Stand-up comedian and broadcaster Stephen K Amos has announced a new tour for 2017/2018 entitled Bread and Circuses. His main aim is to cheer us up for a moment and try to help us forget what a mess the world finds itself in right now.

Brexit. Trump. No more Mary Berry on the Great British Bake Off. Things are looking bleak, so wouldn’t it be better to just forget all about it? Amos might not be able to provide bread to the hungry masses, but no one else is going to put on a better circus. Leave your problems behind for the evening in the company of the ‘effusively charming’ Amos and who knows? Maybe the world will seem just a little bit brighter.

When Ancient Rome needed to distract itself from politics, a few solutions were suggested, but none hit the spot quite like the simple idea of giving the people cheap food and plentiful entertainment – ‘panem et circenses’ or ‘bread and circuses’. Our circuses might no longer involve gladiator fights to the death, but the same principle applies. Modern politics is a confusing mess, so no one can blame you for giving it a miss in favour of a night of laughs.

As seen on UKTV’s Celebrity Storage Hunters and Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled, BBC1’s Live At The Apollo and Have I Got News For You, as well as the fourth series of What Does The K Stand For? on BBC Radio 4.

The tour starts on November 4 in Birmingham and ends on February 16 & 17 at the Leicester Square Theatre in London.

Full tour dates and tickets here.