Josie Isabel Long (born 17 April 1982) is a British comedian. She started performing as a stand-up at the age of 14 and won the BBC New Comedy Awards at 17. In 2006, Long won the If.comeddies Best Newcomer award at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

for her show ''Kindness and Exuberance''. She has been nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Show three times. In 2012, Long and director Doug King produced two short comedy films in Glasgow called ''Let's Go Swimming'' and ''Romance and Adventure'', which were nominated for a BAFTA Scotland New Talent Award.

Early life and education

Long was born in

Sidcup Sidcup is an area of south-east London, England, primarily in the London Borough of Bexley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, bordering the London Boroughs of London Borough of Bromley, Bromley and Royal Borough of Greenwich, Greenwich. Before ...

and spent her early life in

Orpington Orpington is a town and area in south east London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is 13.4 miles (21.6 km) south east of Charing Cross. On the south-eastern edge of the Greater London Built-up Area, it is south of St Ma ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, where she attended

Newstead Wood School for Girls Newstead Wood School is a Grammar schools in the United Kingdom, selective girls' grammar school in Avebury Road, Orpington, south east London, England. Admissions The school Specialist school, specialises in Engineering College (English spec ...

. She began performing stand-up comedy at 14, winning the

BBC New Comedy Awards The BBC New Comedy Award first took place in 1995, and it is considered to be one of the top UK comedy newcomer awards. It was axed in 2006, being replaced by a nationwide talent hunt that places its emphasis on sketch writing and filmed perform ...

at the age of 17. Long attended Michael Knighton's comedy course in Beckenham, London. At 18 she gave up stand-up whilst attending

Lady Margaret Hall Lady Margaret Hall (LMH) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, located on the banks of the River Cherwell at Norham Gardens in north Oxford and adjacent to the University Parks. The college is more formall ...

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, ran experimental comedy clubs, and graduated with a degree in English.

Career

After graduating Long returned to live stand-up, supporting

Stewart Lee Stewart Graham Lee (born 5 April 1968) is an English comedian, screenwriter, and television director. His stand-up routine is characterised by repetition, internal reference, deadpan delivery, and consistent breaking of the fourth wall. Lee b ...

on his spring 2005 tour. In March that year, Long was named Best Newcomer at the 2005 Chortle Awards. She contributed sketches and one-liners to

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

's 2004/5 comedy show, ''The Milk Run'' with Andrew O'Neill. One edition of the show was entirely given over to a script she co-wrote with her friend Dan Harkin, entitled ''The Adventures Of

Marco Polo Marco Polo (, , ; 8 January 1324) was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known as ''Book of the Marv ...

''. In 2005 she began publishing a fanzine, ''Drawing Moustaches in Magazines Monthly Magazine (Bi-Monthly)'', which is distributed for free, and has featured contributions from

Robin Ince Robin Ince (born 20 February 1969) is an English comedian, actor and writer, known for presenting the BBC radio show ''The Infinite Monkey Cage'' with physicist Brian Cox (physicist), Brian Cox, and his stand-up comedy career. Education After ...

Kevin Eldon Kevin Eldon (born 2 October 1959) is an English actor and comedian. He featured in British comedy television shows of the 1990s including ''Fist of Fun'', '' This Morning with Richard Not Judy'', '' Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge' ...

and

, as well as Danielle Ward and

Isy Suttie Isobel Jane "Isy" Suttie (; born 11 August 1978) is a British musical comedian, actress, and writer. She played Dobby in the British sitcom ''Peep Show'', and in 2013 won the gold Sony Radio Academy Award for her radio show ''Pearl And Dave''. ...

