Review by Steve Bennett

If you already know Stephen K Amos’s work from his decade or so on the comedy circuit, the content of Find The Funny will hold few surprises for you. But for everyone else, this would serve as a good introduction to one of stand-up’s great charmers.

As a debut DVD, all his ‘greatest hits’ routines are there: adopting the comedy African accent, talking about Australia’s Coon brand of cheese, recollecting performing to a hen party, all but one of which were dressed as Red Indians, telling the youngsters in the audience that he’s got underwear older than him…

Some of the content feels a bit hackneyed, but Amos has funny bones and such a highly polished performance that he glides elegantly through any such criticism.

His exhortations to ‘find the funny’ and heal the world through laughter edges into the schmaltzy, but he certainly practises what he preaches, gently taking the piss, but always with a chummy affection, not malice. Even that racist Australian cheese is a source of benign amusement, rather than something that gets him flared up.

The attitude makes him a natural with audience banter, and he chats with typical warmth – and good-natured mockery – to the front few rows of Sydney’s Enmore Theatre.

It’s a light hour of feelgood entertainment, not some amazing, visceral stand-up that redefines the genre… so if that sort of easy-going comedy is your thing, Amos is your man.

Main feature: 58mins
Extras: Interview (11 mins) – answers to questions interspersed with audience reaction to the gig; Coon cheese, a six-minute outtake; The African Prince, 11 minutes of him doing some of the same jokes as his stand-up, but as as a character act
Released by: ITV DVD, November 23
Price: £19.99. Click here to buy from Amazon at £11.98

Published: 2 Dec 2009