@ His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen, on Sat 16 Apr 2016

Craig Campbell has evolved from Frankie Boyle’s support act to a performer who can deliver more than an hour and a half of entertaining material. Though Canadian, his repertoire is showing a far deeper and refreshing knowledge of Scotland than is usually heard from British comics who visit Aberdeen. His Scottish roots and his previous tours have enabled him to hone an act that is both funny and popular with this local audience.

Much of the content is observational combined with musings from his own experiences. The “Canadian Billy Connolly” moniker is very apt, as Campbell meanders entertainingly away from his original topic and sometimes comes back, sometimes doesn’t. But it often doesn’t matter, as you are carried along by his energy and enthusiasm to relay something that has apparently popped into his mind at that moment.

A word of warning: given the nature of his humour Campbell can move between observations of very inoffensive things to more uncensored adult themes in the blink of an eye. Not for the overly sensitive. It’s material you’re unlikely to catch on TV.

Many of the audience have clearly seen him before and his material is hitting its mark. But it has to be said that for a newcomer he does something that Frankie Boyle doesn’t do: he makes you like him very early on in the performance. This stand-up relies on some audience participation and a little individual baiting; however, the vast majority of the humour is self-deprecating. There was a lot of appreciation from the audience and a lot of appreciation from Campbell.

Try to catch this vibrant show in smaller venues as it’s only a matter of time before Craig Campbell will be playing the arenas. As it should be.