Dave Woodhall talks to award-winning comic Jo Caulfield.
Jo Caulfield is a comedian, but you probably knew that already. She’s currently touring her new show, Uninformed Opinions, which plays at the mac on 13th February.
“It’s about about misunderstandings and misinformed people – basically, it’s a comedy show for anyone who has ever wanted to shout, “Shut up, you don’t know what you’re talking about!” There’ll also be a lot of stuff about relationships, dating and why men feel the need to constantly quote lines out of gangster films.”
When we spoke to Jo she was on her way to doing two shows in Liverpool. It must be a challenge to play a room full of Jimmy Tarbuck’s family and friends, who all think they’re better comedians than you.
“Well, yes, but don’t tell them that. There are often a lot of people in the audience who think they’re funny and they’re great. Some of them really like to test you with their banter and I love that so if anyone starts I think, ‘Right, that’s okay’ and they’re usually fine with it. The more you have a go at them the more they like you. In Liverpool they will tell you that they’re funny, and people who have never played there before can let that get into their head.”
Whereas in Birmingham we’re just the capital of cynicism.
“I am a defender of Birmingham. You know what you like; when I came here I had low expectations and I like that, the people of Birmingham seem to have a pride in having no pride. If you ask people about the city they’ll say ‘It’salright’. They don’t expect much from life and that’s a great attitude.
“But cynical? I hadn’t thought if it in that way but it’s a view I do hold which is why I feel at home there. The people don’t have any false bravado, which I think makes them happier because they have such a low expectation from birth. I think that’s what the humour is, where Brummies can a take a joke against themselves. They like to get it in first.”
You live in Edinburgh now. Was that so you’d have somewhere to stay during the festival?
“Well, when I first moved up four years ago I saw what the proper prices are for property and it’s a hell of a lot cheaper than when the festival’s on. It’s amazing how many people just want to visit during the festival. And you find that whereas we’ll say to people we meet ‘Come up and drop in on us’ and you know they never will, other nationalities mean it, so you end up with Americans you’ve met once arriving on the doorstep.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?x-yt-cl=84924572&v=Re6qr3VaNMo&x-yt-ts=1422411861&feature=player_embedded
One thing I notice about comedians is that unlike, say, musicians, they never seem to criticise each other.
“We are very friendly, at least in public. We’re very wary of criticising another comic in public, I genuinely feel that if you criticise another comic publicly you’re taking money out of their mouths. But you get backstage and the comments… We love to bitch, absolutely love to. I suppose it’s to do with what we do on stage and having to keep up the jolly image, we love that. We love it when other comics die, we always have storied abut terrible experiences on stage, it’s very gallows humour but comics do help each other and find each other work. But really I suppose we’re funny people to be around and that makes up for a lot.”
It can’t be easy doing comedy in a world full of such shallow ideals.
“I’m not looking at it in other terms than what I do and how I do it. I’m not interested in people who want to be famous, one hit wonders and people like Katie Hopkins. Comedy should be about people who try to do something, trying to be funny and cheer people up”.
There’s also a lack of characters to hang a show around. David Cameron, for example, must be less of a source for comic potential than any other politician who’s ever lived.
“I don’t know. What makes satire difficult, and I don’t really do that anyway, I think people feel that basically they’re all awful. People feel let down by all sides, by all parties so it’s hard to make light of that. It’s obvious because the Conservative party has gone back to being all these posh boys from Eton and Harrow, it’s a bit boring and a lot of people don’t have faith in them anymore because they’re not changing anything, people have already lost hope.”
On your website you talk about things you like, including Joe Strummer, Pete Wylie and X Ray Spex. You’re an old punk at heart, aren’t you?
“Definitely. There’s always been a bit of that punk spirit of get up and do it in me. I was lucky I found comedy instead of having to do a proper job.”
So what makes you laugh?
“Lots of things, lots of situations but my biggest influence growing up was Dave Allen. My parents were Irish and we’d always watch him; I enjoyed his style and when I was older I realised what fantastic observational comedy it was. The way he chatted to you, it was so clever, it wasn’t the usual jokes about his wife, it was like listening to your very funny friend in the pub. He didn’t treat the audience as an audience, he talked straight to them, you got the feeling that when the show was over he’d say ‘That was my view, what’s yours?’ Always questioning authority, always questioning things that were being thrown up. It was beautiful.
“Then I was older I saw video of Richard Pryor and Steve Martin, and I thought this was so good. I couldn’t see the craft in it, but it just looked beautiful. Then I saw Jack Dee in the Comedy Club and he was talking about real life, I thought I could do that. It was very punk – go up and do it.”
Jo Caulfield’s Uninformed Opinions plays the mac, Birmingham on 13th February and Warwick Arts Centre on 14th March.
www.macbirmingham.co.uk
www.warwickartscentre.co.uk
www.jocaulfield.com
