EDINBURGH 2014 - BWW Reviews: JOSIE LONG: CARA JOSEPHINE, The Stand, August 7 2014

Josie Long's 2014 Edinburgh Fringe show is a little different from previous years. Normally her performances are quite heavy on politics but she has chosen to do something a little more personal to her this year and talk about having her heart broken.

Long is an impossibly enthusiastic performer. She interacts well with the crowd and gets visibly excited when the audience really "get" certain aspects of the material. Having seen a preview of Cara Josephine earlier in the summer I already knew some of the material, but I laughed just as much second time around.

The comedy is structured, there is an element of storytelling around the stand up routine. We start off with 31-year-old newly single Josie in the summer of 2013 completely dejected and having given up on love as all her friends settle down. Long is often labelled as whimsical but I'm not positive that is the most accurate description. She is an optimist, yes, but she manages to avoid being "twee" or slipping into cliches. There is a happy ending to her story, it seems like everything is working out for her a year on from the break-up and the audience are visibly relieved. You can't help but like Long and desperately want things to go well for her.

Cara Josephine is a lot more personal than the last few Fringe shows that Josie Long has written, but that's a good thing. While I have always enjoyed her performances the honesty and vulnerability that went into Cara Josephine is evident and makes her 2014 Edinburgh Fringe show the best one yet.

Cara Josephine runs at The Stand until August 24th but many performances have already sold out.

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