He breezed into the Edinburgh fringe late with just half a show – and won the ‘Oscar of comedy’. In his first ever face-to-face interview, the eccentric Aussie standup reveals what’s next (‘Something’)
Here’s how the Edinburgh fringe usually figures in a young comedian’s calendar. For 11 months, they conceive, prep and preview their show with the festival in mind. Then the best prepared of them, the most finely honed, might be in with a shout of winning standup’s biggest prize – the Dave’s Edinburgh comedy award, the so-called Oscars of comedy, formerly held aloft by the Steve Coogans, Leagues of Gentlemen and Hannah Gadsbys of yore.
That’s the convention. But whatever else Sam Campbell may be – trickster, loose cannon, terroriser of critics like myself – conventional he’s not. Campbell is the leftfield 30-year-old Aussie act who departed this year’s fringe with its most coveted prize in his backpack. In a field of nominees that included Jordan Gray, Liz Kingsman and Seann Walsh, his win was unexpected. It seems all the more surprising when I talk to him in what he says is his first ever face-to-face interview, and he tells me he came to Edinburgh reluctantly this summer, and without a coherent show to speak of.
