The tour sees Craig perform across the country from the far-flung Orkney Islands to the south of Cornwall, as well as taking in London’s Bloomsbury Theatre for the first time. This second extension is hot-on-the-heels of Craig’s return from the New Zealand International Comedy Festival and kicks off from 24th May.
Craig supported Frankie Boyle on his 120 date nationwide tour, performed on Dave’s One Night Stand (DAVE), Russell Howard’s Good News (BBC Three), and Michael McIntyre’sComedy Roadshow (BBC One).

As a natural raconteur, Craig is able to find humour in the mundane, instinctively able to
entertain and amuse. Typically dressed in his beloved ‘I love cheese’ t-shirt (synthetic and a bit wiffy) and a khaki (undercover police concealment) shorts number, sometimes substituted for leather trousers, the strapping ex-athlete commands his stages with vigour, befriending the audience with boisterous re-enactments from his travels.

Craig was the notorious host of Canada’s legendary Ed’s Night Party, and headline guest on numerous Canadian TV shows such as Jim Carrey Live, The Dennis Miller Show and Just for Laughs. He is a firm fringe favourite having made his Edinburgh debut alongside Tony Law and Dan Antopolski as part of comedy trio The Dinks which won great critical and box office success, leading to an invitation to perform in the Best of Edinburgh programme in New York. He has since supported Rich Hall on his international tour and had two further successful solo shows in Edinburgh.

Craig Campbell plays the Plough Arts Centre in Torrington, Devon, on Friday 1 June. Tickets £13adv from 01805 624624. He also plays Bristol Hen and Chicken on June 6 and The B-Bar, Plymouth, on June 22.

Hello, how are you?
I’m not sure if I’m drunk or just over tired. Speaking of drunk, we need more ice and Schweppes bitter lemon. (After getting his drink) Right now we’re good, we’re cooking with gas as they say – no one says that, but I said it.

I’ve heard you really hate London – why do you hate it so much?
Yeah I hate London more than anywhere in the world. I’m just claustrophobic, it’s the same reason I hate New York, it’s just too many people crammed into too smaller place… overpriced… shitty… It’s terrifying.

What’s it like being an American Comic to a UK audience? What’s the reception usually like?
They’re a lot more polite. I don’t even think I like that. American audiences are as dumb as shit, they’re just clapping monguloids, screaming and yelling but you know they like you right away by their response. Here it’s like doing dinner theatre. You have to acclimate to the audience. You just think you’re dying on your ass, sweating bullets and everyone’s just staring at you blankly and at the end you get a standing ovation. Then you’re like why are you doing that now, why didn’t you show me you liked me during the show?

Gives you some confidence at least?
Yeah, they’re more polite people but I’m not accustomed to polite people.

Would you prefer it if people become hecklers?
Not over here because I usually don’t understand what the hell they’re saying! Yeah, you don’t know if they’re on your side or what. But they are smarter, definitely a smarter audience so it’s a challenge and it certainly makes you work harder – which I am not a fan of work!

You’re known for having a drink in your hand when you’re performing, do you have a particular ‘performance’ drink?
On stage I drink beer normally, just because I know how much alcohol is in it but at home or offstage, like right now, I’m drinking vodka because I like it. I like a mixed drink but you can’t do that on stage. You’ll be like ‘Gimmi a vodka soda’ and then they put 9 shots of vodka in it, and all of a sudden you can’t speak 30 minutes into an hour show.

Have you had that happen to you a lot then?
Yeah I’ve learnt not to do that now, but my fan base is very forgiving, my audience knows I am a reckless drunk, so if on some occasions I am too drunk to talk they think it’s funny. I could just go up on stage and soil my pants and vomit and I would get a standing ovation for it.

When was the last time you did a sober gig then?
The last one I remember was around 2003, it was like a mixed bill, I only had to do about 20 minutes and it was at a college. They weren’t drinking because they were only 18/19 years old. There is nothing worse than playing for a sober audience. I remember that show specifically going ‘wow I can’t remember the last time I did comedy without drinking’. Now I make sure that they can drink too!

Is that going to be the only requirement from an audience, make sure you’ve had a few drinks in before you get there?
There have been a few shows where I’ve walked out. There was a theatre, which I guess you would say was posh, they could drink before and afterwards out in the lobby, but they couldn’t have alcohol. So then I come out with three beers under my arm and a tub on stage and I realised after a few minutes – what’s wrong here – and then I realised no one is drinking and I’m just started handing out all my beers like some red cross going ‘Oh please someone, I can’t drink and you not!’

