Grace Campbell's most memorable gigs

As Grace Campbell prepares to go on the road with her new tour, A Show About Me(n), she share five of her most memorable gigs…

First gig

My first gig was at the Paradise in Kensal Rise. My best friends, Tyler and Anna, came with me. On the walk from the station I was convinced I was going to swallow my tongue (classic anxiety symptom for me.) My nerves were making me snappy, which is something my friends just accepted. They let me do my set 15 times before we walked into the venue. 

No matter how many times I said it out loud I was sure that when I got on stage I’d forget every word and my anxiety would be so bad I would swallow my tongue. We got into the venue and it was empty apart from the other acts. The show was about to start, but the only non-performing audience was… Tyler and Anna. You’d think this would calm me down, doing the set to my friends who already were familiar with it. But I felt worse. What the fuck?! I’ve been nervous for days, and no one’s here to validate me?! I was fuming. 

Gig that taught me the biggest lesson

The first time I was heckled was by a woman who was accusing me of being a war criminal by proxy of my dad [Tony Blair’s spin doctor, Alistair Campbell].

She tried to come up on the stage, and it was overwhelming. I was completely thrown off because I’d been naively thinking no one would do anything like that to me, a child of someone. 

I froze, and did nothing, and afterwards I agonised over what I should have done, and how I should react differently. I made audience interaction, and being able to argue back to hecklers, the main thing I wanted to master.

So I'm grateful that happened, because it made me work harder at being prepared for the next time it happened. 

Gig that changed my life 

Last year, while I was at the Edinburgh Fringe, an article I wrote for the Guardian about my experiences with rape came out. I had to do a show that night. My show, me for an hour, to a sold out room.

I was so anxious all day. Overwhelmed by messages from people who had read my article, anxious I wouldn’t be able to hold it together during the show. I came out on stage and the warm welcome I got from the audience was just the biggest hug I’ve ever felt. I felt so safe, which you rarely do as a stand up, but I remember thinking in that moment that I’d done the right thing.

That that piece, which put me in a more vulnerable light, didn’t make anyone love me less as a comic, and I appreciate everyone in the room that night for making me feel that way. 

Best heckler

I was once doing a gig in Hackney Wick, and there was a group of guys talking during my set, so I stopped, to find out what was so much more interesting than what I was saying. One of them told me he was ordering a Dominos,  I think he was flirting with me and so I told him to come up on stage and do my set with me.

He came on stage, and I made jokes about his Dominos order, and then after the show ended he asked me out. He was a good shag. Unfortunately it wasn’t a ‘meet cute’ of the ages, but it was a nice surprise. 

Most exotic gig

I once was flown out to Turkey to do a set at a women’s conference organised by the supermodel Natalia Vodianova. It was still early on in my career, and I’d been booked because my friend Scarlett couldn’t go.

I got to the resort it was taking place in and it was the most stunning resort I’ve ever been to in my life. It was like Disneyland for the mafia. I was in heaven. I had written a set about my sex life, then got told moments before that I couldn’t be too graphic, as it would be disrespectful in the country we were in. So I ended up ad-libbing a piece about looking my vagina in the eye.

I got a standing ovation and ended up shagging a guy who was there. He gave me chlamydia. 

» Grace Campbell: A Show About Me(n) is on tour from February 21. Tour dates.

Published: 4 Jan 2023