Jo Caulfield is surely one of the most intelligent comedians on the circuit. Not only are her jokes well sculpted, but she manages to keep surprising the audience with further punchlines. With
Jo Caulfield is surely one of the most intelligent comedians on the circuit.
As Caulfield takes to the stage, she has a supremely confident air about her that comes naturally with her experience, or perhaps it was down to the fact that she found herself in her current stomping-ground of Edinburgh. There is no need for huge energy with her style of comedy, but that is because the material is usually so strong and the delivery so sound. The best part of Caulfield's comedy is her art of adding further layers to a seemingly simple joke; that is to say that we think we've heard the punchline until Jo slaps an even better one down on the table. And another. And sometimes even another.
The narratives were clearly the strongest part of her comedy and the show was (rightly so) based around this. They teetered on the ridge between the realistic and the absurd, resulting in a few painfully funny outcomes. The depiction of a certain hotel-based incident was a clear audience favourite. The topics took a variety of forms, including the flavour-of-the-month amongst standups this Fringe: the Scottish referendum. However, at times, Caulfield found herself relying on tired, overused topics such as marriage and the male stereotype. Though these were still entertaining, they were certainly nothing too original.
Caulfield did give some variety to the show, yet did not perform as well with audience interaction, peppering us with some pre-prepared audience gags as opposed to any improvisational genius. She made up for this with the innovative decision to show us her notebook, or the holy grail of her comedy. Trialling some jokes displayed a wonderful strength in depth, some of the big laughs coming from jokes that did not even make the original show. Cancel My Subscription is certainly a safe bet for a great time.
