Review: Stephen K Amos, Journal Tyne Theatre, Newcastle

By Simon Armstrong, Evening Chronicle

“I’VE got no axe to grind and there’s not going to be anything deep or political tonight. We’re just here to have a good time,” declares Stephen K Amos, and for the best part of 90 minutes he’s as good as his word.

Opening the show with a parody of Beyonce’s Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It) – complete with joking one-fingered salute to the audience when the chorus kicks in – the Londoner is quickly into his stride.

For his third solo tour, The Feelgood Factor, Amos eschews the subversive and edgy in favour of an undemanding, play-it-safe routine.

“I want to remember things from my life that made me laugh,” he tells us before reeling off stories about his upbringing with strict Nigerian parents and his encounter with Prince Harry – “You don’t sound like a black chap,” was apparently the tactless young Royal’s opening gambit when meeting the well-spoken funnyman.

If the material takes aim at soft targets and is by and large shock-free, the Mock The Week and Have I Got News For You regular does his very best to disguise it with a natural charm that immediately wins over the audience and keeps proceedings moving at a swift pace.

He gives a masterclass in working the crowd, jumping down from the stage to pick people out before skilfully incorporating them into his gags.

We cheer for Costa who’s come all the way from Cyprus after seeing a clip of Amos on the internet, and Simone, from Australia, who embarked on a round-the-world adventure 11 years ago but got no further than Tyneside.

A hilarious skit about racist Aussies is the closest he strays from the middle of the road before he plugs his new BBC2 show.

“Don’t worry. Lenny Henry isn’t dead, he’s just locked in the Premier Inn,” he says, with reference to one of his old jokes about a quota restricting the number of black people on TV.

“We’re going to laugh at things tonight which we’ll all think are hilarious, but when we tell our friends about it tomorrow it won’t make any sense,” he says gleefully.

And, like a brightly-iced cake, The Feelgood Factor serves up a sugar rush of laughs to temporarily banish the doom and gloom of modern life, but ultimately fails to provide a lasting high.