Review: Josie Long - Norwich Playhouse (27.09.2025)

The comedy set, for Josie Long at least, didn't get off to the smoothest of starts in Norwich. As Long explained in her opening gambit, not only did she endure quite an arduous, delay-ridden journey to Norfolk from her home in Glasgow, but her set pieces and props were lost by a bungling UPS, so the stage and auditorium at Norwich Playhouse was a little more sparse than she'd planned.

While it was no doubt a stressful day for our host, being "in the hands of an accomplished professional" (Long's words after delivering a particularly fine wordplay joke about her daughter's ages), Long simply used the mishaps to amplify the comedy in what was a brilliant routine even without all the bells and whistles she had planned.

The main thrust of the show, officially titled Now is the Time of Monsters, sees Long poke fun at some of the wondrous beasts that roamed the earth 11,000 years ago (a special interest of her eldest daughter). Along the way, we are treated to her artistic interpretations of the creatures, interspersed with comedic parallels of metaphorical monsters "in these troubling times".

In much more traditional stand-up territory, Long also hilariously discusses life as a mum, ageing, and her left-wing politics. There's not a great deal in this that audiences won't have heard before, but it's delivered with a great verve, energy, and such ease that it's a joy to watch.

At 43 ("What? No way!"), Long admits to being very comfortable in her own skin, and that, combined with a couple of decades' experience under her belt, means she is at the stage where her comedy seems so effortless, and it's all the better for it. Let's hope this tour earns her the spot on Taskmaster that she so desperately craves!

Josie Long's tour of Now is the Time of Monsters continues across the UK until 12 Dec 2025.