I attended a LOT of comedy on this Australian trip, more than I do at home. I think it's because the faces are familiar, much of the comedy tickles the same funny bones and the setting of a theatre is comfortable whether you're flying solo like I was on this trip or whether you're in a pair or group.
Colonialism has a lot to answer for!
I like Stephen K Amos from his show on BBC Radio 4 so I thought this one might be good. The venue was the Arts Theatre – a bit of a school assembly hall not far from my hotel and tickets were super reasonable at around 35 dollah! A cheap night out!
The theatre did fill up quickly – I like that all comedy venues allow people to take their drink to their seat. Keeps the juices flowing although on this night I was saving myself for one of my wine tours! I don't like to double up: night before and the the next day…
Mr Amos had no warm up act and no interval – straight on and had the crowd laughing in seconds. My friend in Adelaide told me SKA was very popular here although it was unclear to me what the vehicle was (TV or the festival or radio?)
The set ran quite far over the allotted hour – there were jokes about Adelaide, SKA's life and home in Wimbledon, his posh voice and addiction to cocaine.
Unexpectedly, he addressed the death of his mother and twin sister who both died in the last year. It was handled beautifully with a poignancy and regret elevated by soft humour.
As a nod to that, he personally organises a collection for the local hospice of each city in his tour. If you donated a note (5 dollars or more), you could have a selfie – so here we are in lovely Adelaide!
PS: SKA may have thought I was stalking him as he appeared in the same lounge I was in a few days later and was then in the seat ahead of me on the flight from Adelaide to Melbourne! Hold on, maybe he was stalking me!