. She appeared in the show ''An Audience With Dan Nightingale & Josie Long'' with Mancunian comic Dan Nightingale, at the Café Royal, at the 2005

Edinburgh Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

. In 2006 she won the If.comedies Best Newcomer award at the Fringe for her show ''Kindness and Exuberance''. In her 2007/2008 tour ''Trying is Good'' her act often involved drawing a sea scene on her arms and stomach. Long has a love of

appliqué Appliqué is ornamental needlework in which pieces or patches of fabric in different shapes and patterns are sewn or stuck onto a larger piece to form a picture or pattern. It is commonly used as decoration, especially on garments. The technique ...

and the V&A Museum, and live

Boggle ''Boggle'' is a word game invented by Allan Turoff and originally distributed by Parker Brothers. The game is played using a plastic grid of lettered dice, in which players look for words in sequences of adjacent letters. Rules One player begi ...

contests sometimes form a part of her performances. Josie Long (cropped)

As of 2014 she has performed seven solo shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and performed five subsequent UK tours in springs 2007, 2008 and 2009, Autumn 2010 and spring 2012. She has appeared at the

Melbourne International Comedy Festival The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) is the largest stand-alone comedy festival and the second-largest international comedy festival in the world. Established in 1987, it takes place annually in Melbourne over four weeks, typicall ...

(2007–10), the

Adelaide Fringe Festival The Adelaide Fringe, formerly Adelaide Fringe Festival, is the world's second-largest annual arts festival (after the Edinburgh Festival Fringe), held in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Between mid-February and mid-March each year, ...

(2008), the New Zealand Comedy Festival (2008, 2010) and the Montreal Just For Laughs Festival (2008). Her show, ''Trying is Good'' was nominated for the Barry Award in Melbourne 2008. In 2009 she toured her show ''All of the Planet's Wonders'', playing 14 dates during February and March. Her radio series based on the show, ''Josie Long: All of the Planet's Wonders'' was broadcast on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

in early 2009. Long has been nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Show three times, with her 2010 show, ''Be Honourable!'', 2011's ''The Future Is Another Place'' and 2012's ''Romance & Adventure''. Recordings of the former two were released on a cassette album entitled ''Lost Cats.'' Along with fellow comics

Hils Barker Hils Barker is a British comedian and writer. She was a finalist in newcomer competitions So You Think You're Funny and The Daily Telegraph Open Mic Award, and went on to write and perform in two series of comedy show '' Radio9'' for BBC Radio 4. ...

, Steve Hall and James Sherwood, she founded the ''All-Singing, All-Dancing Competitive News Bonanza'', a live topical panel show that ran at the Red Lion pub in

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develop ...

in 2004/05, and at the Arts Theatre Club in Soho in 2006. In 2006 she also launched her own monthly comedy clubs, the ''Sunday Night Adventure Club'', at the ABC Café in

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

, London (later at the Black Sheep pub), and ''The OK Club'' at the Boogaloo pub in

Highgate Highgate ( ) is a suburban area of north London at the northeastern corner of Hampstead Heath, north-northwest of Charing Cross. Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has two active conservation organisati ...

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nort ...

. She currently runs and hosts "The Lost Treasures of the Black Heart" comedy club in

Camden Town Camden Town (), often shortened to Camden, is a district of northwest London, England, north of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Camden, and identified in the London Plan as o ...

, which is recorded and made available as a podcast. Josie Long and craftivists

Long has written for the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

teen comedy-drama series '' Skins''. She has also appeared in an online

webisode A webisode (portmanteau of "web" and "episode") is an episode of a series that is distributed as part of a web series or on streaming television. It is available as either for download or in streaming, as opposed to first airing on broadcast or c ...

and episodes five and 10 of the second series of the show, in which she plays a college careers adviser, and appeared again in episode five of the third series, reprising that role, this time, however, in another career. She makes a return appearance in series six as the college guidance counsellor in episode one. Since 2013 Long has been the presenter of the BBC Radio 4 short documentary series and podcast ''Short Cuts'', which was won multiple awards including the Gold for Best Radio Podcast at the British Podcast Awards in both 2017 and 2018. She has also been involved in

BBC Switch BBC Switch was the brand for BBC content aimed at UK teenagers. The brand was launched on Saturday 20 October 2007 on BBC Two and ceased broadcasting on 18 December 2010. It included a block of television programmes on BBC Two, an online porta ...

, on a weekly mini-feature called ''Josie Long's Confuse the Teacher Feature'', where a word is read out by Long for young people listening to the show to include in their homework, which was formed after her suggestion of the idea during an interview on the show with

Annie Mac Annie Mac (born 18 July 1978), is an Irish DJ, broadcaster and writer. She hosted a variety of shows on BBC Radio 1, including BBC Switch and ''Future Sounds''. She also DJed in various locations, including hosting her AMP (Annie Mac Presents) ...