I’ve been on your site a few times and am I correct in seeing that you did a bit of paedo baiting after talking to people on chat rooms?
Yeah that was hilarious! Someone had a site where they had done it and after someone sent me a link, I never laughed harder in my life than reading that stuff. So I emailed them and said ‘Hey if I tried this would you put this on your site?’ and they said of course. It’s the only stuff I have ever done where I have laughed at my own shit.

A lot of people in the UK probably know you best from featuring on Charlie Brooker’s Screen Wipe, what British comics do you admire?
Now you’re just setting me up because I am going to forget one. Glenn Wool, but then he’s not even in the UK any more. Jim Jefferies, he was an Australian who I met in Edinburgh but he now lives in Los Angles – I’m missing England completely. Nick Doody – I dunno if I’ve ever seen Nick Doody’s set. Reginald Hunter is very funny. I’ll tell you who I hate.

Ok let’s go for the hate then…
Matt Kirshen, he’s a brilliant comedian but we had a personal falling out, where my girlfriend and Matt Kirshen… umm… well enough said. It almost came to a… well it did come to blows but it almost came to arrests. That was the last time I was here in August at the Leicester square theatre. I’m not a fighter, and he isn’t either but we were drunk and something happened and we got bloody and then the cops came. I think they let me go just because I am American and it was too much paperwork.
But if you wanna put out the olive branch, because I haven’t spoken to him since and it was really ugly. Matt, what happened between you and my girlfriend and our physical violence… I forgive you and I hope we can be friends again because he is a brilliant comic.

Would you watch yourself if you didn’t know who you were?
Oh fuck no!

Ah, that’s not the best promotional selling point now is it?
Nah I wouldn’t. I’ve been doing it for 21 years, I’m just kinda bored with it, and I’d rather see someone else. If you haven’t seen me for 21 years then yeah come to the show. Maybe you’ll be amused, me – I’m kind of tired of it.

Doug Stanhope plays Bristol Hippodrome on April 8 and St David’s Hall Cardiff on April 10. Tickets from £21adv from here.

Also headlining the festival on 26 January is the British comedy Award nominee and Sony Radio Award winner Simon Munnery.  Star of BBC2’s Attention Scum and Radio 4’s Where Did It All Go Wrong?, his new show, Hats off to the 101ers,  is an overly ambitious one-man punk musical about the R101 airship of the 1930s.
On 8 February, Exeter Phoenix hosts the Edinburgh Festival hit, Your Days are Numbered.  Fusing science, maths and comedy ‘stand up mathematician’ Matt Parker and comedian Timandra Harkness take a look at the amusing and often ridiculous statistics of the chances and circumstances of dying.
 
For budding comedians who think they may be the next big thing, there are two Comedy Open Mic Nights on 25 January and 1 February at 8pm.  The performances are free and anyone interested in performing should contact patr...@exeterphoenix.org

Laugh out Loud runs from 19 Jan – 12 Feb, full details and book tickets at www.lolfestival.co.uk

It would be too simple to label Zerdin as just a ventriloquist act; it cannot be denied that Zerdin has developed a seamless skill in performing as a ventriloquist and is completely convincing in his portrayal of his characters of Sam, Grandpa Albert and Baby. However Zerdin pushes that skill further and ventures into the realm of the stand up, the sit-com and the observational comedian as well as that of the ventriloquist. Zerdin’s jokes about a toddler’s inability to avoid insulting strangers and that awkward moment when a baby picks up a swear word in conversation were amusing and easily accessible observations and it was Zerdin’s ‘solo’ stand-up routine about his life as a ventriloquist were some of the wittiest jokes of the entire performance and were easily my favourite. Whilst the only element of the show that fell short for me were the easy, toilet-humour gags however, in defence of Zerdin, these jokes were clearly not for me but instead the younger members of the audience who were rolling around in the aisles – proof that Zerdin ensures that everybody who comes to his show will have a reason to laugh.

Zerdin’s use of technology thrusts ventriloquism into the laps of the Twitter-worshipping age and was not only a relief for me but also a marvel. Zerdin pulled two unsuspecting audience members up on to stage and transformed them into human puppets by donning them with remote-controlled masks which was truly a stroke of genius and had every member of the Torquay audience crying with laughter. Zerdin also completed the show with a sing-song finale in which Sam, Grandpa Albert and Baby moved, danced and sang whilst Zerdin was absent from the stage; Albert’s rap being a special highlight.

