TV plans kids' stand-up show

Stand-up James Campbell has been snapped up by Graham Norton's TV company to make a new comedy programme for children,

So! Television has taken an option out on a sketch show Campbell is developing, which they hope will be bought by a terrestrial broadcaster.

Campbell has supplemented his stand-up career over the past decade by working as a children's entertainer - and this year will be returning to the Edinburgh fringe with his "alternative stand-up for kids" show.

This live performance will be transformed into a 'broken comedy' format for TV, with sketches linked by 30-year-old Campbell's monologues.

So!'s Neil Mossey told The Scotsman: "It is so weird so see someone with all the body language and style of an 'adult' stand-up working with eight-year-olds.

"But you can laugh at a lot of brilliant stand-ups and still be wondering how it will translate to TV. James's technique is so visual, it's easy to see that it will work."

"It will be a bit silly and surreal and slightly subversive. There will be satire about parents and schools. Children have a much more sophisticated sense of humour than they are given credit for."

Campbell's Comedy 4 Kids plays at the Assembly Rooms next month.

Published: 18 Jul 2003