Stephen K Amos: Why talking, laughing, and connecting is at the heart of his comedy

Comedian Stephen K Amos has toured the globe and spent decades perfecting a style of comedy that is warm, inclusive, and sharply observant. 

And in every tour, he has ensured a visit to Reading. It’s no surprise that his latest show, Now We’re Talking, is coming to South Street this weekend. And it’s also no surprise that the comic is so popular that he has to perform twice to meet demand. 

“I love Reading,” he says, immediately quipping: “I love going to Reading, it just means you don’t have to go to Slough.”

For any fellow Berkshire residents reading this, he really is pulling your leg. 

“Reading, over the years, has always been good to me. 

“I think the first gig I ever did was at the Reading Festival. Over the years, I’ve done so many venues in Reading, including South Street and The Hexagon. 

“And because Reading is not that far from London, where I live, in terms of audience sensibilities it is pretty much the same … the Londoners have just moved out a little bit.”

And he laughs again. Something he does a lot during our chat. 

For Stephen K Amos’ fans, this tour marks an opportunity to see one of Britain’s most respected comedians delivering material that is personal and universally resonant, sprinkled with some well-honed spontaneity. 

Creating comedy with a conversation: Why talking matters to Stephen K Amos

Now We’re Talking gives the comic a chance to open his overflowing joke book, talk about what gives him the ick, and what makes him tick. Stephen is promising there will be no limits and no filter to this show; instead, he will be taking the gloves off and packing a punchline while speaking easily and laughing freely. 

It is something a bit different to his previous shows, and it all stems from his desire to get audiences nattering. So, is it good to talk? 

“I think it’s absolutely imperative to talk, particularly in the modern day we live in,” Stephen explains. “There are lots of campaigns encouraging people to talk in terms of mental health, physical health, to the doctors, security and the police, but even in this era of social media there is still a lot of noise out there. 

“So while it’s good to talk, it is also very important to listen.”

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In live performances, the unexpected can happen. Hecklers he promises “will summarily be dealt with” while other moments will come naturally and from a sense of mutual respect with his audience, creating a space where spontaneity enhances rather than disrupts the performance.

Stephen has been praised in the past for his ad-libbing skills, is he just making things up as he goes along? He chuckles. 

“I generally like people. I have a great belief in the fact that people want to be decent in the main, so I’m not one of those comics who has a go at the audience for what they look like, what they wear, what jobs they have. My style is inclusive because I want people to come to my show feeling like they have had a good laugh, they have been entertained, and maybe took something away from it. 

“I can’t imagine myself going to any show and being singled out for anything – that is not what I paid money for.”

He continues: “I tell the audience at the top, that this is a conversation between old friends, just one where I get to talk for over an hour and you get to listen.

“While the structure of the show will always be there, I like to live in the moment. Every town, every city, every venue will always have something interesting about it. Before I get to a venue, I try and find a local paper and see what has been happening in the vicinity in the last seven days.”

That enables him to customise the show, and audiences can enjoy something unique to them every time: “Even though there is a script, it won’t feel like a script,” he promises. 

That’s all very well, but what about the ick? Those quirks, habits and minor irritations are a key theme in the description for Now We’re Talking, but Stephen lets us into a secret: “that’s actually a red herring”. 

He continues: “To qualify talking about my ick, I have I have to let the audience know a couple of things: that I am funny and the positions I’ve taken have been considered and been measured.

“So, I start the show with how good it is to laugh, to talk and communicate. Then I dissect the scientific theory of what laughter does to the brain. Then, I’ll share how I found my funny voice.”

Stephen isn’t meaning a peculiar accent, he means how he used comedy to say something … but don’t think he’s being a grumpy old man. 

“Throughout my journey, there were moments in my life where I couldn’t find the funny voice, I couldn’t talk and became the archetypal strong, silent type which, we all know, can be very damaging. However, age and wisdom and life gives you experience. 

“I’m in my 50s now, and enough is enough… I’m going to tell you the things that really annoy me and the things I really like, not for the shock value but for the reasons why.”

The ick is an interesting term commonly used when someone realises they don’t want to be with the person they are dating. Something they do, some habit or trait is enough to cause the breakup of the relationship. But Stephen says he discovered during the testing process for his show that not everyone knew the term, calling it a term very much used by the younger generation. 

This in itself has been woven into the show. 

“I had to try and find out the true definition of this thing, and the longer you live, you will find that life and the icks will give an amazing perspective of churning out the rubbish and the idiots in your life that you just don’t need,” he explains. 

“The icks, let me tell you, spread to everything.”

The icks in an age of post-truth

Stephen is promising a measured show despite the opportunity to let off some steam. If anything, the Now We’re Talking show will be a safe space to vent rather than … well, other places to air views. 

“I loved social media,” he says. “We are lucky to be living in this age, but it has presented some really awful sides to things and people.”

