Jo Caulfield: Won’t Shut Up – Lowry Theatre, Salford

Reviewer: Helen Jones

The Public Reviews Rating:

Jo Caulfield, a regular guest on TV shows such as Mock The Week, Have I Got News For You and the star of her own radio shows, brings the penultimate performance of her nationwide tour to Salford. She freely admits that the title is an apt one – and, after all, who would pay to see her stand there silently?

From start to end, the show is witty and acerbic. Her comedy is more about observation than jokes, but her caustic commentary on life is always on the mark. People in the front rows are marked as attention seeking, and those at the back as would rather be somewhere else. She quickly “identifies” the gay couple as they are ‘too good looking to be straight’, and then progresses along the front row pairing people up and finding out their relationship to each other.

With just herself, a microphone and occasionally a clipboard, Ms Caulfield keeps her audience entertained throughout. The first half of the show is more of an organised ramble through the musings of a woman. From politics and current affairs to domesticity and her friends, all are treated with the same sharp humour. She is also delightfully prone to going off at a tangent when something else occurs to her. However the matters she talks about are all down to earth – there’s no showbiz parties, just girls’ nights out with friends – making it feel relevant to the majority of her audience. In fact, at several of her questions to the audience, there is definitely a knowing murmur in response.

Her interaction with the audience is effortless and engaging to watch. As part of the second half of the show, she tries out “new jokes” on the audience and takes their reaction, marking out of ten as to how successful the joke is. Ms Caulfield is also not afraid to make fun of herself, as in her story about an Ebay auction, and this self-depreciation makes her feel more approachable than many female stand-ups. She finishes with her version of a modern day bedtime story which is very amusing but definitely not for five year olds!

The show is fairly short at just under two hours and the time passes quickly. The title says that Jo Caulfield Won’t Shut Up, but with her wit and whimsicality so easy to enjoy, actually it’s rather a shame she did.