MICF: Stephen K Amos

UK comic Stephen K Amos is a stalwart of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and always manages to pull a crowd. With stakes that high, it was a shame to see him a little off his A-game and treading familiar waters.

Welcome To My World showcases a range of Amos’s anecdotal and observational musings. His topics vary from childhood stories about sibling rivalry to the level of “professionalism” he encountered with Emirates airline. There’s plenty of cracks about Aussie slang and accents and some jibes about Tony Abbott too thrown in for good measure.

Yet despite his charm and magnetism as a performer, an obviously jet-lagged Amos fumbled through more than a few jokes and appeared to read many of his jokes from cue cards clutched in his hands. To his credit, he was able to turn his mistakes to jokes regardless of stuffing up the punchline.

Audience participation is key to his stand-up routine, and it’s here that he really shines. Taking cues from audience member’s professions and those who wander in late, he seamlessly weaves his crowd into his routine and this provides the biggest laughs of the night.