Stephen K. Amos to headline Stendhal comedy bill

Headlined by Stephen K. Amos, the bill also includes a plethora of established and up and coming acts from Northern Ireland, including Paddy Raff and Vittorio Angelone.

Stephen K. Amos has charmed and entertained audiences all over the world with his natural, assured delivery and his honest, original material.

Having appeared regularly across stage, TV, radio and film he has become one of the most critically acclaimed stand ups of his generation with a myriad of awards from comedy festivals all over the world to his name, not to mention his BAFTA and Richard Prior Award nominations.

Topping the bill of homegrown acts is the inimitable Paddy Raff.

Belfast-born Paddy went from open-mic in 2018 to beginning a record breaking five-night sell-out arena run in 2020. His BBC1 NI comedy sketch TV series ‘The Paddy Raff Show’ also picked up two deserved awards.

Paddy has now established himself as one of the biggest comedians in Northern Ireland, amassing a huge following across social media which spread to the UK and beyond during the pandemic, with a string of viral hits that led to him being dubbed ‘the comedy star of the Coronavirus Lockdown’ by The Irish Times.

Also performing at Stendhal this year is the acerbic Irish-Italian comedian Vittorio Angelone.

An Edinburgh Fringe Festival award nominee, Vittorio grew up in Belfast. After moving to London to train as a classical musician he eventually made the switch to stand-up comedy.

He has risen through the ranks of the comedy world at an incredible speed, building a big following with stand-up clips, podcasts and sketches and amassing millions of views online.

He has supported huge names on tour including Russell Howard, Jason Manford, Adam Rowe, Shane Todd, and Dan Nightingale.

In 2022 he sold out his debut run at the Edinburgh Fringe and was nominated for Best Newcomer at the prestigious Dave Comedy Awards.

Joining them on the comedy bill are a brilliant mix of up-and-coming Northern Irish stand-ups, who have been curated especially for Stendhal by Yeo Magazine.

The Yeo Comedy club portion of the programme will be emceed by Brónagh NicAoidh and will feature the hilarious talents of Jazmynne Sierra, Alan Irwin, Ciaran Franco, Talal Jomar and Bronagh Diamond.

Stendhal Festival director Ross Parkhill told The News Letter: “We have a great history of bringing the cream of the crop in UK and Northern Irish stand-up to the festival and this year we are delighted that a Bonafede UK Comedy legend in Stephen K. Amos is headlining our comedy bill.

“We are also pleased to continue our tradition of showcasing some of the very best established and up and coming talent from Northern Ireland. Our comedy scene here is thriving at the moment and acts like Paddy Raff and Vittorio Angelone are big reasons why.

“We are also pleased to be working for the first time this year with Yeo Magazine who have put together a brilliant showcase of up-and-coming talent for our Stendhal comedy club. We certainly have a big weekend of laughs in store.”

For more information visit www.stendhalfestival.com