All in all, Zerdin could best be described as the Gok Wan of the variety industry; he performed the seemingly impossible act of transforming that archetypal ventriloquist stereotype into one which was now cool, truly entertaining and bloody hilarious.

Words: Carly Squires

Are you excited about being back on the road?
I’m excited, I have been in this industry for twenty seven years yet I still continue to question why I still love getting up on stage. As you become more successful and you earn more money, comedy then becomes your job and much more of a chore. Previously you would get up and do it purely for the buzz of performing… but then you get a mortgage, bills to pay, staff to pay and these payments go on and on until the sole reason for doing these gigs becomes distorted. In the end you feel that you must perform to ensure you get paid. Thankfully I’ve now gone through that stage and have come out of the other side wiser; it shouldn’t be about that. I’m fifty now, and I believe that it isn’t about numbers or ticket prices but it’s about the live experience between me and my audience. I love and continue to perform. It probably has something to do with me being a bit of a show off.

Are you looking forward to visiting the South West?
I actually began my career down in the South West and my agent was based in Torquay. My first ever proper gig, was the Rainbow rooms in Torquay and so I do always love returning to that part of the country. I also head down that way often for Panto, performing the Panto in Plymouth was so much fun. The Theatre Royal, Plymouth is a great one as they allow for you to get in the crowd. Also, there is so much to offer me as far as geology goes, I hope to get more of an opportunity to explore the South West.

I hear it’s not just comedy that you’re returning to but also education…
Yes, I am currently studying an Open University degree in Geo-sciences. When I was 13 I got run over, on my first day of doing a paper round, and broke my leg. This meant that I missed a year at school. I have always been interested in geology, but when I returned to school I got put into every option that I didn’t want to do and I never completed my exams. I love what I do for a living but I did feel as if I missed out. I then did Mastermind a few years ago and realised that I can still learn so I am now studying a Bsc Geo-sciences degree and by the time that I am sixty years old I should have my PhD!

So the big question is – should we pull your finger?
You don’t want to pull my finger, no ha ha! The name was an accident really – the show isn’t all fart jokes. It’s just two hours of stupidity really. The name came from people asking me for the name of the tour which I didn’t have at that point, so as a joke I suggested the ‘Pull My Finger’ and they loved it. There’s no support act for this show and so it’s just me for two hours. It’s quite a brave decision but what I have realised is that if you’ve paid to see somebody, you should get to see them. I tried it out last year and it worked a lot better that way than it ever has before, really.

We should definitely expect something fun then?
There’s so much stuff going on both politically and financially, it’s terrible, which is why I try hard to steer away from those topics. I won’t pretend that I’d be any good at those even if I wanted to, but I like to perform what makes me laugh which is all about being silly. I think it’s important not to take life too seriously.

Finally, any advice for aspiring comedians living in the South West?
I don’t believe people should be worried about being away from London, especially since for me my career began in Torquay. I think it’s about gaining experience through getting up in front of any audiences that you can find. The hardest part of comedy is finding out who you are in front of an audience, and some people never truly find that comfort zone of being yourself on stage. To find it you really do need to perform as much as you can. London isn’t the be-all-and-end-all. I think that Comedy is thriving in the South West, any way.

Joe will be performing the Pull My Finger Tour at the Princess Theatre Torquay on the 31st July, Truro Hall for Cornwall on the 1st August, Illfracoombe Landmark Theatre on the 8th and 17th of August, and Exmouth Pavilion on the 12th November. For more information and winter dates please visit www.joe-pasquale.co.uk.

Are you excited to be back on tour with Sponge Fest?
I am excited to be back. I did a reasonable amount of touring last year and then got involved with Panto, but I realised there were a lot of places that I hadn’t visited yet so I decided that rather than end a show which I had worked really hard on I should take it to those places that I didn’t manage to get to last time. That’s the plan behind it, any way!

Are you looking forward to visiting the South West?
I love it, as a kid we would go on family trips to Devon and we used to stay on a farm called Brayford (near Barnstaple). We used to go horse riding there; I have some really lovely memories of Devon. I know many entertainers claim to be looking forward to visiting but I do genuinely mean it.

