Comedy review: Craig Campbell

Published on 31/03/2011 20:39

CRAIG CAMPBELL THE GARAGE, GLASGOW ****

ON A FIRST national tour and eager to ingratiate in the land of his forefathers, Devon-based Canadian Craig Campbell established a quick rapport with his Glaswegian hosts, his hulking wildman, "Crazy Jesus" look and booming, no-nonsense proclamations making for effective banter with the front rows and beyond. No matter that much of his material derives from Canadians and Scots' shared suffering of the cold, the awe he reserves for the accent and fearsome reputation for drinking, he was simply warming up, recalling his favourite backstreet Scottish bakery yarn.

Campbell specialises in travellers' tales, and he kicked off the second half with a rendition of I've Been Everywhere, before launching into entertaining routines about his memorable experiences in saunas. A visit to the doctor, where his low alcohol intake aroused suspicion, observations on the crowded intensity of this windswept isle and the first of two stories on mountain climbing misadventure, led him to conclude that Brits are angsty.

By this point he had earned enough trust to deliver an amusing history lesson on the Anglo-French Battle of the Plains of Abraham. Quickly though, he turned to mocking official advice on resisting bear and shark attacks, familiar stand-up tropes that he nevertheless nailed with aplomb. Saving the best and most personal tales for last, he recalled his berserk reaction to a Belgian pickpocket and the lowest, guiltiest moment of any failed Alaskan mountain expedition imaginable. This rough and tumble Canadian is on tremendous form.