I hadn’t seen Josie Long perform for a couple of years, I knew that I’d missed her… But I really had no idea just how much I had missed her until today.

Since we last caught up with this clown she has had a baby and yes that is the main crux of this show.

For years I have heard that one of the reasons that female clowns are considered less funny than male clowns is because they only talk about “women’s problems” and that men (the majority of the stand up audience) can’t relate, don’t want to relate and therefore don’t find it funny. And to that argument Josie Long just said “Hold . My . Pint”

You see Josie Long is one of the most likeable and free flowing clowns to ever grace a Fringe stage. She keeps her delivery on the sweet side of bumbling but this is merely a cunning ruse to wrong foot you, because she is also – by far – one of the smartest clowns working on the circuit today. 

Jokes about periods, child birth, menopause were often treated like the female equivalent of the old “my mother in law” gags of the chain smoking, end-of-pier 70s comics. It turns out though that any material can be truly hilarious in the right pair of hands.

The politics are still very much a part of the routine – at one point using her daughters baby seal toy to make a swift but deep dig at environmental policy – and the audience are with her throughout. In fact the only semi-heckle was a well spoken older chap asking his wife, slightly too loudly, what a mind palace was!

This was a top notch hour of comedy and I genuinely can’t recommend going to see Josie Long highly enough.

Clown Stars: * * * * *

 @The Stand – Edinburgh