. She also appeared regularly in

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

''Show & Tell'', now called ''Robin and Josie's Utter Shambles'', co-hosted the

Resonance FM Resonance 104.4 FM is a London based non-profit community radio station specialising in the arts run by the London Musicians' Collective (LMC). The station is staffed by four permanent staff members, including programme controller Ed Baxter and ...

show ''I, DJ'' with Danielle Ward and

, and guested on ''

Answer Me This! ''Answer Me This!'' was a comedy podcast by Helen Zaltzman and Olly Mann made between 2007 and 2021 in which they answered questions submitted by the general public. It was one of the first independent British podcasts to gain success, and led ...

'' podcast. She has also DJ-ed at the London

indiepop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and su ...

club night Scared To Dance. She appeared on the '' Jon Richardson Show'' on 27 July 2008 and again on 15 February 2009. On 28 September 2008, she performed at the HungaMunga Festival at Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club. On 9 October 2008 she appeared on ''

Never Mind the Buzzcocks ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' is a British comedy panel game show with a pop music theme. It has aired on Sky Max since September 2021, having originally aired between November 1996 and January 2015 on BBC Two. The original series was first hoste ...

'' in the second programme of the 22nd series. On 19 January 2009 she appeared on the radio panel game '' Just a Minute''. She appeared in Australian improvised-comedy show ''

Thank God You're Here ''Thank God You're Here'' is an Australian television improvised comedy program created by Working Dog Productions, which premiered on Network Ten on 5 April 2006, and aired for the first three seasons and on Seven for the fourth season. Each ...

'' twice, the first of which aired on 6 May 2009. On 5 July 2009 she appeared on

Sunday Night Show ''The Sunday Night Show with Iain Lee'' was a Sony Award Silver-winning weekly radio show broadcast on Absolute Radio, between 10 pm on Sunday and 1 am on Monday, hosted by Iain Lee Iain Lee (born Iain Lee Rougvie; 9 June 1973) is an Engli ...

Absolute Radio Absolute Radio is a British National radio station owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Absolute Radio Network. It broadcasts nationally across the UK via Digital audio broadcasting and on 1215 kHz MW. History 1993–1997: Virg ...

with

Iain Lee Iain Lee (born Iain Lee Rougvie; 9 June 1973) is an English broadcaster, writer, and former television presenter and stand-up comedian who hosts the phone-in talk show '' The Late Night Alternative'' on "pay to view" Patreon. Lee's career began ...

. On 14 and 28 July 2009 she appeared on

Charlie Brooker Charlton Brooker (born 3 March 1971) is an English television presenter, writer, producer and satirist. He is the creator and co-showrunner of the sci-fi drama anthology series ''Black Mirror'', and has written for comedy series such as ''Bras ...

show ''

You Have Been Watching ''You Have Been Watching'' is a British comedy panel game presented by Charlie Brooker, produced by Zeppotron for Channel 4 and filmed at BBC Television Centre (pilot and series 2) and Riverside Studios (series 1) in London. It first aired on ...

''. On 21 and 23 August 2009 Long performed at the

Green Man Festival The Green Man Festival is an independent music, science and arts festival held annually in mid-August in the Brecon Beacons, Wales. Green Man has evolved into a 25,000 capacity week long event, showcasing predominantly live music (in particular ...

. On 15 November 2009, Long was the guest on the Dave Gorman radio show on

and the subsequent podcast of the show, before making her second appearance with

, this time on Iain Lee's ''2 Hour Long Late Night Radio Show'', on the same station eight days later. She occasionally wrote for

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and ''From Hell' ...

's underground magazine '' Dodgem Logic''. On 15 January 2010 she was a contestant on

's panel show ''

8 Out of 10 Cats ''8 Out of 10 Cats'' is a British comedy panel show broadcast on Channel 4 and its sister networks, airing since 3 June 2005. The show is hosted by Jimmy Carr; the current team captains are Rob Beckett and Katherine Ryan. The show is based on ...

