Here Comes Jo Caulfield to Chorley Theatre

Fresh from a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Jo is bringing her new tour show Here Comes Trouble to Chorley Theatre on Friday November 24.

Here Comes Trouble is a solid 90 minutes of stand-up comedy where Jo gets her claws into everyone (and everything) that annoys her. From stories about the pitfalls of buying a new mattress, what happens when you gate-crash your husband’s “boys’ night out” and trying to recapture the magic in a long-term relationship, this is pure stand-up, delivered with nothing more than a microphone and a bad attitude.

“My tour show is made up of some of my favourite jokes from my last few Fringe shows and some brand-new material about what I’ve been up to since my last tour, so I think it’s going to be a lot of fun to get out there and tell these stories, and generally talk about everything that’s happened – and annoyed me – since I was last out on the road like this.”

2023 has been a busy year for Jo, as in addition to her Edinburgh Fringe run and the new tour, her debut book, The Funny Thing About Death (published by Birlinn Polygon) was published in August. This hilarious, but touching, memoir explores the lives of Jo and her sister – author and comedy writer, Annie Caulfield – from the two unconventional sisters 1970s childhood and their love of music, boys and breaking the rules, to Annie’s cancer diagnosis six years ago at the start of Jo’s last nationwide tour.

“I was just about to go on stage in, of all places, Oswaldtwistle, when I got the email from Annie telling me that she had cancer. Not the best way to start a tour, but me travelling round the country – and the stories that come from being on tour – turned out to be a welcome distraction for us both” says Jo.

The book began as a form of therapy for Jo, “I started out writing a few articles to help me get my head around Annie’s death, they sort of evolved into a few spoken word performances at a couple of events, and then once lockdown meant I was stuck at home instead of out gigging, I started to put those articles and scripts together and they gradually turned into the book. It took a couple of years – and several drafts – to get to the finished version; I’d always assumed writers were being dramatic when they said it took years to write a book, but it’s hard work!” says Jo.

All of Jo’s profits fromThe Funny Thing About Death will be donated to MacMillan Cancer Support – a charity which Jo has already raised over £50,000 for, through bucket collections at the end of her Fringe shows since 2017. There will be a chance to buy a copy of the book at the end of each tour show.

For more details visit www.chorleytheatre.com