Is This The Best of Jack Campbell?

• Marissa Burgess
• 24 August 2015

This article is from 2015.

Too much too soon for this award winner

Having won a national competition, played Adelaide and now presenting his first solo show at the Edinburgh Fringe, Jack Campbell is asking himself a question: is this as good as it gets for him? As long as he keeps working at it, the answer is probably 'no.' Campbell is an amiable, easy presence to spend an hour with during which the twentysomething gathers anecdotes from his life so far.

He's living in his mum's garage with curtains but no windows, dreams of moving back to Leicester (he's easily pleased) with his Estonian girlfriend to whom he's slowly teaching all the English counties. Though there are some solid routines here it does feel like there's a thick layer of padding. It's not a massively tight set, with Campbell spending a little too long at the start compering the crowd, quizzing them and conducting straw polls.

The material would clearly be stronger over a shorter amount of time. It might have been an idea to wait a little longer for his Fringe début with his English Comedian of the Year win coming just last year. A tempting appetiser nonetheless.

Banshee Labyrinth, 226 0000, until 31 Aug, 2pm, free.