Grace Campbell knows a thing or two about partying. “I had a very active social life as a teenager,” she tells me. Nowadays, the stand-up comedian’s hectic touring schedule means it’s harder to have a full-on blow-out and, having recently turned 30, she’s more likely to be at a dinner party than raving into the early hours. But when Campbell lets her curly hair down, she does so in a big way. “If I’m out, I like to go out,” she says, raising an eyebrow. “I am sometimes one of the people [still] standing at the end, for sure.”
Take late November this year, when Campbell played the biggest show of her career to a sold-out, 3,500-person crowd at iconic London comedy venue, Hammersmith Apollo. After the show, an emotional Campbell and 200 of her closest friends celebrated in style with a rager of an afterparty nearby. “We all just got absolutely fucked, because it was just really strong drinks,” she says, laughing. “Because it was a celebration, it felt like I could justify staying out late. I was absolutely wasted.”
In fact, Campbell loves a shindig so much, she started her own podcast, Late To The Party, where she chats to guests such as Jameela Jamil, Joanne McNally and Amelia Dimoldenberg to find out all their wildest party stories. Even her father, political strategist and The Rest Is Politics host Alastair Campbell has made a guest appearance.
So, who better to design the ultimate night out than Campbell herself? Here, she talks Service95 through her party wish list, from the music she’d play to the drinks she’d serve – and how to recover the next day...
Getting Ready... I love getting ready with my friends at my house, but a lot of my social life now is mixed with me doing shows, so if I’ve just come off stage, I already feel and look great. Then I like to go out.
The Soundtrack... I have the most random taste [in] music, so I’ll probably be listening to some old reggae artist. My friends will be like, “Can we listen to something a bit more upbeat?” and I’ll be like, “No.”
The Venue... I love a really good house party; I can’t even remember the last time I went to the club! After my Apollo show, I had a big party at a place called Kindred. There were about 200 people and when I got there, they were all there. That was a really fun party.
The Guest List... For my ideal party, I’ve controlled the guest list. I don’t want strangers there, I just want to have fun with my friends. All of my best friends are great craic on nights out.
The Drinks... I love a dirty martini. Like, really, really dirty – lots of brine. My friend made this olive oil dirty martini the other day at my house, and it was incredible. I also love orange wine, because I read somewhere that it doesn’t give you hangovers.
The Menu... [With] food at a party, I just love tiny little bits that I can put in my mouth in one go that I’m not gonna choke on.
The End Of The Night... My perfect party sweet spot is from 7pm to 12am. It’s always lack of sleep for me – or really broken sleep – [that makes me hungover] so if I’m in bed by 12, I’m not going to have a hangover.
The Afterparty... I like to go to an afters if it’s with loads of people that I love, but it stresses me out being with people I don’t know. If someone’s jarring me a bit at an afters, then I would be forced to leave.
The Morning After... If I’ve got nothing to do, I will lie there and scroll on my phone until I realise I’ve just been on Instagram for seven hours. I used to be obsessed with cold water swimming, and that’s an amazing way to get rid of a hangover. I’ve stopped going to the lido as much now, but if I do have to go out and do something: a very cold shower, a coffee and probably some carbohydrates. If I can be hungover, I’ll just lie and watch [the American version of] The Office over and over again.
Isobel Lewis is a culture journalist based in London, who specialises in stand-up comedy. She writes for publications including The New York Times, The Guardian and Time Out
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