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Stand Comedy Club, Edinburgh The standup tenderly hymns the joys of new parenthood in this delightful, tightly focused show
Having a baby is about as far from unique an experience as it’s possible to get, so it’s impressive how Josie Long makes it her private property with her new show, Tender. “I’m the only person this has ever happened to!” she jokes – but Tender does make you realise how seldom pregnancy and childbirth are given this attention on the comedy stage. Long revels in the emotional intensity and carnal indignity of the process, making comic hay in the tension between baby-making as commonplace and as the most extraordinary experience of one’s life.
The show really benefits from Long’s tight focus: childbearing isn’t the subject of a few routines, it’s the whole show. She sets out her stall early, spluttering in dismay at being asked, 13 months into her daughter’s life: “What else have you been up to?” To Long – never one to underplay emotional response – there is nothing else, not since her period tracking app failed and the journey towards new parenthood accidentally began. Continue reading...