The election of the Tory-led coalition "has made me a much worse comedian", says Josie Long. She used to write about the human condition; now she's so angry, she can only talk politics. In fact, Long's radical awakening has sharpened her act, giving it an edge it lacked. Her political comedy is still finding its feet, but it's exciting to watch her try to integrate a rage for social justice into her geeky optimist persona.
This year's show is mainly about Long's increasing involvement in left-wing activism. She's been on UK Uncut demos, she's corresponded with Black Panthers on death row, and debated with Lib Dems on BBC1's This Week. You might think this would engender confidence in her political credentials, but no: Long's set is ringfenced with qualifications ("I know it's not sophisticated"), and she sometimes seems embarrassed to be discussing serious things with a crowd who want to laugh.
There's no need: there's abundant black humour in the state of our Tory nation. Long talks entertainingly of each of the government's dastardly new measures. "Don't privatise children's wheelchairs! That's what a Bond villain would do!" And the funnier-than-comedy coincidence whereby Barclays Bank is run by a man called Rich Ricci has Long fizzing with glee: "Don't do the work for me!" she purrs.
It's not all politics. There's an amusingly coy excerpt from Long's one-woman play about the Brontës, and an account of a recent road accident in which this sci-fi buff thought she had died. ("This is classic dead-and-don't-realise-it," she thinks, on coming round.) Sometimes the naivety is overplayed, sometimes there's too much apologising for the naivety – but mainly Long strikes an adroit balance between fun, moral outrage and indignant mockery of our hideous powers-that-be.
