The Buzz Intro Interview | Jamie Campbell

Responder: Jamie Campbell, Writer/Performer (Artistic Director)
Name of Company: Jamie Campbell Creative
Name of Show: Big Dad Energy

“I wanted to create a positive stand-up comedy show. Comedy is often very cynical, and I think the world has been through enough. We’re exhausted by the negative energy that we’ve all collectively been living through.”

Why should people see your show?

This is a feel good show that a reviewer called “possibly the most positive stand-up act in existence.” If you come to my show, you’re going to have fun, and hopefully leave the venue feeling better than you did when you came in. You might accidentally think a little bit as well, and I apologize for that. I used to be very cynical and angry. Aggressive comedy used to be right up my alley. But, I am tired of cynicism. I am interested in hope and connection, and the kind of full-room laughter that is good for the soul. That’s what I’m all about, and if that’s something you are into, come see me.

What about festivals intrigues you? And why the Atlanta Fringe?

Festivals always recharge and inspire me, because I get to see all of the varied ways artists from all over are using their platform to create. I learn and grow by watching and experiencing what others are doing, and fringe festivals are truly an incubator for limitless expression.

Atlanta Fringe, specifically, was a festival I wanted to go to because I love this city. Art, food, culture, and history merge in such a meaningful way in Atlanta. I have visited here on vacation, but have never performed in this city. I’m excited to connect with the arts scene here, and hopefully make Atlanta a spot that I regularly return to on future tours.

What inspired you to create this?

Those who don’t bother to read the full show description often assume this show is designed for an audience of parents. They usually see the title – Big Dad Energy – and assume I am a father. I’m not. This show about me exploring what it’s like to have gone through life expecting that I would one day be a father, and then having to come to the grips with the fact that having kids isn’t in the cards. Parents will definitely get a lot of laughs, but this show has something that just about anyone can connect with.

I wrote this show during lockdown, as I was planning a wedding. My then fiancee (now, my wife) and I were having conversations about whether or not we wanted kids. We didn’t explicitly NOT want children, but we weren’t ready to have them right away. When you get married in your 40’s, time is ticking. We decided to let the clock run out. The show was created as a way to process my feelings surrounding this decision and to explore what my legacy will be now that I’m not going to be a father. In essence, the audience kind-of become my kids during this show.

Life has been weird the last few years, to say the least. How has the “real world” affected the art you’re creating?

In many ways, this show is a response to what we all experienced during the lockdown part of the pandemic. Being able to perform again – I wanted to create a positive stand-up comedy show. Comedy is often very cynical, and I think the world has been through enough. We’re exhausted by the negative energy that we’ve all collectively been living through. I wanted to create something that would connect audiences and have them exit the theater with a sense of hope.

What have you learned from working on your show so far?

I have learned that joy is universal and so is kindness and understanding. I think the main message of my show is that we need to listen to each other, and that seems to truly resonate across boundaries. I have had senior citizens and teenagers alike come up to me after these shows and tell me how much they connected with the material. After one performance, a young woman in her early 20’s came up to me and asked if she could give me a hug. She told me her father recently passed away, and that I reminded her so much of him that she had to come and say hello. Moments like that let me know that this show is special, and it’s about more than just my own experience.

People across the spectrum of humanity have made my heart swell with their positive reception of Big Dad Energy, and I can’t wait to share it with Atlanta audiences.

There’s a mysterious stranger in the back row of your show, wearing a big ol’ N95 mask and a baseball cap and there’s something weirdly familiar about them, and then they come up afterwards to tell you they loved your show. In your WILDEST DREAMS, who is this mysterious stranger? (Bonus points if your mysterious stranger is an Atlanta celeb.)

If that mask comes off, and it’s Killer Mike, I’m freaking out. I love his music and his message. I’d be on Cloud 9.

Fringes are the place to really push the boundaries so we gotta ask: are you inviting your family to this show are “Hey, maybe sit this one out you guys…”

I’m inviting my family and my friends and everyone else’s family and friends. Maybe no kids – I do make some references to drugs and sex, but other than that, anybody can come.

As an artist, my work is connected to my humanity. I have to create without fear. My art is who I am.

Will your show change the world?

The tiniest ripple can cause a chain reaction that affects those millions of miles away. I don’t know that my show will change the world, but if it makes one person stop and listen to another person with kindness in their heart, then it did its job.