Stephen K Amos

Having built his profile on Radio 4 and TV panel shows, Stephen K Amos gets his own show. Considering that Amos is essentially from leftfield, this should be a good thing. Unfortunately, the edgier side of Amos's work seems largely absent here. Instead, we're offered a mix of standup and sketches that occasionally takes flight - notably when Frank the fashion-conscious security guard vets the audience - but too often seems safe and warm. Guest turns come from the laconic Tom Allen and Lucy Montgomery's Liza-Minnelli-gone-to-seed persona, cabaret singer Candy Karmel.

After his appearances on Have I Got News for You and Mock the Week, as well as at the Royal Variety Performance and Edinburgh Fringe, it was inevitable that someone at the BBC would give Stephen K Amos his own show. To go by this sparky debut, the idea has some merit. For a start, as a gay black comedian he is licensed to make jokes that are off-limits to others. Tonight's sketch involving a spoof Nigerian newsreader is a great example; when would any of the other supposedly "edgy" comics out there risk poking fun at the idea of African backwardness? Amos's other targets are more predictable. It won't surprise you to learn that Americans from the Deep South and Aussies come in for a ribbing. However the gags are delivered in a variety of formats. There are mock interviews, stunts involving members of the public caught on a hidden camera and sketches - such as Amos as a doctor with an innovative method of delivering bad news and another where he dresses up and impersonates his own mother. We also get a fair amount of audience participation. At its best, the show#s lively format and fun, irreverent tone bring back memories of Da Ali G Show. I only hope Amos gets some better supporting acts for subsequent episodes. Though Amos can be very funny at times, tonight's guests, who include comedian Tom Allen, can't match him.

The Stephen K Amos Show is coming!

The Stephen K Amos Show is due to start on BBC Two this Friday - how excited are we?! We caught up with him while he was filming in the studio in July, here's what he said....

Stephen K Amos interview

Stephen K Amos mixes stand-up comedy with sketches plus musical and comic guests in his new BBC2 series.

Watch: Radio 4 comedy in Edinburgh

Here's the quite lovely video that the Radio 4 comedy gang shot on The Royal Mile at the beginning of the Edinburgh Festival. You'll see Paul Merton, Mark Watson, Nicholas Parsons, Susan Calman, Stephen K Amos and others entertaining festival-goers on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

Stephen K Amos interview

Sitting on a hotel sofa next to Stephen K Amos is an interesting experience.

Comedy doesn't get much tougher than this! Yes, I pinched a line from Gregg MasterChef Wallace there, but it is apt. Nowhere makes or breaks comedians like the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Stephen K Amos trawls the bars and gutters to talk to the comics, the punters, and the promoters to find out why they come every summer to Auld Reekie. These are cut into the highlights from a two-hour live show of stand-up and music from the Royal Mile, including a twisted version of Just a Minute with Amos, Angelos from Shooting Stars, Chris Addison, and Scott Mills.

Stephen's in the building

"I'm so excited to have been given my own show at the BBC that I can't stop telling people."

My Hols: Stephen K Amos

The comedian loves New York, but had a bad experience with some fruit in Thailand. Even worse was to come in Japan...

The year's defining moments in culture, politics and television are cut up into a thousand pieces, then reassembled for our amusement, in a spoof of the traditional list show. Miranda Hart guides us through re-imagined versions of party leaders' conference speeches, George Bush issues a semi-musical apology for his time in office, and even Jeremy Paxman gets a light ribbing. Guests include Stephen K Amos, Duncan Bannatyne, and Adam Buxton with a uniquely suburban take on Ed Wardle's Alone in the Wild documentary adventure.