Wonderful women: Josie Long at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival
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I expected comedy, what I left with was political awareness, inspiration to ‘be great’ and an appetite for the murder-my-blood-pressure, B-grade American breakfast.
The expedition to The Bosco in City Square to see Josie Long at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival last night was the best on-a-whim decision I’d made in ages. Josie Long you have a new fan in me (a new twitter follower, and definitely a few @replies in the hope I’ll get you on side too).
It was one of those nights where everything was unfolding perfectly, we found a car spot right near the venue, the parking metre was out-of-order and the hummus we had prior the event was the perfect ratio of chickpea to tahini EVER. Oh yes add to this the pinot-grigio blend that I sipped on while keeping an eye on the line and you’ve got an unknowingly amazing set-up for the homerun in the game of date nights.
Date nights aside, the 27-yr-old Long is/was amazing.
For starters: Long discussed her battle with food and how dieting one summer ruined her personality but set her up for residency in sassy town. Yet, dieting she says lead her to a love affair with online food imagery, which she compares (in her cute British accent) to that of a 50-yr-old man masturbating over porn. At this point in the show she introduces a power-point presentation of her virtual love affair with Walter Ezell and his flickr account of the 365 breakfasts he ate last year. And ended with Josie wanting Walter and his partner Jim to adopt her.
To translate this into a stand-up comic routine was GENIUS – and had me thinking (uh oh) – hey, look at this chick from GENERATION Y taking what we know best (the internets) and ripping it into tiny pieces of hilarity and throwing it in the face of everyone who says our generation is lazy, and in-turn setting the bar for a strong, stand-up show in the process.
Josie used different ‘mediums’ throughout the hour of fun and managed to paint a portrait, literally, of her wealth of knowledge and her ability to be creative and embrace extra-credit for her comedy routine.
Again I’ll use GENIUS, from wishing Billy Bragg was her dad, to Kate Moss and Pete Doherty’s poignant moments during heroin deals – all her stories were captivating.
Somewhere toward the end of this cleverly crafted roller-coaster of a show, Josie expresses her need to ‘be great’ in life and how we should all aspire to this. Actually, in her zine (which you get at the start of the show) it says ‘STAY IDEALISTIC, BE EARNEST, BE SILLY, DON’T GIVE UP!’
Josie’s show amongst her rants has subtle points of humility, which I loved. Saying that she thought she could change the world by talking to people, smiling at them and bringing the light to an otherwise drab day on the tube, which she’s realising might not be enough, and for it to be enough she must perhaps get POLITICAL or at least move to a political town.
Honestly, after the show I was surprised how refreshed and aligned I felt with life!
“I’m going to make the world great!”
I’d say you’re doing plenty Josie, and you surely dropped some sort of inspiring light on me last night in The Bosco, I even want to be friends! And hey, if everyone could start the day thinking a little bit like you as they eat their breakfast (or look for it on flickr) I’d put money on it that the world would be a better place!
Who would of thought?
I expected comedy, what I left with was political awareness, inspiration to ‘be great’ and an appetite for the murder-my-blood-pressure, B-grade American breakfast. The expedition to The Bosco in City Square to see Josie Long‘s show ‘Be Honourable’ at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival last night was the best on-a-whim decision I’d made in ages. Josie Long you have a new fan in me (a new twitter follower, and definitely a few @replies in the hope I’ll get you on side too). It was one of those nights where everything was unfolding perfectly, we found a car spot right near the venue, the parking metre was out-of-order and the hummus we had prior the event was the perfect ratio of chickpea to tahini EVER. Oh yes add to this the pinot-grigio blend that I sipped on while keeping an eye on the line and you’ve got an unknowingly amazing set-up for the homerun in the game of date nights. Date nights aside, the 27-yr-old Long is/was amazing. For starters: Long discussed her battle with food and how dieting one summer ruined her personality but set her up for residency in sassy town. Yet, dieting she says lead her to a love affair with online food imagery, which she compares (in her cute British accent) to that of a 50-yr-old man masturbating over porn. At this point in the show she introduces a power-point presentation of her virtual love affair with Walter Ezell and his flickr account of the 365 breakfasts he ate last year. And ended with Josie wanting Walter and his partner Jim to adopt her. To translate this into a stand-up comic routine was GENIUS – and had me thinking (uh oh) – hey, look at this chick from GENERATION Y taking what we know best (the internets) and ripping it into tiny pieces of hilarity and throwing it in the face of everyone who says our generation is lazy, and in-turn setting the bar for a strong, stand-up show in the process. Josie used different ‘mediums’ throughout the hour of fun and managed to paint a portrait, literally, of her wealth of knowledge and her ability to be creative and embrace extra-credit for her comedy routine. Again I’ll use GENIUS, from wishing Billy Bragg was her dad, to Kate Moss and Pete Doherty’s poignant moments during heroin deals – all her stories were captivating. Somewhere toward the end of this cleverly crafted roller-coaster of a show, Josie expresses her need to ‘be great’ in life and how we should all aspire to this. Actually, in her zine (which you get at the start of the show) it says ‘STAY IDEALISTIC, BE EARNEST, BE SILLY, DON’T GIVE UP!’ Josie’s show amongst her rants has subtle points of humility, which I loved. Saying that she thought she could change the world by talking to people, smiling at them and bringing the light to an otherwise drab day on the tube, which she’s realising might not be enough, and for it to be enough she must perhaps get POLITICAL or at least move to a political town. Honestly, after the show I was surprised how refreshed and aligned I felt with life! “I’m going to make the world great!” I’d say you’re doing plenty Josie, and you surely dropped some sort of inspiring light on me last night in The Bosco, I even want to be friends! And hey, if everyone could start the day thinking a little bit like you as they eat their breakfast (or look for it on flickr) I’d put money on it that the world would be a better place! Who would of thought? |
