Review: Great Yorkshire Fringe, Stephen K Amos, Bread And Circuses, The Turn Pot, Parliament Street, York, July 20

STEPHEN K Amos gave a masterclass in stand-up comedy when he played the Great Yorkshire Fringe last Friday, a repeat visit after coming here in 2017. Amos, a 48-year-old black British man from a large Nigerian family, held the 300-strong (white) audience in the palm of his hand with routines about Trump, puberty and race. "Any Nigerians in the house?" he asked early on. Silence. "It’s a long shot, isn’t it?" he joked.

This was an easy gig for Amos. The laid-back Friday night Yorkshire audience responded with warmth to the provocative material, as Amos punctured racist attitudes with satirical bite. A man in the front row with an absurd laugh (imagine an overexcited, high-pitched duck) provided ammunition for Amos’s wide range of facial expressions (shades of Kenneth Williams), and these interruptions helped the set to take off with spontaneous, raucous energy.

When an immature argument broke about between two audience members about Leeds and York, Amos diffused the tension in a heartbeat. You got the feeling he could be a great mediator or politician in another life.

He is, though, a brilliant communicator. The way he mixed rehearsed material and improvised comedy was superb. His impressions of his father, a traditional Nigerian, were wonderful. A serious moment touched on grief and mortality; Amos has lost two family members in the past 18 months. "Laughter is the best medicine," he reflected. "This has been one of the most enjoyable gigs I have ever done." It was life-affirming stuff; the most I have laughed in ages. Let’s hope he keeps coming back.

Miles Salter