''. On 18 March 2010 she appeared on the

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

comedy quiz TV programme show '' The Bubble'', during which she notably wore a garment displaying

Nye Bevan Aneurin "Nye" Bevan PC (; 15 November 1897 – 6 July 1960) was a Welsh Labour Party politician, noted for tenure as Minister of Health in Clement Attlee's government in which he spearheaded the creation of the British National Health ...

-related witticisms. She wrote and performed three short plays as part of

's ''

Afternoon Play ''Drama'' (formerly ''Afternoon Theatre'', ''Afternoon Drama,'' ''Afternoon Play'') is a BBC Radio 4 radio drama, broadcast every weekday at 2.15pm. Generally each play is 45 minutes in duration and approximately 190 new plays are broadcast each ...

'' series, including one about

apostrophe The apostrophe ( or ) is a punctuation mark, and sometimes a diacritical mark, in languages that use the Latin alphabet and some other alphabets. In English, the apostrophe is used for two basic purposes: * The marking of the omission of one o ...

s. Since 2010, Long has been involved with the anti-tax-avoidance activist group

UK Uncut UK Uncut was a network of United Kingdom-based protest groups established in October 2010 to protest against cuts to public services and tax avoidance in the UK. Various sources have described the group as left-wing in its political orientati ...

, and in 2011 co-founded

The Arts Emergency Service Arts Emergency is a UK-based charity that seeks opportunities in the The arts, Arts and Humanities sector for underrepresented young people aged 16-26. History Founded by campaigner Neil Griffiths (current CEO) and comedian Josie Long in 2011, Ar ...

, a charity helping young people in education. She has on occasion promoted these groups through her stand-up and has also performed stand-up at protests and occupations, including the 2011 Hetherington House Occupation. Long presented a Saturday morning radio show with Andrew Collins on BBC 6 Music and runs a monthly comedy club at The Black Heart in Camden Town, recordings of which are used for her new podcast ''The Lost Treasures of the Black Heart''. Josie Long performing at Lost Treasures of the Black Heart in London on the 11th of September 2013 2

Josie Long performing at Lost Treasures of the Black Heart in London on the 11th of September 2013 2

In 2012, Long toured the UK with

Grace Petrie Grace Petrie (, born 24 July 1987) is an English folk singer-songwriter and guitarist from Leicester, England. She was hailed in ''The Guardian'' as "a powerful new songwriting voice" in 2011. Biography Grace Petrie began performing in 2006 as ...

, Tom Parry and the activism group

to protest against public-sector government funding cuts. Long and director Doug King also produced two short comedy films in Glasgow called ''Let's Go Swimming'' and ''Romance and Adventure'', which were nominated for a BAFTA Scotland New Talent Award. The pair toured independent cinemas across the UK during Autumn 2013. Long has been a ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'' fan since she was a child and she is interviewed for the special features of several classic series DVD releases, including ''

Nightmare of Eden ''Nightmare of Eden'' is the fourth serial of the 17th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 24 November to 15 December 1979. The serial is set on th ...

'' and '' Dragonfire''. In 2018, Long and

Jonny Donahoe Jonny Donahoe is a British comedian, writer and performer. He is one half of the comedy band Jonny and the Baptists, with Paddy Gervers. Education Donahoe was educated at Abingdon School from 1996 to 2001. Career Donahoe is best known for h ...

performed a comedy show together based around parenting and expecting the birth of their daughter. They subsequently turned the show into a podcast, ''Josie & Jonny Are Having a Baby (With You!)''. Drawing on this, Long's show at the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe, ''Tender'', discussed the subject of childbirth and optimism about the future. A review in Chortle noted that " hewhole act is well refined with funny voice breaks, emotional act-outs, exaggerations and unexpected callbacks. .... So much is covered in this hour, without it becoming wordy, overlong or a chore. And certainly without losing the funny, which it has in abundance." Also in 2019 Long and Liam Williams wrote and starred in ''Perimeter'', a dystopian play about a city divided into rich and poor areas by a giant fence. The play was broadcast as part of Radio 4's Dangerous Visions series. The same year, Long also presented a new podcast for

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

, ''Speaking with Shadows''; the podcast won in the 'Contribution to Heritage' category at the UK Heritage Awards. In 2020, Long took her show ''Tender'' on tour around the UK. During the week beginning 14 December 2020, Long appeared as one of the week's contestants on ''

Richard Osman's House of Games ''Richard Osman's House of Games'' is a British quiz show produced by Banijay (owners of Endemol Shine UK), a branch of Remarkable Television for the BBC. The show is hosted by Richard Osman. It is played on a weekly basis, with four "celebri ...

