Imagine all the embarrassing stories you tell amongst your nearest and dearest friends, who are subsequently sworn to deepest secrecy so that the tale should never ever see the light of day. Well, Grace Campbell has mastered the art of creating the perfect, unashamed comedy show of such tales that feels like a girl gang, secret spilling, night out.
Divinely flirtatious and crude, her well renowned show had the female members of the audience in absolute comedic awe of the ease at which these stories rolled out. The male members of the audience (mostly unsuspecting boyfriends thinking it would be worth it for the Alastair Campbell name drops) were in for a well-deserved wake-up call to someone brilliantly proud of sexual freedom. Safe to say, the rare single man in the room and all the women left with heart shaped eyes and a newfound respect for the audacious comedy of a woman who has seemingly seen it all.
The brutal honestly of the show and some graphic tales may leave the older generation slightly taken aback (don’t go with your parents, it would probably be a very awkward journey home), but the under thirties were lapping up her hot takes, blatant advice, and tales of male actions rendering girls with ‘the ick’.
Fuelled by some charismatic audience interaction, she makes it clear that, despite the large female following, the show can be tailored to men too – Dennis, the only single man in the audience, became the focus of some priceless and remarkable stage-to-audience flirtation. Her open-book charm is endless and snippets of vulnerability and difficult moments seep through, landing in the welcoming audience’s open arms. Some poignant words about the justice system using female sexual desire against them was equally as resonant as the laugh-a-minute comedy.
Campbell’s show feels like a very safe space for anything and everything that has ever been remotely embarrassing to be shared to an audience full of strangers. The infectious laughter that filled the room from the first eyebrow raise to the final seductive wink is enough to guarantee that this will be a sold-out show for years to come.
Grace Campbell: A Show About More Me(n) is on at Gilded Balloon Teviot – Debating Hall at 5:30pm on 17 August only. Tickets are available here: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/grace-campbell-a-show-about-more-me-n.
Image provided to The Student as press material.