While Stephen welcomes the Online Safety Bill, he says there is also a case for introducing a similar bill so that anyone who wants a social media presence should have genuine documentation for verification purposes. 

“If that happens, a lot of the abuse and misinformation that we see online will be significantly reduced,” he says. 

“I think some of the problems began when the media started to rely on people’s opinions. Look at any newspaper online, and they have open comment sections. Why? What is the point of it? So we can hear bile from strangers? It’s just nonsensical. 

“Then you see some newspaper articles, even some news programmes, quoting random people’s tweets as part of the news story. It’s ridiculous.”

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He says there’s a lot of noise out there now because everyone is talking. 

“The phrase I home in on when researching this show is that we live in a post-truth world, and that is quite sad. It is difficult to find the truth because some people don’t want to know. That is how rumours and lies spread. 

“The advent of AI means people are using it as a tool to present something as factual. Wow! I mean, how lazy are we becoming?”

That’s quite serious for a man looking to make us laugh through upbeat and positive performances. But Now We’re Talking has, Stephen promises, a thought-through approach that will make the show different from others. While social media often amplifies negativity, Stephen’s comedy encourages observation, understanding, and critical thinking, all delivered with warmth.

“You know what, let’s get down to the nitty gritty, but still be funny because I am there to be a comedian and deliver a comedy show, but I am also a man for a certain age … I’ve done the jazz hands, the fluffy fluffy cotton candy stuff. I can also now be serious.”

That is reflected in the way he now structures his shows. 

“When I first started out, doing stand-up in clubs, you could not give the audience a chance to come in, so you couldn’t have any silences. It meant it had to be laugh, laugh, laugh,” he says. 

“Now, as I’m older, and the comedy landscape has changed, I’m not afraid of the silences. I’m not afraid of saying a difficult line in the show, which is not meant to be a laugh line. 

“It’s a show where you are literally the band leader, and the choir master, and taking the audience on a journey .. I think this is one of my most personal and honest shows to date.”

Touring and discipline: Life on the road

Such is Stephen’s success that he is in demand worldwide. In recent years, his tours have taken him across Europe, down to Australia and into the United States. As he has explained, shows are tailored to the audience by covering local news wherever he is. But does he have to adapt the content to suit wherever his globetrotting has taken him? 

“Essentially, human beings in the main have the same stories: family background, thoughts on X, Y, Z. That makes connections with people,” he says. “It is also quite interesting to hear a story from someone who is the complete opposite of you. 

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“My comedy isn’t specific in terms of geographic locations,” he says. “You just have to speak clear English. You can’t pad it out with stuff. You have just got to get the jokes out. Do that and people who have English as a second or third language can understand what you are saying. 

“The bottom line is, essentially, we are all the same.”

Touring is demanding, yet Stephen’s disciplined lifestyle allows him to perform at his best night after night. And to do so, he has given himself a makeover too, defying doctors’ advice. 

“I went for one of those full-body MoTs, and the doctor said I have very high and not very good cholesterol. He was going to prescribe stations and something else and something else for the rest of my life. 

“I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, Doc! Let me have a chance not to rely on medication but to re-evaluate my lifestyle. 

“In the last few months, I’ve lost, I think, a stone-and-a-half. I rarely drink, I walk a lot more than I have done, and I can’t remember the last time I had red meat. My lifestyle has changed, and it’s interesting. Three months later, my cholesterol level has changed significantly. 

“I’m proud of myself because this job is quite solitary. You are in an environment where there is a lot of drinking.”

He says he has never been one to indulge in the stereotypical showbiz lifestyle of sex, drugs, and rock n roll. “That’s never been my scene,” he says. 

Instead, his tours are him, his tour manager, and a support act. “We travel the length and breadth of the country, and I am with people whose company I really enjoy. 

“I’s my job to be matchfit for every single gig: I would not like an audience to turn up to my show tired or hungover, and I can’t do that to them either.”

What makes the perfect joke for Stephen K Amos?

Does that perfect joke come out of nowhere, or from sweat and graft? Stephen says it’s a bit of both. 

“If you come up with something that’s really funny and people can relate to, and it just works every time, that is great. The flip side if you’re in a room, in that moment and something happens…”

And that magic is what he hopes audiences at South Street will find this weekend, icks and all. 

When is Stephen K Amos coming to South Street Arts Centre, and how do I get tickets?

Stephen K Amos’s Now We’re Talking! Is presented by Bound & Gagged Comedy and will be at SOuth Street Arts Centre on Saturday, January 17. 

There are two shows: 5pm and 8pm. Both are sold out, but some returns may be available. 

For more details, call the Reading Arts box office on 0118 960 6060, or log on to: https://whatsonreading.com/venues/south-street/whats-on/stephen-k-amos-now-were-talking

For more on Stephen’s tour, log on to his website, https://www.stephenkamos.com/