STEPHEN K Amos doesn’t strike you as one of life’s awkward customers.

But that’s exactly what he is aiming to be in his new touring show, Welcome To My World.

Having had enough of being asked the same questions time and time again (such as ‘what does the K stand for?’), Amos is looking to get some new, big questions on the table.

“Even in this day and age, we still don’t like to talk about things like race and sexuality or how much money you earn, all those awkward dinner party conversation fillers,” expalined the comedian. “There’s a certain weirdness that can spark up in those areas and that gives me a springboard to be awkward within the show and ask the audience the awkward, challenging questions.”

World affairs is something that’s currently playing on Amos’s mind and he’s not going to shy away from getting a measure of his crowd’s opinion on prickly contemporary issues.

“Bearing in mind what’s going on with Russia at the moment, where they’re going into Ukraine and grabbing bits of a country that was once theirs, I wonder why the world is reacting the way it has? Is the reason we’re not properly taking Russia to task is that they’re a superpower and a big danger to us, so we’re just paying them lip service?”

Issues a little closer to home are also stretching Amos’ patience, and he’ll be posing more tough questions about the current political landscape in Britain.

All of which sounds rather serious and somewhat un-Amos like. But don’t worry, the London comic knows full well how to play to his strengths. “Ultimately, my main focus is that they’ve got to laugh. The people who come to my shows are, generally speaking, the converted, so there’s no point in me just telling them about race and politics and getting all this applause, that’s just pointless. So I’m giving them the jokes and getting it down to a very basic level. Think back to Martin Luther King and his great speech about having a dream: I’ve always thought how the world might be a different place if the night before that speech, he had eaten some cheese. So, it’s all about keeping it up and down, making a point but keeping the laughter flowing.”

Since he arrived on the comedy scene back in 2001, Amos has had no problem facilitating the sound of laughter in every room he’s appeared in. He’s had a string of acclaimed Edinburgh Fringe stand-up shows such as All Of Me and Find The Funny, acted on the West End alongside Christian Slater and Frances Barber in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, had his own entertainment shows on TV and radio, presented Batty Man, a BAFTA-nominated documentary for Channel 4 and even appeared as a doctor in two episodes of EastEnders.

But like many UK acts who have conquered their own country, eyes naturally turn to the US. “I’m going there for maybe three months to get a lot of stuff under my belt. One of the main things is to put yourself out there and get yourself known; my goal is to get onto the late night comedy shows because they have yet to see a black British comic on there. I don’t want to jinx myself or sound big-headed but I would absolutely kill it. There was a big resistance towards any British comics for a while, but they love Monty Python and the surrealness of Eddie Izzard. It’s definitely a market waiting to happen.”

So, given than he’s tried his hand successfully at stand-up, acting and presenting, is there anything left for him to try? How about fronting his own TV chat show? It’s not such a crazy idea given that he’s had a talk show at the Edinburgh Fringe. “I think we are due a black talk show host. We had such fun doing it in Edinburgh and I think I’m good with people, a very good listener and I can run with stuff that happens in the moment. And I’m not one of those cruel comics.” No, just a seemingly effortless, naturally funny one.

Stephen K Amos will perform at the Wyvern Theatre on Friday, January 30 at 8pm. Tickets cost £18.

To book call the Ticket Office on 01793 524481 or go swindontheatres.co.uk.