Life After University

From the 2007 Edinburgh Fringe

More Jaik Campbell videos

Jaik Campbell says he wanted to be a comedian since the age of eight... but it took him 18 more years until he first gave it a try, primarily as a way to help him get over the stutter that provides the basis for much of his material.

In 2001 he was a finalist in the Hackney Empire All-Stars talent contest – and three years later was in the final of the same venue's main New Act competition. He took part in another talent hunt, the late-night ITV1 show Stand-Up Britain, in 2 003 where he was again a finalist.

Original Review:

Unfortunately, it all goes downhill from there.

After the efficient wordplay that opens his set, he starts to concentrate on the stutter from which he suffers. ‘Write about what you know’ is the comedian’s mantra, so it’s only to be expected that he will tackle the affliction that sets him apart.

But, from a comedy angle, there’s a very limited number of jokes you can do about stammering, and they tend to be based either on the listener guessing the end of a sentence and getting it wrong, or a situation in which not speaking quickly and clearly might be a disadvantage. The formula’s that simple.

Fair play to Campell, he does get a couple of strong gags from that premise, but it quickly becomes repetitive (ironically enough, I suppose) when a whole 20-minute set has to be sustained on the same pattern. But somehow, at the time of writing, Campbell has eked three hour-long shows from his condition.

But most frustrating, damaging even, is that he has absolutely no confidence in his own material. A good proportion of punchlines are accompanied by a hugely self-conscious laugh, sounding like he’s trying to convince himself that whatever story he’s just told is actually funny. This could be an endearing affectation, but it actually seems rather desperate.

He’s also anxious to distance himself from almost every one of his own jokes. Backpedalling furiously after each self-deprecating gag – usually revolving around his gauche incompetence when talking to women - he’s keen to explain that the story never really happened, for fear we might think less of him. But it demolishes any sort of flow or rapport that would convince the audience of his abilities.

It’s the demeanor of a rookie who hasn’t yet built up any certainty about who they are or the untested material they’re delivering – yet Campbell has been going since 2001, and ought to have conquered his shyness by now, or at least learn to work with it better than this.

We saw him a few weeks ago, and there were some great punchlines. He had the audience really laughing.

sshavonda_mz@khona.com, March 2009

We happened to see Jaik at the Edinburgh Fringe in August 2008 doing his one man show and have to say there were some very funny moments. He needs to work on more gags per minute, but overall it was a fun hour.

Yvette Hall, October 2008

Painful to watch. An unpleasant experience

Jack Richards, August 2007

I saw Jaik a few weeks ago and he really had me and the crowd laughing. He also seemed like a really nice bloke too which is always a good start.

Lorrie Holloway, June 2007

I saw this chap recently at a big charity night and I thought he was really funny. He had careful control of the audience and had some clever gags.

Francie Fields, December 2006

A very funny guy. Top stuff.

Tanner Betts, October 2006

Jaik seemed to have a personna which is actually funny with or without jokes which is rare to see. Nice stuff.

Tom Jenkins, June 2006