Jaik Campbell's Press/Internet Articles: 2002 - 2007

Edinburgh Festival Fringe Press Office

6 June 2002 

Shows in response to September 11th, stuttering successes, hard-hitting political satire and World Cup-inspired theatre are just some of the events in this year’s festival line-up as art imitates life for Fringe 2002.

The Times (London)

                         August 9, 2002

By Dalya Alberge, Arts Correspondent

Unlikely comedy demands a hearing

DEAFNESS, cerebral palsy and a severe stutter are providing a wealth of material for three stand-up comics at the Edinburgh Festival who are turning their physical problems into strengths and attracting rave reviews.

Scotland on Sunday

9 Jun 2002

“WHAT can I say? Normally not much", jokes London-based comedian Jaik Campbell. "I have a reasonably bad stutter, although fortunately I’m finding that stand-up comedy is helping to cure it, as it seems to improve your self-confidence. Well, that’s what my (sadistic) speech therapist told me anyway..."

If you haven’t heard the one about the stuttering comic, the deaf comedian and the stand-up performer with cerebral palsy, you will soon, because the Edinburgh Fringe’s uncanny knack for tapping into the taboo-busting zeitgeist has manifested itself in a strong line-up of comedians with disabilities this coming August.

Although affected by very different conditions, cerebral palsy sufferer Francesca Martinez, deaf performer Steve Day and Jaik Campbell all present a definite challenge to the liberal guilt of the average Fringe-goer.

Jaik Campbell’s comments on his act are typical. On one level he clearly wants to overcome his debility, and live comic performance is the extraordinary way in which he has chosen to do that. On the other, however, although performing has improved his ability to communicate, his stutter is key to his act.

The beauty of comedy, and, surely, the reason it holds such attraction for many disabled people today, is that it has a track record of outraging not only conservative establishment opinion, but also politically correct liberalism. To this day there are people who will not forgive Mel Brooks for his 1969 movie The Producers, which involved chorus girls in Nazi regalia singing ‘Springtime for Hitler’ before a stunned Broadway audience.

The scale of the Edinburgh Fringe is indisputable with the city’s population said to double in August thanks the swell of festival-goers, yet amazingly, Jaik Campbell has found that performing in front of hundreds of people has been a successful form of therapy. "This is good, but could eventually wipe out much of my material if I lose my stutter completely", he says. "Luckily, I have written some other non-stuttering material as well. My goal is to do a 10-minute routine without stuttering, or having to mention it. It must be possible, but annoyingly it’s normally a lot funnier when I do stutter."

The Scotsman 

12 August 2002

Every Festival, another taboo crashes and burns in the great furnace that is comedy. Ethnic minorities? Vive la difference! Gay? Camp is cool, bring on the tent pegs! 2002 looks set to be the year when the no-go area of disability is breached by the only people who truly can - disabled comedians.

If Day’s disability looked like an insuperable barrier to a successful career as a comic, Jaik Campbell’s was potentially even worse. He has a stutter. Inspired by the likes of Rowan Atkinson and Daniel Kitson, who found that comedy improved their stuttering, he decided to face down his fear.  Last year, he reached the semi-finals of the Daily Telegraph Open Mic and Channel 4’s So You Think You’re Funny competition. "I knew I had to tackle that problem. Doing stand-up has given me the self-confidence to control the stutter rather than it control me," he says.

Campbell says that growing up with a stutter has prepared him well for a career as a comic. "I think stutterers are experts at handling embarrassment, humiliation or rejection. I think if a normal person was rejected by an audience of 350 people, the prospect would just be too scary, but for a stutterer, it doesn’t worry me too much."

While his ambition is to carry off a 20-minute routine without stuttering, or talking about stuttering, he knows it is also his unique selling point. One reviewer said that seeing him battle with his stutter is the funniest part of his act.

Alpha One Publishing

USA

Alpha One has offices in South Portland, Augusta, Brewer, and Aroostook County. 

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - Deafness, cerebral palsy and a severe stutter provided a wealth of material for three stand-up comics at the Edinburgh Festival who are turning their disabilities into comedic strengths while attracting rave reviews.

Jaik Campbell, who is also appearing at the festival, believes that his stutter prepared him for the comedy stage rather than keeping him off it. He said, "Stutterers are experts at handling embarrassment, humiliation or rejection. If a normal person was rejected by an audience of 350 people, the prospect would just be too scary," the Times reported.

The Sydney Morning Herald

201 Sussex Street, Sydney, 2000, Australia.

The East Anglian Daily Times

By Lynne Mortimer 

5 September 2002

Jaik Campbell, from Suffolk, is appearing on a new TV comedy show tomorrow.  TV editor Lynne Mortimer spoke to the stand up comedian who is stuttering his way to success.  

