Craig Campbell (I)

Comic trio help bring comedy feature film to life

Show Me The Funny winner Patrick Monahan, Craig Campbell and Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Phil Nichol have all lent a hand in completing low budget film The Limelight, a story about depression, dead parents, a lost job and a relationship breakdown - all initiated by an aging comic's desire to be a success in the world of stand-up.

Interview: Craig Campbell

'They call comedy heroin in Canada, because most people just make enough money to get through to the next gig. So the idea that I could be talking to you on a day off, reflecting on my life in anyway rather than scraping more beans out of the ground is a great thing.'

An interview with Craig Campbell

Craig Campbell is a comedian whose gift for storytelling has drawn (lazy) comparisons with the messiah of comedy, Billy Connolly.

Back for a second series, for those not aware of the show on the digital channel Dave, each episode of One Night Stand takes place in the hometown of the closing act.

These kinds of show only really use the town as a backdrop - a selling point for the show - and in this case stand-up and Direct Line advertiser Chris Addison performed in Manchester.

Also starring was Addison's co-star in his failed sitcom Lab Rats Jo Enright, who impressed with her talent for impersonation (and pigeon noises); and Craig Campbell, who was arguably the best performer on the night.

Campbell's a great storyteller, with tales of rude song lyrics, tripping on mushrooms and killing badgers. It's really quite a shame Campbell isn't British because he deserves to be the star of his own episode. Jason Cook also filmed for this episode, though his set - and an interview with Chris Addison - is only available online.

A new series in which comedians perform a gig in their home town. Really, the gig could be anywhere - other than a quick introduction in Manchester city centre there's nothing particularly illuminating. It's as if they started the show with a clear premise then decided they couldn't be bothered to go through with it. Addison's stand-up is all about whining about everyday stuff, and the audience love it. He's joined by comedians Jo Enright and Craig Campbell (respectively from Birmingham and Canada) to continue ignoring the Mancunian theme.

We've always like Dave's idea of having comedians perform in their home towns - it means the series produces an amusingly skewed travel guide to Britain. To kick off season two, Chris Addison (of The Thick Of It and the Direct Line ads fame) performs at the Palace Theatre in Manchester with a set that references the city's attacks by the IRA, its crappy weather and its status as the home of Britain's tallest skyscraper outside London ('on a clear day it can be seen by ten counties. And when we get a clear day, we might be able to prove that'). Canadian Craig Campbell and the titchy Jo Enright support.

Dave's stand-up challenger to Live at the Apollo returns with Chris Addison - now known as that bloke off the Direct Line adverts - returning to his home town of Manchester (which apparently you shouldn't get wet or feed after midnight in case it changes into Liverpool) to play a gig at the Palace Theatre. His rants about the internet being "the most passive-aggressive force in the universe", the stupidity of Ugg boots and people who say "the thing about me is " are both angry and incredibly funny. He's joined by hirsute Canadian Craig Campbell and the diminutive Jo Enright, who manages to get a few good laughs out of her poor Irish mammy.

A Day In The Life Of... Craig Campbell

At noon the phone rings and I thrash around like I've been shot; the process of trying to figure out where the fuck I am begins. Ignoring the vibrating buzz of an iPhone for a moment I hear voices in the hall. Foreign? Estonian? Polish? I see the curtains I closed before turning in to shut out the glare of casino lights - the casino of my late night food stop - a tuna melt and three orders of two chicken wraps mistakenly taken by a Polish bartender too busy telling me that Crack-off is the most beautiful city in the world (it isn't) to type in my order correctly. Fuck me I'm in Dundee!

Craig Campbell interview

Craig Campbell once found himself trawling through his wardrobe to find trousers that made him look funny.

Michael McIntyre bounds on stage, newly svelte and very natty in a purple suit. He doesn't look like the most polarising figure in British comedy. Polarising in the sense that mass audiences adore him, while other, less successful comics marinate in resentment whenever his name is mentioned. Fine, yes, McIntyre is very safe (though he says "s**t" twice, to my horror - it's like hearing your favourite auntie swear), but the observational stuff is fun. It may be obvious, but there you go, that's observation for you. Anyway, I like him, and the Glasgow audience at the first of a new run of Roadshows is in his pocket immediately as he tells cute stories about his two small children, revolving doors at airports and trampolines in gardens. None of it will start any revolutions, but who needs that on a Saturday night? He's not Bill Hicks. McIntyre is wildly enthusiastic about the night's acts, including local boy Kevin Bridges, garrulous Canadian Craig Campbell and Radio 4 favourite Milton Jones, whose punning, literal schtick makes my teeth itch with annoyance.