How do you come up with your unique act?
Well, Ventriloquism is an old fashioned act which has a huge stigma attached to it – people think of old men with old fashioned, scary dolls. The thing is that you need to apply your act to the modern day which is what I tend to do, sometimes I won’t use a puppet at all and instead I will use ventriloquism as a stand up routine in which I can hear voices in my head. I think that that was a part of ventriloquism that nobody had really tapped into before. I also use members of the audience and I have got new material which is taking that to the next level. It’s about trying to re-invent it and make ventriloquism new again. I have puppets too, which hopefully means there is something for everyone. I have Sam, the cheeky kid, his Granddad Albert who is deaf and senile and Baby who wants to be breast fed by the women in the front row. I like to think of my show as a one-man, stand up puppet sitcom and I like my humour to come from real situations.

How easy is it to learn to talk with your mouth shut?
It’s easy, ha ha! It took me about two years to learn how to do it. Anybody can do it but you have to practice a lot. When I was younger I had a book which taught me to stand in front of the mirror and perform exercises in which your lips stop moving and your tongue creates sounds instead. I look back now and think how much time and effort I put in to learning to do what I do; if I had known then how long it would then take me to become successful I probably would have given up, but you always have that hope that something is going to happen and you’ll make it a success. I think that I am always learning though.

How do you make it happen?
No body is going to do it for you, you have to work hard and make it happen. The more hours of effort that put you in the more you get out of it. Saying that, I did have little slots which really did help me along the way like when I got a spot on a kids TV show when I was seventeen. A little thing like that can teach you so much and make you want it all the more.

Have popular TV shows such as Britain’s got Talent changed the face of getting involved in the performance industry?
It has changed a bit, but then there always have been talent shows every so often. On Britain’s got Talent, it’s nice to see a variety, even if the standard is a bit dodgy. I watched a tiny bit of the last series and thought “oh dear”, however, in spite of that, Britain’s got Talent has made the Royal Variety Performance cool again. I’ve been fortunate to do it a few times but it was in 2009, after a great reaction, that I was able to go on tour which shows that these are powerful mediums again, which has definitely helped me. It’s good for entertainment, really.

…and Youtube?
Comedy is such a big business now, and it’s widespread globally which means that there are so many places you can take your act, especially now with the phenomenon of Youtube. I recently did a private function job in Miami, after the client had seen my human puppet show on Youtube and was really impressed. Youtube seems to be helping a lot for newcomers within this industry. Also, look at the power of Twitter and Facebook – they helped bring down the News of the World! That’s a force to be reckoned with.

Paul Zerdin will be performing Sponge Fest at Rhyl, Pavilion Theatre on Tuesday 16th August, Porthcawl on Wednesday 17th August, Princess Theatre, Torquay on Thursday 18th August, Illfracoombe Landmark Theatre on Monday 22nd August and Exeter Corn Exchange on Wednesday 9th November. For more information and winter dates please visit www.paulzerdin.com

Having stitched up my sides from the delights of Stewart Francis, Ed Byrne et al, I was looking forward to Milton Jones, Shappi Khorsandi, Ardal O’Hanlon and compare Josh Widdicombe. They didn’t disappoint.

Shappi Khorsandi has a style that allows her to breeze through her material whether it be the old favourites such as the highs and lows of single life or what it is really like to have kids. Any discussion that involves bemoaning the lack of funny women in stand up should include her as proof that women are as funny as men with the mike in their hand.

Following Miss Khorsandi was the one liners and clever word play of Milton Jones. His strange style, complete with odd smile and wide eyed stares, kept the audience laughing even when he was silent. He moved effortlessly through his routine made up largely of new material and carried on, despite a fault mike, to a rousing round of applause at the end.

Completely disassociating oneself from a famous character cannot be an easy thing but Ardal O’Hanlon is first and foremost a fantastic stand up, not a dim witted priest on Craggy Island. His act is full of energy as he moves round the stage and talks directly to members of the audience. Everyone laughed along with his whimsical recollections and observations including a truly terrible way to get out of a situation where he insulted a large woman by asking her when she was due.

Bristol has always been blessed with a thriving live music scene. Now this event only adds to an excellent stand up scene. It reminds me of how lucky I am to live in such a vibrant city.

Words: Richard Hogg

First up was our compere for the evening Craig Campbell. The thing about comperes, which he touched upon, is that some people view them as somehow inferior to the headline acts but I (and indeed he) would argue that their have a tougher job. Not only do they have to deal with these preconceptions but they inevitably end up with more stage time, and those times are the parts when everyone’s gagging for a drink or a pee.

