Stephen K Amos's new TV show

Stephen K Amos, who was born in London to immigrant Nigerian parents, always used to joke that he would get a television series only when Lenny Henry died, because commissioning editors were working on a “one out, one in” basis where black comics were concerned. He was joking, of course, and after several years as a successful stand-up and panel-show guest, he debuted on BBC Two with his own show last night.

It was a mix of stand-up, sketches, hidden camera and guests doing five-minute spots, and it felt at times that there was too much going on. Stewart Lee and John Bishop - polar opposites in the comedy universe - have shown that a mix of stand-up and sketches can work very well as a half-hour TV format, but here, for some strange reason, producer Simon London didn’t focus on Amos’s great strength, his ability to work an audience. What interaction there was was brief and unfruitful, which is a real shame.

Still, it was good to see a comic finding subtle and positive humour about his ethnicity and being gay, and the skit in which Amos played his mother “Buki”, although weakly written, showed promise. Guest comic Tom Allen was a treat as always, and about Lucy Montgomery’s contribution as New York diva Candi Karmel we shall say no more.

Lenny Henry is not dead, I'm delighted to report, and Stephen K Amos will be around for a long time too.

• The Stephen K Amos Show continues on Fridays on BBC Two
• Watch last night’s show on BBC iPlayer
• Find Stephen K Amos on Amazon