Newcastle upon Tyne
Monday 16th March
More information on Josie’s website
“Dad’s Home!”. Josie’s long-running joke that she feels compelled to say every time a bottle clashes, implying that an alcoholic Dad has returned from drinking and is ready to beat his children, is one that effectively sums up Josie Long’s comic style. She has a wonderful grasp on humour and with being poetic but can also be incredibly human and emotional at the same time.
The night began with Josie coming to the stage and introducing the show. The 30+ year old came out and talked about her 17 year old lifestyle, both learning to drive and doing her maths A level. This was the perfect introduction to Cara Josephine, a show about her childhood and the resilience of an older sister. It got plenty of laughs and made the audience excited for what was to come.
Next, out came Johnny Lynch a.k.a. The Pictish Trail. He was not a comedian, but a musician and his folksy pop songs were a delight on the ears and contained some extremely interesting lyrics, making me an instant fan. The on stage persona of Johnny won over the crowd, as could be seen in that he had everyone laughing between song breaks. He even left enough of an impression for me to go straight to buy his album during the interval!
After the break, Josie stepped back up. From start to finish, her set was a treat. It was a show which was topical, deep, personal and above all, extremely funny. The structure of the show was perfect, getting in plenty of laughs at the start, before building and getting more emotionally powerful as it built towards the beautiful end. This wasn’t just a show full of jokes, but one of sympathy and love. The audience went on the personal journey of love with Josie, yet at the same time were allowed to revel in a lot of digs at her ‘rather posh’ lower middle class upbringing (including wonderful segments revealing her inner feelings about UKIP and Tories).
Considering this was a show that included 1 ½ props, it still managed to feel like a complete, connected and structurally wonderful performance. It is very easy to understand why Josie is such a hit with critics and continues to get rave reviews with every touring show she does. I would definitely see her again; looking at the vast variety of characters in the audience, she seems to appeal to many different people for many different reasons.