Adelaide Fringe

Fringe Review: Stephen K Amos – The Story So Far…

British comedy superstar and charming TV personality, Stephen K Amos, returns to Adelaide with a show that not only humorously covers recent events and topics, but also work from his last 10 years of successful comedic globe-trotting.

Stephen K Amos returns with hilarious vengeance
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Reviewed at the Arts Theatre on 5 March 2019

Presented by Mary Tobin Presents

British comedy superstar and charming TV personality, Stephen K Amos, returns to Adelaide with a show that not only humorously covers recent events and topics, but also work from his last 10 years of successful comedic globe-trotting.

For most performers beginning the show by f*****g up the name of your venue would be a terrible start to the performance – but not for Stephen K Amos. He walks out on stage with the confidence of the British royals, because really Amos doesn’t give a f**k as he’s a wealthy, successful comedian and he won’t let you forget it (it’s ok Stephen, we know your arrogance is a comedic façade, and we love it).

Mixing up both new and classic material, The Story So Far… dips its toe in many areas of Amos’s world – from blatant racism (Golliwogs, Trump and disappointingly Prince Harry) to being raised in a lower socio-economic family with six siblings (he’s right – no-one needs that many children) by old-school tough (though not call-child-services-tough) parents. Alongside experiences closer to his heart, Amos successfully reaches a large audience of varying ages thanks to a his wide array of world topics including Brexit, gun violence in America and Prince Phillip’s inability to die.

He also knows the city of Adelaide well, poking fun at Adelaidians and our fair city whenever he can (bogans at Superloop, incest, heatwaves that go on forever, the fact that nothing really ever changes…), but to the utter delight of the audience. Really, we wish he’d insult us more!

The comedian’s stage presence is undeniably commanding with Amos’s style of over-dramatic humour and witty sarcasm succeeding thanks to his theatrical flair and impressive energy levels. With arms in the air and a voice fluctuating from loud to louder, he fills the theatre with a spot-on impression of our more casual Australian accent as he recounts being yelled at by a hot and angry (bogan) South Australian for commenting on the heat.

Sadly, we may not see the popular comedian performing on our shores for a while as Amos has hinted at future plans that seem to steer away from touring his stand up routines. After previously mentioning his 12 consecutive years of non-stop touring, he appears to have set his sights on trying something different such as film (though possibly still within the vein of comedy). He has previously performed in London’s West End in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and created the BAFTA nominated TV documentary Batty Man which focused on homophobia in the British black community, so there’s definitely a positive outlook for his future endeavours (even if they mean we won’t see him in person for a while).

Make sure you grab a ticket to what could be the finale of Amos’s stand up career (at least for a little while) – it’s well worth a ticket at this year’s Adelaide Fringe for the insults about our beloved city alone!

Reviewed by Georgina Smerd
Twitter: @Georgie_xox

Venue: Arts Theatre, 53 Angas Street, Adelaide, 5000
Season: 2 – 16 March 2019
Duration: 60 mins
Tickets:  $29.25 – $45

 

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