Josie Long decided to go on a diet, she thought if she was thinner this would solve all the problems in her life, instead it made her fantasise about porridge and become obsessed with pictures of food on the internet. Food porn.
Seeing a Josie Long show is usually like having an extra special, lovely hug, with extra hugginess. This year, however, I felt like it was just a really good hug. That sounds like it’s a bit of a come down, but this show is still terrific and extraordinarily funny in parts, even if it’s not the best show Josie has ever produced.
She kicks off the show by taking us on an internet tour of breakfasts by a guy called Walter. There is a lot of charm in this section, partly due to Walter’s website, partly due to Josie’s commentary on it. But does have a bit of point and laugh feel about it. She then goes on to tell us about her quest to talk to a stranger every day, explain why she’d like Billy Bragg and Nye Bevan to both adopt her, explains how she’d like to progress up her self made ‘being good’ graph and tells of her decision to get more involved with political causes, which is her (somewhat inexplicable) route to ‘doing good’.
I felt Josie’s lazy political posturing is a big drawback from the show. She does admit that her outlook is naive and not properly thought through. However she’s working on the same circuit, and in the same festival as superb political comedians like Jamie Kilstein and Mathew Kenneally. No matter how passionate you are about your simplistic convictions (left is good, right is bad), simply admitting that your ideas are a bit half baked, doesn’t really cut it.
Also, Josie’s delivery is at times a bit clunky, like she’s still trying to remember how the show goes. This may be a result of not enough runs of the show or, as I kind of suspect, the unconvincing structurally binding aspects which are loose and often feel contrived.
I’m being harsh on Josie though. Because I admire her so much I expect a lot from her. Be assured that the above is just picky critic talk, and that this show, if not perfect, is certainly highly enjoyable throughout. As a bonus every audience member gets a hand drawn, photocopied program, which includes auxiliary information and lots of lovely silly ideas and giggles. Not Josie at her best but certainly worthwhile.
For full booking details check out the Melbourne Comedy Festival website