Big friendly funny giant

Stephen K Amos, the big, black dude who stormed last year's Fringe, won Time Out Best Stand Up 2004 and then scored a part in this year's most talked-about show (Cuckoo's Nest), has got a very natural sense of comedy.

And, once you get to know him a little, he's really very likeable - a big, friendly giant of a comedian, if you will.

So, if you actually let him, Amos will take the piss out of you until the cows come home and still manage to convince you to join him on stage.

Inevitably, this means some of his best gags emerge when the crowd is at its most placid and trusting.

A timid room, such as he has been playing in Edinburgh, offers Amos fewer opportunities really to shine and we know he has got five-star potential, if he can just coax enough good faith out of his fretful fans.

Sure, he ridicules the stereotypes neatly - be it the well-endowed black man or the proud Glaswegian - effortlessly breaking down some of those social barriers, but his scripted material is still rarely as biting as his repartee.

Last year, Amos re-emerged as a new contender for Fringe comedy's Holy Grail, the Perrier, and his chances look pretty good even if he doesn't pick up a gong tonight.

The rather awkward premise for this year's show (that Amos should learn a new skill every day and make his father really proud) ends up being quite superfluous once he has found his flow. And that's the mark of a fine comic.