Josie Long

Josie Long is a total delight. From her breathy childlike excitement about the wonders of the world to her heart-breaking stories of love lost to her passion for politics, she attacks everything she does on stage with great enthusiasm. Hilariously funny, whilst also remaining incredibly approachable and ‘everywoman’, she’s been on the TV, on the radio, goes to Edinburgh every year and has toured the world with her shows, of which she has now had seven. Her latest is Cara Josephine, and she’s bringing it to The Playhouse this month. Just check out her immense website for some fun. I can’t bloody wait to see another of her shows, and was honoured to chat with her about stuff and nonsense.

Have you always tried to make people laugh?

I’ve always tried to; I’m not sure if I’ve always been successful though! I remember as a little kid I tried to make people laugh as I was quite awkward and I quite liked getting that response rather than others.

How did you got your foot on the comedy ladder back in 2006?

I think I always wanted to be a comedian; as a kid I always knew that was what I wanted too do so I was quite lucky in that respect. There was a comedy workshop near where I lived when I was 14 and I started going to that. As soon as I started it I fell in love with it and never didn’t want to do it.

Do you suffer from stage fright?

I used to when I was younger. When I was really young and was only doing the odd gig I used to feel crippled by it and feel really sick. When I started doing it everyday though I thought I can’t have this every day, I just can’t! So I didn’t as much. I’ve been doing stand up for 18 years now and I think it’s knackered my adrenaline gland! I definitely don’t get nervous as much as I used to.

Which of your shows are you most proud of?

It’s really hard ‘cos when you’re doing the show you think it’s the best one you’ve ever done, and when you do your next one you think that one I did last year was rubbish and this one’s much better. It’s really hard! I am a bit proud of them all in the same way, and like them all equally.

Can you tell me about your new show Cara Josephine? I hear it’s about love and being outdoors.

It’s a show about how I felt in the summer of 2013. I got my heart broken and I thought about love and how I approach relationships. I talk about how much I love my sister and my niece and stuff. Talking about it now it seems like that would only take five minutes! The show’s very silly and has bits in about how much I love Radio 3. Again, that doesn’t sound as cool as it should do! It’s a silly show but also personal; I make myself quite vulnerable in it as I talk about things that are quite true.

I’ve been to see you three times in Norwich with various shows. The last one I saw, Romance and Adventure was a lot more political than the first couple I saw. What has created this shift in what you want to talk to people about onstage?

I definitely had a kind of process or epiphany where I became a bit more politically active around 2009 and 2010. I’d moved in with my boyfriend at the time in Hackney. I had a really idealised image of what it might be like political, like 1970’s radical Hackney. I thought I’d move there and instantly be involved in loads of left wing things, but when I got there I just felt worry and confusion about gentrification. I really felt like I was a socialist and a feminist but I wasn’t doing anything to back it up in my local community. There was a couple living above me who I thought were yuppies, but I looked at myself and realised that from the outside I seemed the same. I realised that going to Glastonbury Festival is not political activism! So I was like, oh shit. I started getting more worried about the prospect of a Tory government, so I wanted to talk about that. When the Tory government came in it felt imperative for me to talk about it, and I felt upset and plagued and angry about it all the time. So I felt I had to talk about it.

It seems to me you have two definite sides; your carefree, child like enthusiasm, and your angrier, more barbed political side. Would you say that’s the case?

I’m a mixture of the two. I like to think over the last few years my voice has become a bit more diverse, and it means I can have a bit more of a range of emotions on stage. I hope it’s still quite broad. My new show is not totally optimistic and carefree as it’s about heartbreak. But it’s also not pessimistic. It’s more about my life rather than what I think about the world which is different. I like to think I can write about whatever I want.

I hear you’re writing a screenplay for a full-length film…what’s it about?

It’s about a hapless woman who lives in Glasgow, played by me, who thinks her life is going really well but then her sister who lives nearby moves away and the bottom falls out of her world. It’s about her romances and her job and her family and her loving politics and wanting to get involved but not knowing how to do that. We’re really hoping to make it in the summer and hope it will be distributed next year.

Have you ever thought of writing a book?

I have thought about it and in the past I’ve made attempts at it but nothing’s really come together yet. I’d love to do one though! I wrote a draft of a travel book that was like a treasure hunt around Britain but it never came to fruition in the end.

You’ve toured an awful lot all around the world with your shows. What’s the most magical place you’ve ever been to?

I went on holiday to Vietnam a few years ago and went for a hike into the country and saw some rice fields and it was really misty and beautiful. Oh and also I climbed Mount Kenya for charity a few years ago and at the very top it’s almost lunar; there’s so little fauna and flora that can survive up there. The sun was rising and we were reaching the summit, and there was this little crater with some water in it and the moon and the sun were above it and it looked so strange like we were in space.

How did you meet Grace Petrie, the folk singer who has supported you on tour?

I met her because I really liked her songs. She did a song called Emily Davison Blues, which someone sent me on Twitter. I loved it and got really into watching her stuff online. After about six months of talking on Twitter we met in real life and started performing with each other and being friends.

What makes you laugh and who are your favourite comedians?

One of my favourites is Flight of the Conchords, and I love Maria Bamford, Nish Kumar and Sarah Pascoe.

What’s 2015 going to hold for you Josie?

Well, I’m touring ‘til May and then I’m hoping to make this film, and as for the evenings I’m not even sure!

Josie Long brings her show Cara Josephine to The Playhouse on 20th February. Tickets from www.ueaticketbookings.co.uk