Jon Long Archives - The Real Chrisparkle

Great to see another sold out house at this month’s Screaming Blue Murder in Northampton, another sign that our local comedy scene is in the rudest of health. Our host was, as usual, the effervescent Dan Evans, spinning his bon mots left right and centre as he got to know the people in the front rows, which included the staff from the Pytchley pub in West Haddon who were much better behaved than they were two years ago (!) and a never ending range of engineers – consultant, building, mechanical, sustainability… you name it, there was an engineer for it somewhere in the front rows.

Our opening act was Justin Panks, fifty years old (allegedly) but distinctly a lad at heart. Hailing from Norwich, although his accent suggested otherwise, he has a confident, assertive presence on stage. His routines included how different things are today in comparison with the 1980s – particularly for the fellas, the intricacies of managing step-kids, and the pros and cons of shaving one’s balls. Occasionally taking us where angels fear to tread, some of his material might have alienated certain sectors of the audience, but he certainly provided a lot of laughs, and that’s what it’s all about.

Next up was Louise Leigh, a lively lady packed with impish spirit, who regaled us with stories of how she’s coping with moving into middle age, if not disgracefully then at least creatively. She’s acquired the colourful hair, she’s in love with her campervan, she’s started going to festivals and she’s devoted to her dog. She also has a husband and teenage kids, so there’s a lot of life-juggling going on. It’s all recognisable and relatable material, delivered with expert timing and a winning way.

Our headliner, and the only act we’d seen before, was Jon Long, a very funny chap whose seemingly mild and gentle character belies a wicked grasp of devilish humour. His opening routine about attending church as a youngster has a brilliantly unexpected punchline and he has the audience in the palm of his hands from then on. He has great material about having a wife who’s much tougher than he is and intersperses his set with a few comic numbers on the guitar, that always pack a punch. A most unassuming comedy star, but a star nonetheless.

Will there be another sold out show at the next Screaming Blue Murder on 30^th May? You should come along and find out!

We saw Chris McCausland at one of our earliest Screaming Blue Murder shows, back in 2010, and really enjoyed his material and style. It’s been a long time in the waiting, but when I saw he was returning to Northampton with his Speaky Blinder show, that had been a great success last summer in Edinburgh, buying a ticket was a bit of a no-brainer.

But first we had a (too brief) warm-up session with support act Jon Long, who was completely new to us but what a find! A very engaging chap with a warm, inclusive (but never threatening) style, a gentle but deadly delivery, and armed with his guitar to strum a few comedy songs that compliment his spoken material. It wasn’t long before we were all singing about dildos together, that’s how relaxed he got us! Very entertaining material, and a very comfortable and friendly vibe to his act. Will happily see him again.

After the interval, Chris McCausland took to the stage. If you don’t know, he’s been totally blind for many years, and when we saw him several years ago I thought it was fascinating how his disability played a relatively small part in his material. Today that has changed somewhat, and although the gig included plenty of jolly, flippant remarks and jokes about his domestic arrangements with his wife and his daughter, you get a much greater sense that he wants to give us some serious and thought-provoking observations about how his disability affects his daily life.

But that doesn’t mean it’s a sad or downbeat show. Quite the reverse; although he never overlooks an opportunity to increase awareness of the issues relating to blindness, he presents it all through the medium of comedy, and it’s one of those shows where you rarely stop laughing. He’s very open about all aspects of his life, including how he loves his wife almost as much as he loves Mohammed Salah, and his warm and engaging personality totally wraps us up into his world so we’re completely on his side all the way through.

An intelligent, reflective but also very funny hour of comedy. Messrs McCausland and Long are currently touring the country and I’d really recommend you see them!