Stephen K. Amos is the Coca-Cola of comedy. A well-known, reliable brand, guaranteed to bring some joy into your life and always delivering refreshing laughs when you’re sorely in need of some. With his show, Before the Laughter, seedoeatreview got to see the wonderful transformation from a structure of a stand-up show to the highly, polished, hilarious product that was delivered on Thursday night. You see, Amos brought Before the Laughter to the Adelaide Fringe last year. But it was a completely different show than what you’ll see in 2023. Back in 2022, he had the idea for a show and a notebook full of jokes and was trying them out on the audience, because he didn’t know what worked as England was still in full covid lockdown mode. His 2022 performance also had a lot of audience interaction. Amos got so much material from the crowd that he didn’t need to resort to his book of jokes for laughs, as he was firing on all cylinders all on his own on the night. In the 2023 version of Before the Laughter, although there were still many hilarious crowd interactions (including good-naturedly roasting seedoeatreview for coming to the show on his own), his performance had a more natural flow to it. Amos covers his early home life, the age of social media, covid times and the need to find our path in life. His parents are the focus of much of his material and, although he does go off on tangents, always manages to bring it back to family dynamics. Watching a show like this is witnessing a master comedian at work! Before the Laughter is one of those stand-up shows that you can guarantee will bring the laughs. In over twenty years of watching Stephen K. Amos in action, I’ve never witnessed a bad performance, and he always includes audience members in his cutting yet warm-hearted humour. Live comedy doesn’t get much better than this… just try not to yawn if you’re in the front row because Amos will get you! FIVE STARS *****