JO CAULFIELD, Devizes Town Hall

Jo is a regular at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival – and now she’s been to Devizes.

She can’t find a bad word to say about the town, loving the shops and noticing out the Town Hall window that Beauty Retreat and Edwin Giddings are side by side; “you can get some wine if the treatment doesn’t work” she quips.

She immediately engages the front row demanding to know length of marriages, relationship statuses and clothing rules. On discovering we have Roger and Conchita in the audience she decides they are Devizes swingers!

She likens new relationships to IKEA – “all very good at the beginning but falls apart after 6 months”.

It was getting hot in the Town Hall – yes, the temperature was up in the 20’s but Jo’s material covers “grab-a-granny” which she reckons should be re-named “grab an experienced lady who’s looked after herself” whilst going on to regale us with stories about her own granny – “ferocious and frighteningly keen” – and other Irish family members talking sex.

Her new kitchen demands a mention; we all know about the magic triangle of fridge, preparation area, stove but Jo thinks it would be better off being fridge, glass, gin, whilst the kitchen of her dreams is one where she isn’t in it and has staff.

And so the evening went on with barely a breath in between as the jokes and stories continued – divorce, parties, men, inventions, Hollywood all featured – and as one happy member of the audience commented on the way out:

“what a great evening, so funny, how lucky are we in Devizes; keep it coming”.

Jo certainly kept us entertained in Devizes – we waved her off to continue her tour that will take her to Edinburgh in August.

Margaret Bryant