Outspoken, versatile and calm in a crisis, Craig Campbell cut his comedy teeth as one of the most notorious hosts of Ed’s Party - Canada’s longest running TV variety talk show. The popular stand-up is now embarking on a brand new tour, which is set to call in at Harpenden/Aylesbury this month.

Often described as the ‘wild man’ of comedy, Craig returns fresh from shredding 30 stages in 30 venues at the world’s most successful sport and comedy fusion, the Snowed In Comedy Tour in Canada. A Canadian comic himself, Craig is now back in the UK to roll out his latest show Don’t Look Down, which played to sell-out audiences at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last summer.

Craig, who now lives in Devon, has performed on Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow, Russell Howard’s Good News, Alan Davies’ As Yet Untitled and has even been responsible for easing the contractions of an expectant mother who laughed so hard at his performance on Dave’s One Night Stand - which detailed an encounter with a badger - that her waters broke.

Ever ready to be hands-on, Craig is also a keen snowboarder and has also tried his hand at professional whitewater kayaking, says: “I love to travel and that’s what this job allows me to do. I never set out to be a comedian, I just wanted to make enough money to travel and live the lifestyle that I wanted.

“It was out of desperation,” he adds laughing. “I studied chemistry, drama and French and college, but it was my comedy that started taking off. It is a lot of fun, but there’s pressure to be consistent as essentially you are selling a trade as a programme and that has some responsibility to be consistent and deliver. I really do enjoy it.”

When the 46-year-old, who has a Scottish heritage, moved to the UK in 1998, he took part in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for the first time and describes the experience as “mind-blowing” and “incredibly exciting”.

He says: “I found the show in the UK incredibly inspiring. It is one of the best comedy festivals in the world.”

Craig debuted alongside Tony Law and Dan Antopolski as part of comedy trio The Dinks, which achieved great critical success, leading to an invitation to perform in the Best Of Edinburgh programme in New York.

“My most memorable time was when my Mum came over to see one of my shows”, he goes on to add, “by this time we were touring the country, but she came back to her homeland, which is Scotland, to see it and that was quite sentimental, exciting but sentimental.”

Having been in industry for more than 20 years, Craig has worked with a large number of comics but says working with Jim Carrey on Mountain Madness and appearing with John Kennedy at the Montreal festival were probably some of the highlights of his career.

When questioned about the difference between Canadian humour and British humour Craig says they are pretty similar and it’s American humour that is very different.

“Canadian heritage is technically British so the humour is similar and it is also why you see so many Canadian comedians over here. American comedians are more broader with their material whilst British and Canadians’ focus on its audience are more invested in the people.

“It’s a cultural celebration in the UK and in Canada we don’t have the infrastructure to be able to that - it’s all infiltrated by American TV that drowns culture and churns out garbage.”

Harpenden Public Halls, Southdown Road, Harpenden, April 30, 8pm. Details: 01582 767525, harpendenpublichalls.co.uk Queens Park Centre, Queen’s Park, Aylesbury, April 29, 8pm. Details; 01296 424332, qpc.org