''.

Personal life

On 28 May 2018, Long had a daughter with her partner, comedian

. She gave birth to a second daughter on 27 November 2021.

Live credits

* 2019 ''Tender'' (stand-up show at the Edinburgh Fringe, National Tour) * 2014 ''Cara Josephine'' (stand-up show at the Edinburgh Fringe, National Tour) * 2012 ''Romance and Adventure'' (stand-up show at the Edinburgh Fringe, Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2013, New Zealand International Comedy Festival 2013 & UK tour) * 2011 ''The Future is Another Place'' (stand-up show at the Edinburgh fringe, UK tour) * 2011 ''MaxFunCon'' (stand-up show at a conference in Lake Arrowhead, California, USA) * 2010 ''Be Honourable!'' (stand-up show at the Edinburgh Fringe, New Zealand and Melbourne Comedy Festivals, UK tour) * 2009 ''Darwin's Birthday Spectacular'' with Robin Ince * 2009 ''All of the Planet's Wonders (shown in detail)'' (Edinburgh Fringe, UK and Australian Tour) * 2008 ''Trying is Good'' (Edinburgh Fringe, UK, NZ, Montreal and Australian Tour. UCB Los Angeles) * 2006 ''Kindness and Exuberance'' (Edinburgh Fringe, UK and Australian Tour. UCB New York)

Radio credits

* 2022 ''Josie Long: What Next?'' on BBC Radio 4 * 2020 How do you cope? with Elis and John, BBC Sounds * 2020 ''Josie Long’s Gambit'' on BBC Radio 4 * 2013 ''Come the Revolution'' on BBC Radio Wales * 2013 - 2022 ''Short Cuts'' on BBC Radio 4 * 2011 Andrew Collins and Josie Long on BBC 6 Music * 2010 ''

So Wrong It's Right ''So Wrong It's Right'' is a British radio programme presented by Charlie Brooker in which panelists aim to give the "most wrong" answer to a question. They describe stories from their lives, conceive of new ideas on a theme and criticise aspects ...

'' hosted by Charlie Brooker on BBC Radio 4 * 2010 ''The Adult Hour'' on TalkSport hosted by Ian Collins * 2009 ''All the Planet's Wonders'' on BBC Radio 4

Television credits

*2022 ''Richard Osman's House of Games'', series five, week 20, House of Champions *2020 ''Richard Osman's House of Games'', series four, week 10 *2016 ''Dara O'Briain's Go 8-Bit'' , season one, episode five, Dave *2015 ''Celebrity Fifteen to One'', Winner, Channel 4 * 2014 ''8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown'', Channel 4 * 2014 ''Fifteen to One'', Channel 4 * 2013 ''8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown'', Channel 4 * 2013 ''Was It Something I Said?'', Channel 4 * 2013 ''The Matt Lucas Awards'', BBC1 * 2010 ''The Bubble'', BBC2 * 2009 ''Skins'', Channel 4, as Josie, the group's careers adviser in series two and then English teacher in series three * 2009 ''Maeve Higgins' Fancy Vittles'', RTÉ2 (Ireland), as

Maeve Higgins Maeve Anna Higgins (born 24 March 1981) is a comedian from Cobh, County Cork, Ireland and is based in New York. She was a principal actor and writer of the RTÉ television production '' Naked Camera'', as well as for her own show ''Maeve Higgi ...

's English friend * 2009 ''Thank God You’re Here'', various characters, season four, Seven Network

References

External links

* *
"Text messages are like saucy little letters". Comedian Josie Long on her tech loves and hates, 11 July 2008Chortle.com pageBBC Radio 4 Short Cuts pageJosie & Jonny Are Having a Baby (With You!)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Josie 1982 births Alumni of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford Labour Party (UK) people English socialists English television writers English television actresses Living people People from Orpington English women comedians People educated at Newstead Wood School Actresses from London 21st-century English comedians English stand-up comedians British women television writers 21st-century British screenwriters 21st-century English women