We've had Storm Isha and Jocelyn in the last week. Sticking with the alphabetical system last night it was the turn of Storm Khan. Filmmaker Judd Apatow has called Guz Khan a "comedy tornado" and onstage he certainly blew away the Apollo audience.
The creator and star of BBC hit Man Like Mobeen is a former teacher and has previously said that school was where he learnt how to perform. It's about getting "ring time". From the moment he walked on he was in control, mischievously moving fans around to create a multicultural front row, and mocking "bruvs" for their uncool IT jobs.
As with Romesh Ranganathan, who has also successfully switched from classroom to class act, the Coventry-based crowdpleaser unearthed plenty of humour chatting about his children. He loves all four but, he quipped, likes only two of them.
A running theme was the way that life has improved since he made it big. Holidays, for example, no longer mean everyone, including umpteen uncles, squeezing into a Volvo for a sunshine break in Blackpool ("because there's no place called Brownpool").
Working on shows such as Mobeen and films such as The Bubble with Apatow, he has come a long way from living in a cramped loft with his family sharing two mattresses.
He spoke with pride about his daughter being privately educated. Not that the transition always ran smoothly. A well acted out routine revealed how her street smarts helped her tackle testing culture clashes.
As the set evolved, however, the tone shifted from the personal to the overtly political. Khan joked that he was no relation of his mayoral namesake so could not help anyone facing a ULEZ fine – in fact he had to pay up himself recently when driving his electric car. So much for the advantages of being green.
In the final quarter, Khan homed in on racism, addressing the controversy over him hosting Have I Got News For You last year. The BBC was attacked for booking someone who had been outspoken about Israel's actions in Gaza.
The Muslim stand-up asked himself if he was anti-semitic, before defiantly concluding in the negative: "Anti-semitism is f***ing disgusting." The show ended with an impassioned plea for a Gaza ceasefire and the release of hostages.
This sombre finale clearly touched a nerve, garnering as many cheers as his lighthearted riffs about how his kids used to devour Pot Noodles and now crave posh nosh. Clocking in at around an hour, this was a short headline set for such a large venue, but Khan was never less than compelling. Even if he had been onstage for twice as long he would have still left fans wanting more.