Stand up is notoriously one of the most difficult - perhaps the most difficult - of all disciplines in the entertainment industry, so whatever possessed Jaik, with his stutter, to take it up in the first place?

"Even at the age of eight, watching Rowan Atkinson on television, I remember thinking to myself I have got to have a go at comedy at some point."  

Jaik reached that point about three years ago.  "I just knew I had to do it (comedy).  I knew if I was at home and was 60 years old and hadn't done it, I knew I would regret it."

Though he is evidently making a name for himself as a stand-up comedian, in the longer term Jaik is looking to move into different areas of comedy and has been working with Inkey Jones on some sketches with a view to TV work.  

Scottish Daily Mirror

20 August 2003

Birds (Smirnoff Underbelly, 5.25pm), is supported by the British Stammering Association, because Jaik is one of the few c-c-comics out there with a stutter.

"The B-B-B-SA person came up and was a b-b-bit shocked by some of the material," Jaik tells me.  He said if we didn't tone it down they'd have to distance themselves from it.

Apparently it wasn't even Jaik's jokes they objected to - he sends up his own speech defect - but sexual material by his colleague Dolly Fox, who doesn't stammer at all.

THE Edinburgh Festival Fringe begins today with the floodgates of acts trying to entertain you - and, of course, take your cash.

There should be something for everyone. But here's a taster of some of the best comedy on offer.

August 28, 2003

"BIRDS"   Cast includes: Phil Zimmerman, Steve Williams, Jaik Campbell    Running time: 1hr

Comic Phil Zimmerman has hit upon the idea of doing an eclectic set on birds.  While his co-stars, principally stutterer Jaik Campbell and Steve Williams, decided to base their material on the more traditional stand-up  favourites of getting laid with the unfeathered variety of the species, Zimmerman chose his personal obsession with, and terror of, pigeons.

 Zimmerman is excellent as always - all mad stares and off the wall asides, he brings a refreshing and absorbing zaniness to the stage. But, like the others in the set, he suffered from the low audience numbers. He is a comic who needs to feed off the energy of others. 

August 2003

The Metro

16 August 2003

As part of the BBC's campaign to find Britain's Best Sitcom, the case for Open All Hours, as a member of the top ten, was argued by Clarissa Dickson Wright, broadcast on 6 March 2004 at 9pm on BBC2.  

18 Feb 2004

Stammerer (is that a word?) Jaik Campbell has previously performed and spoken at functions by the British Stammering Association, so they repaid the debt and covered the show's printing costs when he teamed up with two other comedians for their show "Birds". 

 By Katy Hadwick ©  May 2004

July 22, 2004

August 2004

Aug 2004

The Scotsman

"***"

August 2004

by Jay Richardson

6 September 2004

by Roz Green

My first question: Why did you chose to be a stand-up comic given your self-confessed "reasonably bad stutter" and the obvious verbal rigours of the said profession?

Jaik smiles: "When my therapist suggested that public speaking might help me overcome my stutter I said to her, "Great, I'll be a stand-up comic." But she quickly advised that that might not be such a good idea given that stand-up audiences are renowned for their harshness. "Exactly", I exclaim, "how on earth do you respond to inebriated hecklers?" "Slowly", Jaik replies, "although my audiences do tend to be a bit nicer to me."

Jaik continues: "Performers like Rowan Atkinson, Steve Coogan and Daniel Kitson, all of whom have used performing to get over their stutters, have been very inspirational for me.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not in anyway comparing myself to them but I do think that people with
a stutter are naturally predisposed for a life on the stage. After all I must have embarrassed myself literally hundreds of times doing really simply things like buying a train ticket from Ipswich Station to Darsham.  So getting up on stage and trying to make people laugh is something I almost seem naturally geared up to do."

So why come all the way up to Edinburgh to perform? It's a fair hike up the A1 from Suffolk to the tartan city - and an expensive one at that.

"This is my third Edinburgh Festival. If you want to be a comedian being successful at the Festival is almost a necessity.  However, being successful is not easy. It's fiercely competitive and there are some great comics up here. But since I'm not naturally Mr. Confidence - I
was a geography student at Bristol and Edinburgh Universities, not a drama student - but Edinburgh has been great for me basically because I have to perform every night. "Regarding financing the show, I probably couldn't have done it without the East to Edinburgh Arts Council East funding initiative which I found out about at an Edinburgh Fringe road show in London."

The show D-D-Don't mention the Disability obviously has a serious message to tell but, as Jaik explains, it's not about hitting audiences over the head with a Michael Moore-style polemic.

"This year I wanted to do comedy for the audience,. i.e. making people laugh and learn at the same time. I think people are interested in disabilities - nobody is perfect - and this interest is reflected in the show's success. I'm doing twice as well as this year as I did last year. "   "There are three of us in the show: Kevin Knite who is visually impaired, Inkey Jones has various minor disabilities, (such as being mildly dyslexic) and myself. I come on last, talk about stuttering and end the show hoping that we can all be more positive about disability issues in society today."