Campbell was brilliant. His shouty Rhod Gilbert-esque persona complimented his grumble-led gags perfectly. He enjoyed a bit of audience banter with a fellow Canadian and showed off his local knowledge with tales of Bridgwater, Stroud and South Wales. And with a voice bigger than Snowdonia he was the perfect person to introduce the other acts and gee up the crowd.

Stewart Francis was next up, which I found odd cos he was certainly the biggest draw for me and he proved to be the best act of the night. His one-liners were mostly hit, with just a sprinkling of miss. He employed the fairly predictable subject matters of jobs, relationships and stereotypes all pinned together with impeccable word play. ‘I watched a programme on how boats were put together the other day…riveting.’

But he’s also gone a bit darker with his material and slipped in a couple of jokes which would make fellow Mock The Week panelist Frankie Boyle proud, randomly throwing in the comment ‘my Uncle ejaculated on me once…phew, glad to get that off my chest.’ There was a slight microphone malfunction mid set and Francis proved he’s as good as improv as he is pre-prepared one-liners, joking that the second mic was funnier than the first. His set was more than a laugh a minute, it was a laugh every 10 seconds.

Shooting Stars funnyman Angelos Epithemiou sauntered on next with his high waisted trousers, uber long tie, stained raincoat and plastic bag. I wondered just what his set would entail – thinking there’s a limit to character-based comedy in a stand up capacity but I needn’t have been worried. He employed a mix of basic slapstick (hitting himself on the head with an inflatable hammer), musical comedy (a spoof take on Baz Luhrman’s 90s hit Wear Sunscreen) and some solid jokes (What’s the difference between a Kangaroo and a Kangaroot? One’s a bouncy Aussie marsupial and the other’s a Georgie stuck in a lift!). In the mumbled words of Angelos himself LMFAO.

Last but not least was Irish observational comedian Ed Byrne. He had a tough few acts to follow but he’s a pro and delivered, commanding much of the stage in a frantic Lee Evans kind of way. Much of his set relyied on that white middle class comedy which seems to be proving the mainstay of the British comedy circuit at the moment (Chris Addison/Jimmy Carr/Michael McIntyre etc). He talked about age inappropriate clothes for kids, fatherhood and being a geek at school. One of the highlights was his tales of losing luggage at an airport, where he joked he now asked the airport staff whether they packed his bags themselves or left them unattended. Brilliant.

Bristol Comedy Garden is a stroke of genius. Many of the comedians acknowledged Bristol as a great comedy city and the fact that there were very few empty seats for this £18 a ticket gig goes to show just how receptive we are to a top notch line up of funny folk. The festival runs until Saturday July 23. More info at www.bristolcomedygarden.co.uk

Words: Laura Williams

However as it was the opening night of the opening year of the festival they could be forgiven for a few hiccoughs along the way, and that was certainly the case from very early on. The giant, newly erected big top tent was sold out to see local boy Russell Howard, however the organisers had decided to use unreserved seating, which in a venue of approximately 1,000 people, meant a thirty minute delay before lights up. Add to that big queues at the bar and a poor selection of drinks and it made for a pretty unconvincing start.

What the festival can be truly proud of is a very strong selection of acts. Huddersfield lad Alun Cochrane kicked off proceedings with his playfully grumpy anecdotes of every day life; tales of train travel and drinking tea were welcoming and appealing, and made for an excellent opening. From the grumpy chappy to the cheeky chappy as Pete Firman (literally) produced some magic on stage. His joke shop magic tricks and playful persona were a joy to behold and he really helped warm the audience before the nights headliner.

Not much can be said about Russell Howard that hasn’t already been said, but his 1,000 mile an hour routines really are of the highest calibre. His mainstream success is entirely justified as he weaves tale after tale, each funnier than the last. From buying toys for his dog, to selecting unusual underwear and abusing his brother in a lift, his offbeat style and inclusive nature are difficult not to like and thoroughly enjoyable.
Compere Dan Atkinson slightly polarised the audience and seemed to be pushing his opinions in pursuit of laughs, but just about managed to hold the gig together despite 25 minute intervals either side of the 35 minute acts which meant yet more waiting around.

The opening night of Bristol Comedy Garden delivered a great deal of promise and potential, and was thoroughly entertaining. There are certainly some improvements to make, but with a little bit more attention to detail and their first year under their belt, it could become a welcome permanent fixture to the busy Bristol summer.

Words: Max Boon