“Ninety per cent of the jokes you hear about a mugging involve a very geeky young comedian telling you how they lost their phone. I’m not that guy.” Hailey Settineri speaks with the Bear Grylls of stand-up comedy.
Canadian-born stand-up Craig Campbell is a busy man. The charismatic comedian spent most of 2010 supporting Frankie Boyle on his extensive UK tour, and now he’s travelling the country again with his own solo show.
When I phone Campbell at his west country home, he's recovering from a gig the night before and preparing for a flight to London. That may sound like a pretty standard morning for a comedian, but there’s a twist: Campbell is one of the pilots.
“It’s a little small-plane adventure with a couple of buddies. I’m pretty excited. We don’t normally fly into Heathrow airspace, so it will be a good test of our skills.”
Campbell recently received his night pilot license, allowing him to partake in his unusual hobby after dark.
“It doesn’t sound like much, but I can tell you, night flying is much more exciting than just normal flying. It has the added dimension of not being able to see anything but lights; and they all look the same distance from you in the air. The concept of dark matter is something I consider a lot more than I used to.”
Those who have seen Campbell perform will not be surprised by his passion for adrenaline-inducing activities. The rugged outdoorsman frequently appears on stage in shorts and hiking boots, and although his material is observational, he never takes a passive role in his stories. In his latest show, he recounts a tale of standing up for a friend in a mugging.
“I’m in an industry where if you reveal yourself as anything other than a victim in a physical altercation, it’s tantamount to being a criminal. I would say that 90 per cent of the jokes you hear about a mugging involve a very geeky young comedian telling you how they lost their phone. I’m not that guy.”
With his lumberjack appearance, it’s hard to imagine that anyone would attack Campbell in the street, but what about on stage? Campbell says he is getting heckled less and less since his appearances on Russell Howard’s Good News and Michael McIntyre’s Road Show.
“Now that I’m on my own tour and most of the audience have seen me before in one way or another, I’m really preaching to the converted. It’s a very bizarre situation when everyone is surrendered to enjoying you before the night starts. I’m sure there might be dissenters within that audience, but I think that they would probably not be a good environment to attack me in, because they’re surrounded by people who are really… I wouldn’t say sycophantic, but are certainly fans, as it were.”
Having performed all over the world in the past 22 years, Campbell is adept at altering his performance to match any audience. A large amount of Campbell’s material revolves around his travels, allowing him to do impersonations of different nationalities. It’s an angle that many comedians fail to do well, often falling into the trap of sounding either bigoted of derivative, but Campbell’s enthusiasm for meeting people and trying new experiences gives him a fresh take on the worn path.
“The challenge is to point out things about the audience is not used to having pointed out. It’s quite tried and true the number of people who’ve come from overseas over the years and mention that cigarettes are called fags and how you drive on the other side of the road and the more glaring examples of cultural differences. But the real trick is finding differences that catch them off guard and that they appreciate having pointed out.”
Before Campbell heads to the local airfield for his flight, I squeeze in one final question. Given his love of adrenaline, what would he be doing if he hadn’t discovered stand-up?
“If I wasn’t telling jokes, I’d probably be in an acre waiting for forest fires to start. I’ve always had a strong desire to fight fires, particularly in a rap attack helicopter. At the time I applied, the rap attack fire companies in Canada could only take 17 men on a helicopter and every guy has to be about 175 pounds. I’ve never been below about 180 pounds myself, and I was turned away for that.”
While Campbell may not be putting out flames, he is saving thousands of people from boredom. Here at Spoonfed, we think that’s pretty important too.
Craig Campbell is performing at Leicester Square Theatre on April 8 and May 7.
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