Preview: Jo Caulfield in Lancaster (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Preview: Jo Caulfield in Lancaster

4:20pm Saturday 20th February 2010 in

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JO Caulfield is the sort of woman whose reputation precedes her. She quite clearly wears the trousers in any situation.

The TV stand-up was twice sacked from her jobs before comedy for arguing with customers.

She’s often on her soapbox about being a female in a male dominated industry and she’s the one woman who Graham Norton answers to.

But despite herself Jo, who brings her one-woman show to Burnley, Salford and Lancaster, is a calm and warm character who gets nervous in new situations as much as the next person.

Jo was working as a waitress the first time she experienced a taste of stand-up when she drunkenly entered a weekly open mike competition in East London 12 years ago.

She hadn’t prepared anything and could hardly stand, let alone speak, but Jo won the competition and was asked back for a booking the following week.

Just days later she bought a cheap microphone and small amplifier with her waitressing tips and set up her own comedy club in the basement of her local pub.

These days the comedienne has her own regular Radio 4 show, is an established Edinburgh Fringe favourite and regularly finds herself on the panels of Never Mind The Buzzcocks and Mock The Week.

But she’s most happy taking her jokes on tour.

“I love being on the road. I’m weird. I like hotels,” said the 44-year-old. “What’s not to like? Someone clears up. I absolutely love it.

"I get quite excited about going to have a look around new places.

“I like looking for the things that make a place unique and use that information in that night’s gig. It’s impolite to not do that,” she laughed.

Jo’s set often includes a rant about her husband, her mother-in-law and customer service.

“I always think wasn’t customer service generally better before we had all these customer service departments? And what’s Argos all about?” she shouted. “I went in with a friend of mine from Canada, she was amazed that you can’t see what you want to buy you just have to look at pictures,” she laughed.

"My new favourite annoyance is the self-scan thing. I was in Tesco one day and I thought ‘hang on, I’m here scanning away and there’s a woman next to me with a uniform on scanning and Tesco are paying her!’

"I think they should come round and give anyone who’s scanning themselves a bottle of wine to say thanks for helping out.”

But despite her gripes about daily life, Jo insists she’s not a grump.

“It’s more a celebration of anger, it’s a good feeling by the end of the show.

"We’ve all vented our spleen and feel better. By laughing, you feel like you have some sort of control over these stupid things you can’t control.”

* JO CAULFIELD WON’T SHUT UP — Lancaster Dukes, Sunday, April 25, 01524 598500.