You can tell Lincoln has become established on the stand-up comedy circuit when a comedian like Stephen K Amos can play Lincoln Theatre Royal on a weekend and not sell out, writes Jez Ashberry.

The Lincoln Comedy Festival starts this week and maybe there’s just too much happening at the moment for ticket sales to be guaranteed. One thing’s for sure: Amos deserves to play to full houses, and hopefully when he returns to the city he will.

He’s a poised performer who’s at his best when interacting with others, so it was no surprise when early on in his act he called his hapless young technician down onto the stage for some merciless ribbing. Amos was up to all his usual tricks, teasing Daniel and others in the audience for their youth and innocence while finding middle-aged allies in the audience who remember the days when portable music meant a record player in a suitcase.

“There are people in the audience tonight who own underpants and socks older than you,” he chided; but Daniel got the biggest laugh of the night when Amos tried to explain asbestos to him and he replied: “Ours is in that cupboard over there.”

Others in the audience who were the butt of Amos’ jokes included my neighbours’ son, who unwisely wore a Superman T-shirt to the gig, and my wife, who professed to be American despite her Yorkshire accent.

With over two hours of material Amos and his support Joe Rowntree gave good value, ‘finding the funny’ in some unexpected places. Let’s hope next time he visits Lincoln he’ll draw the sort of audience his material deserves.