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JOSIELONG . i ' ' A gleeful lesson in trying your best 0000 : m .» .~ ~ I w. ,, i i. ' ' ’ I O ‘ M v ' H . 1‘. . I”. I. . Josie Long is already holding court about nothing much as the sold-out ‘ -‘. - .. -_ - :1' . audience squeezes in. She happily assures us that this is not to make it ' ' i o o ; seem like a piece of avant-garde theatre, that she just likes to chat. : . " - ' : '- . ‘. ~ ; : 2' :~ 0 ' 0 Following on from last year's runaway success Kindness and Exuberance, ‘ ‘ ‘ ' ‘ ' ‘ ‘ ‘ Z ‘ ' ‘ ‘ ‘ which saw her emerge as the inaugural Eddies Best Newcomer, she " ' . ;' ' ,’ tackles the difficult second show, Trying is Good, with the same apparent " i ' ' ;- ' 2' 2' ' carefree ease. " " .' 3- 3" z Effort and the celebration thereof are the twin cruxes of her material. ~ : " - ' ' v " ' '; . Long‘s new ethos, following a time of self-doubt, is that to have tried and .' :r w ' " -r " . ’ ' " -v :' ' ' g: done your best is a result. She admires eccentrics and glorifies fellow try- ' 2' ' z . ' ; ~ . ' x 'o 2' I ' hards in this delightful, delicious lesson in seeing the good in everything. " w : ' v' " ’ ' - With stories about joining the gym, music she likes, satsumas and fancy ' " w: ' : - " ' '- -: w r, .' i ‘ dress. her brand of minute observation isn't dissimilar to Daniel Kitson or : -- " --' z z ;' : '- -- ' 1" ‘ " ., Demetri Martin, bolstered by the giddy infectiousness of a gleeful child. ' ' ' '- : -' -- : ‘ ' ,w ‘ Coupled with a distinctive delivery style, she labours on a joke for so long '. -- ' 2" '2' z - H .- ~ ' ",":°': it feels like being verbally tickled into submission, and making you laugh " - ‘- .' ' :' ' r:' H. 1‘ " " until you think you might vomit, she appears to have carved her niche : :w :1. ,w : z, .z- w I,‘ ' outwith the mainstream. She weaves her many props - sketchbooks, ; . a : z" ; :' ' ' fit-'5: diagrams and photographs she‘s surreptitiously taken of people - into the " -~ v' ' ;' ‘ -;' '2’ '2 " -’: -;' ’z' I; texture of a show bustling with charming silliness. This magical hour is a :' " - ;' :“ -v r; . :~';' ,r: 1' “ a ,' - " little bit shabby, completely and emphatically real and about all the things " . ;' ‘ I ' '2' p u: ' my; new 3,315,053,”; Long champions. Endearing and madcap, this clearly took effort, and you ’. r : ,' ' o 0 can't help but smile about it. (Peggy Hughes) I w.- :' -v ', , "if, (.220. '1 l '3 .921353" .'.' .. " K ' .~ w v.~' -' .r ;’ ’1 '10 5 7’, if,
20 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE '-