In Conversation with Grace Campbell - an unapologetically comedic spin on life and... being on heat
By Sofia Webster, Co-Deputy Editor
Grace Campbell is a comedian well-known for diving right into topics that many comedians shy away from - mental health, feminism, sex-positivity and all in an unapologetically comedic and unique way. Her current tour and biggest one to date, Grace Campbell is on Heat is coming to the Bristol Beacon on Sunday 17 November, so Epigram sat down with Grace in advance of the show to chat about everything from what her new tour is about to particularly challenging stage experiences and her fondest memories of watching stand-up comedy.
Speaking to Grace online, her bubbly, energetic personality comes across just as it does on her podcast, on stage or on TV. Speaking to Epigram, Grace recollects on Bristol fondly, having performed many shows in Bristol back in 2019 when she was starting out as a comic and is 'really looking forward to performing this tour in Bristol' at the Beacon, which marks the biggest tour of her career thus far.
Alongside performing shows on stage, Campbell is well known for her lively and unpredictable podcast, Late to the Party, which chats to other comedians about all things partying – the good, bad and chaotically funny - hosting guests from Katherine Ryan to Chicken Shop Date’s Amelia Dimoldenberg. Both Campbell’s tour and podcast perfectly showcase her brazen personality, which she brings to life on stage in this new show, which has received rave reviews across critics and audience members alike.
Speaking to Epigram about what her show Grace Campbell is on Heat is about in a nutshell, Grace responded, 'basically, I got a dog and then my dog came on heat, and I was going to originally write a show about that and then I got accidentally pregnant when I got my dog spayed.
'So, I then I ended up having this story of what the show is about – having an abortion, everything I learnt from that and kind of how much it crystallised my relationship with my friends, and it kind of became a show about female friendship.'
Talking about sex positivity on a big stage in a stand-up comedy format is not a common occurrence, and is by no means an easy thing, but Grace shares how she believes 'it is a really good vehicle to talk about these things without coming across as too sincere. That is why I enjoy talking about these things in a comedy format, as women can get cast aside as being moany, naggy feminists that take themselves too seriously.
'But what you can do if you’re good at comedy is talk about these topics whilst maintaining a consistent level of comedy, which is a really good way to impact men in my opinion. This show really, I would love loads of men to see it, the show is essentially about what happens when men insist on having unprotected sex with women and why they shouldn’t because they never have to deal with the consequences of having an abortion or having the repercussions of what that feels like. The abortion topic felt like a good way to talk about these topics and bring in people and not alienate them.'
'I would say it's a show that groups of girls would love to come and watch together, and loads of mums and daughters have been coming as well! It is a show that is kind of like a night out with a crazy friend.'
Many people may have initially heard about Grace Campbell through her dad, Alastair Campbell - who co-hosts the popular The Rest is Politics podcast opposite Rory Stewart. Grace recalled being heckled a lot at the start of the career because of her dad, as well as having a particularly memorable moment and her 'biggest challenge on stage' performing comedy in front of Sadiq Khan (Mayor of London) – as well as several of his security staff.
'That was probably my biggest challenge, as it was a really small room, I’d say there was about 50 seats and so I was on stage and there were just loads of security staff standing at the back of the room. It just really sent me quite west and I ended up disassociating for the whole show but no one would have known that I was having a full-blown panic attack for like an hour!
Stand-up comedy was not something Campbell had grown up watching, rather she stumbled across it as a career 'kind of all by accident'. Her good friend and fellow comic Sophie Duker introduced her to the industry after recognising her great comic timing. 'I didn’t really know much about it so Sophie took me to a few shows and then I thought I can do this!'
'I had a crazy level of confidence at the start and was really humbled and actually at the start I thought I was way better than I was, and now I probably think I am way worse than I am, because the longer you do it, the more you over-analyse things.'
Aside from performing on her stage herself, Grace loves to watch her friends’ shows particularly when performing at the Edinburgh Fringe. 'What I tend to do is go and see loads of my friends’ shows over and over again – I have probably seen Dan Wye’s Seayonce 30 times, and I saw Chris Hall every day in Edinburgh. I love seeing my friends live, it is such a cool experience.'
Looking to the future, Grace wants to make more films and work on more scripted projects. 'I have actually also just made a short film that is currently doing the rounds at a few festivals at the moment.
'In the new year, I am going to focus on this feature film I am writing, and TV show I am working on and see how that goes! I am also aiming to turn this tour I am currently doing into a TV special at some point next year which is very exciting.'
There is something very admirable about Campbell’s unapologetically comedic honesty and her unique way of finding humour in all moments of life whether that be good or bad, and it will be very exciting to see what lies ahead for Campbell after this tour.
Grace Campbell is performing her show Grace Campbell is on Heat at the Bristol Beacon on Sunday 17th November, you can buy tickets here.
All photos courtesy of Eva Pentel