So what happens if you are "cured".  Will you still do comedy or get a regular day job?

"Interesting question", he replies. "As I said before, I'm not exactly Mr. Confidence but ... (he pauses for thought) ... yes, I think being a comedian is a fun job, and although this may sound a little arrogant, I would love to head towards
doing TV. But it's very difficult making a living doing stand-up alone, so I certainly won't be giving up the day job just yet. One person in the audience last week thought I should be a rap artist , so I might even consider that too!"

August 2005

By HKS

 11-18 Aug 2005
 

Newspaper

29 July 2005

By Lee Levitt

August 2005

By Ben

Aug 2005

The Scotsman

August 18th 2005

If you happen to meet someone with a stutter, have patience. Be understanding.

1) Don't say, "What? Have you got some kind of stutter?" As we'll probably say, "No I just like making stupid facial expressions. It helps me to get through the day."

2) Don't say, "To be honest, I've got no coping strategies to deal with this situation whatsoever."  As a Scotsman reader you now have this useful resource.

3) Don't be constantly tapping on your watch saying, "Hurry up", "Spit it out", "I haven't got all year mate", "Calm down" or "Sorry, I've got a train/bus to catch".

4) Don't finish off sentences for them.  You'll probably get it wrong. For example, if the stutterer is saying "I've got to go the t-t-t-t-" he probably means "toilet" rather "taxidermist".

5) Remember, stuttering is not a sign of stupidity, it's a speech impediment.  Actually, some quite famous people have had a stutter. Rowan Atkinson, Nicholas Parsons, Charles Darwin, Lewis Carroll, Isaac Newton, Marilyn Monroe, Winston Churchill, and George VI, to name a few.  Even Moses had a stutter. That's why God lost patience and made his brother Aaron do all the talking.

6) Remember the two words stutterers have most problems saying is their name. So when you say to a stutterer, "What's your name?" they might take a while to say it simply because of their stutter, not because they have forgotten it.

7) Try not to appear too embarrassed by their stutter. After all, it could be worse.  I tried to get through airport security last year and explaining to the guard that I had a bomber jacket in my rucksack was not easy.

Edinburgh Fringe 7 - 29 August 2005

Saturday 27 August 05: Crystal can't dance with Steve Coogan. Stewart Lee plays The Fall. Crystal spies Jade Goody, Ricky Gervais, Russell Brand. Flying with stuttering Jaik Campbell.

The Leicester Mercury

I've Stuttered so I'll F-F-Finish, is at Bambu Bar, in Welford Road, Leicester, at 7.30pm, on February 14 and 15. For tickets, call 08700 600 100 or go to: www.comedy-festival.co.uk

Comedy @ Fire and Ice Bar in Ipswich

By Andrea Davidson
 

24/03/06

Eight comedians on one bill!  That's a lot for any show - and more than you might expect in a quiet bar in Ipswich on a Tuesday night.

Last to go for Suffolk was Jaik Campbell. A comedian with a stutter might not sound too promising, but he wrings a lot of comedy out of his predicament - and a particularly nice line about West Side Story.

Altogether it was a pleasant evening, with some promising new talent and an excellent final act.

BBC Ouch Website

 Edinburgh 2007

  Review by Chris Wilson.

Jaik Campbell - L-L-Lost for Words

Jekyll and Hyde, Edinburgh

The audience had been patiently waiting for some minutes when Jaik Campbell arrived late for his own show, looking a little flustered.

He turned down the lights and announced over the technician’s microphone that the comedy could be commencing in one minute. A few minutes later, he made a second announcement, with his characteristic stutter, asking the audience to welcome Jaik Campbell to the stage. The audience looked on bemused.

After this slow start, Campbell managed to charm the audience, exuding his natural shyness and warmth of character, and delivering some first-rate gags.

It was, however, a faltering performance. At times, Campbell appeared to lack confidence and around one third of his gags missed their target. The show also lacked structure and relied, perhaps, too heavily on pathos for its humour. He came across as a slightly shambolic figure, who had lost his job and apparently could not find a girlfriend.

It was a pity, because Campbell’s previous work has shown he is a gifted comedian who can do much better. It would be great to see him return to the fringe next year with a stronger show and a more assured performance.

Production information By: Jaik Campbell

Management: Stuttering Productions, Laughing Horse Free Festival

Cast: Jaik Campbell  Director: Jaik Campbell

Run time: 55mins  Production information can change over the run of the show.

Laughing Horse @ Jekyll and Hyde,Edinburgh ,August 5-25

By Denise Winterman

Sarah Boseley

The Guardian