The three-time Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee is finally back on the road next year with a brand-new show about the mind-bending intensity of new motherhood, but it is also about kindness, gentleness and joy. And we’re delighted her tour will be coming to Kendal for an evening at the Brewery Arts Centre on Friday 6 March 2020.
A cult-optimist herself, Josie wants her audiences to feel optimistic about the future, although in this current day and age, that’s a big ask. But at the very least there will be some silly voices. Of course, its Josie Long: society’s biggest issues that we’re facing today, from climate change to Boris Johnson, cannot be ignored, but Tender’s main focus is about bringing new life into this ever-changing world.
Having started performing comedy at just 14, Josie went on to win the BBC New Comedy Award, Chortle Best Newcomer, Best Newcomer at the 2006 Edinburgh Comedy Awards and then was nominated for Best Show at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards three years running. She has since sold out West End runs, performed at the most prestigious comedy festivals in the world, written five solo tours and sold out shows in LA and New York.
On screen, Josie has been seen on 8 Out of 10 Cats (Channel 4), Never Mind the Buzzcocks (BBC2), You Have Been Watching (Channel 4) and Skins (Channel 4), for which she also wrote. She has presented on BBC 6Music, was nominated for a Radio Academy Award for her adventurous short documentaries Short Cuts on Radio 4 and earned a BAFTA Scotland New Talent Award nomination for her two short feature films, Let’s Go Swimming and Romance and Adventure and her recent feature film, Super November, was nominated for a BIFA Discovery Award.
In 2011, Josie started an ongoing project called the Alternative Reality Tour; an anti-cuts, pro-youth, no-profit performance in a bid to fight for social justice and support public art, and is co-founder of the Arts Emergency Service, a charity which aims to support students from underprivileged backgrounds who wish to study arts degrees.
For tickets head to: https://www.breweryarts.co.uk/
PRESS ON ‘TENDER’
★★★★★ “Riotously hilarious…such a uniquely optimistic hour of comedy…it is a dose of medicine which is so very needed” THE SKINNY
★★★★★ “A playful and intelligent hour” ONE4REVIEW
★★★★★ “Beautifully written… you leave feeling hopeful, with enough energy to keep fighting and a good dose of joy and silliness” FUNNY WOMEN
★★★★★ “Incredibly funny… a joy throughout” YOUNG PERSPECTIVE
★★★★ “The mother lode of love, joy and laughs” THE GUARDIAN
★★★★ “What a delight it is to have Josie Long back… the perfect cure for a spot of November SAD” THE TELEGRAPH
★★★★ “In Long’s hands, the material is revitalised… there’s something refreshing and sort of revolutionary about it” THE i
★★★★ “Articulate, passionate and intense, but heart-warmingly funny, too” EVENING STANDARD
★★★★ “Her relentless cheeriness would win over even the most cynical of hearts” THE ARTS DESK
★★★★ “As infectious as always…Tender is explicitly personal and positive” THE SCOTSMAN
★★★★ “It’s a genuine joy to spend an hour with Long” THE LIST
★★★★ “Long’s skill as a comedian is undimmed… so personal and so humorous with it, too” FEST
★★★★ “There is so much love in the room for Josie Long” EDINBURGH FESTIVAL MAGAZINE
★★★★ “We need people like Josie Long now more than ever” BROADWAYBABY