‘I’ve always loved to over-share’: Life according to…. comedian Grace Campbell

Grace Campbell talking about abortion on stage, falling in love with stand-up, and the balancing act of making her own career while being Alastair Campbell’s daughter.

How are you feeling after your run at the Edinburgh Fringe?

I had a really good time this year. It was nice to really crack the show before I take it on tour so I feel well-prepared now. It’ll be a pretty intense schedule and I know at points it’ll be exhausting, but the thrill you get from performing every day is worth everything.

You feel great because you’re getting the buzz of performing. I’ve just felt a bit lost at the moment because having finished the Fringe and knowing I’m going on tour, it’s weird not getting that amount of adoration every day.

I’ve definitely had a bit of a mental comedown in the last few weeks of like, does anybody like me or care about me or want to hear from me?

What’s your show all about?

I would describe it as a night out with your craziest best friend who’s had too many glasses of wine, basically. The show is a story about me getting pregnant and having an abortion, and what I learned. But it’s more about groups of girls and growing up with these friends I’ve had my whole life. It’s quite different to any other show that I’ve done.

How has the reaction been to the show and the article you wrote about your experience?

Talking about abortions is a difficult topic to try and cover, but the reaction was pretty positive. I had so many people, mainly women but also quite a few men, contacting me.

Women saying thank you for speaking about it, as it’s something they went through and it was really hard to explain to people. Then there were men saying they didn’t realise that’s what their partner was going through and wish they’d have known.

You only really process this stuff months afterwards. When I was in Edinburgh this girl messaged me saying that, a few days after seeing the show, she heard her boyfriend on a work call telling one of his male friends from work that he’d gone to see my show and that it had really changed his perspective on abortions.

That’s cool because men maybe thinking about these things in different ways makes me hopeful that some women in the future maybe get a bit more care and compassion than I did.

© Eva Pentel

You’ve always been very open on stage?

I’ve always loved to over-share and that’s my natural default but the first time I spoke about my abortion was in February at a work- in-progress show. I was so uncontrollably nervous before it.

I was like, do I want to do this? Why am I doing this? I went up and read off a piece of paper.

It’s really vulnerable doing that and also trying to be funny. I took some time to try and nail it and hopefully I have. I’m really, really proud of this show.

As Alastair Campbell’s daughter, was it an unusual childhood in the political bubble?

Definitely, but also my dad’s career now is really weird! Growing up around politics, I was a child so it was hard to have perspective on it until I got older and then people were like, that’s really weird that you were in Downing Street.

What’s actually really strange for me at the moment is my dad’s second wind and that he’s doing a show at the O2 Arena. I just wouldn’t have put that on my bingo card!

© Eva Pentel

You both have podcasts, are you competitive over them?

I’m not in the same league as him, breaking all these records! I’ve always wanted to have a podcast, but I’ve always not wanted to do it because of how good my dad’s is and he’s so competitive.

I’m happy for him, I think he’s needed something that he really cares about in his career since he left government. But it is quite strange.

How much have you enjoyed doing your podcast Late To The Party?

I’m really, really loving it. The episode with my dad and Rory Stewart is so funny because I’ve never met Rory before. Having listened to The Rest Is Politics, he’s always struck me as this really sincere, earnest person. Then I met him and he was so funny and so ready to have a laugh.

It was a really funny episode. I’m really enjoying doing the podcast. It’s really nice to just have a fun thing that I can offer to the world that’s free, that doesn’t require them coming to pay money to watch me do a show.

How have you found the balance of working with your dad on things like Celeb Gogglebox but also carving a career under your own name?

At the start I did it more because it was fun, and then I realised that if I did it too much, I would always just be defined by being his daughter. I have had to consciously think about how to separate myself from him.

My work is so different. I don’t talk about party politics in that way. I’m starting to write more, I’m working on short films and more in that kind of space.

I never want it to ever feel like I’m not also very grateful. I’m proud of things that my dad’s done. It’s a bit of untangling you have to do.

How did you find your way into stand-up?

When I was a teenager I always wanted to be an actor. I got rejected a few times in auditions, and I don’t think my skin was thick enough to handle it.

I stepped away from that and then started working in scripted comedy after I left university because I’d always loved comedy, films and TV.

I made a sort of feminist sketch show for Channel 4 and was in it with Sophie Duker. She said I should try stand-up. I’d heard of maybe like Billy Connolly but I’d never gone to watch live stand-up. I’d never heard of the Edinburgh Fringe.

Sophie encouraged me and I went to watch some shows and then I was like, OK, I’m gonna give this a go. There’s something deeply addictive about stand up, even gigs that go wrong. There’s something very thrilling about it, I just got hooked.

Grace Campbell is at Glasgow Pavilion Nov 2, Perth Theatre Nov 3, Inverness Eden Court Nov 4, disgracecampbell.com