James Campbell's comedy night uses no words ruder than 'poo'. Photograph: Tristram Kenton
Those pesky kids! Not content with having their own irritating pastimes (reciting the entire plot of Star Wars, zoning out on Neopets, making repetitive noises), now children are muscling in on ours. In Edinburgh at the moment, the Bank of Scotland Children's International Theatre Festival is in full swing, this year offering the under-fours the chance to join a Baby Rave (the same as an adult rave except the ecstasy is not chemically induced) and giving the over-fives the chance to participate in a piece of site-specific theatre in the woods. That one, Once Upon a Dragon, is staged by Grid Iron, a company lauded for entertaining grown-ups in playgrounds, department stores and airports while the wee ones are with the babysitter.
By coincidence (or could it be an evil plot?), comedian James Campbell has just extended his Comedy Club 4 Kids franchise to Edinburgh's Bongo Club. The idea of his monthly sessions is to present all the trappings of a regular comedy night - the compère, the headliner and the raffle to get names on the mailing list - but in the middle of the afternoon with an audience who put their hands up instead of heckling. Oh, and the open spots are taken by 10-year-olds.
The inaugural performance, starring Campbell, Jojo Sutherland and Neil McFarlane, went down well in front of an audience ranging in age from seven to early-teens plus parents relieved not to be suffering the mass hysteria of a Singing Kettle gig. The comedians geared their acts accordingly, offering observations on school, supermarkets and games consoles using words no ruder than "poo". First-timer Natasha, 10, did a routine about tooth fairies, while McFarlane was surely the only stand-up ever to be heckled about the broadcast time of that night's Doctor Who and the pronunciation of Freema Agyeman's name.
You can see why the shows have proved a hit in London, Cambridge and Brighton, but you can also see that it's not enough simply to transpose an established adult format to a junior audience. Children are predisposed to imaginative play and, unlike their parents, need little encouragement to shed their inhibitions. By using the confrontational relationship of the comedy club, even with a bit of audience banter, the acts are missing a trick.
This was most noticeable in McFarlane's set when the audience, eager to see him use his next prop, a mobile phone, started pointing to it. The more he asked them to stop, the more they pointed. They were having a ball, but the comedian was freaked. He had no way of capitalising on the situation and could only stick resolutely to his material. The children, however, knew where the real fun was.
It made me think back to Gimme Your Left Shoe, Phil Kay's brilliant children's comedy show which requires the audience to forfeit a shoe on the way in. They get it back only after engaging in a surreal activity of their own invention using the large pile of props Kay brings along with him. It is creative, participatory and deliciously of the moment, characteristics children need no schooling in. Kay instinctively knows we're better off without the conventions of the adult world and, like the best children's theatre, lets the spirit of creativity roam free.
