfortunately, there are enough to fill an hour long set.

But despite the limitations that arise from talking solely about being black and being gay, despite the fact that nearly 50 years after the first waves of Caribbean immigration to the UK, Amos is still asking posh kids if they've ever seen a black man before (hilarity ensues), despite having a repertoire of only two onstage facial expressions (camp shock and mental retardation), despite having appeared more times on Have I Got News for You than anyone can count but still never having said a word on air (although 'camp shock' has had a look in), in spite of everything, Fringe audiences still pile in to witness this crass brand of humour. More than that, they sit there contorted with laughter for the entire hour.

So it's difficult to review Stephen K Amos. Comparing him with other comedians, he's not as revolutionary, not as inventive and not as good at improvising. But for his market, for the occasional comedy goer who hasn't heard his worn out gags a million times before, he's a genius. For them he is a side-splitting behemoth of comedy whose observations about being black and being gay now, being black and being gay in the 70's and being black and being gay in various parts of the world constitute something worth not only their time but also their hard earned cash. For them, this is a performance of award winning standard. Apparently.