CV

Being Julie Jepson
Live Review

I’m not sure what the point of this show is – if ‘show’ isn’t too generous a word to describe a mix of aimless compering, lightweight banter and ‘…and that was when they asked me to leave TopShop!’-style reveal gags.

Julie Jepson is an enthusiastic and likeable presence, even in a sparsely populated room, and she leads an amiable chat. But chat is all it is, as we meet everyone in the audience and learn their name, where they come from and what they do for a living.

As an MC, I’m sure she does a fine job, but in these circumstance it’s just filler between material that doesn’t exist. Where are the jokes, the stories, the point of view, the attitude, the reason for spending 60 minutes here rather than at any of the other 2,000-plus shows on the Fringe? Being affable and confident just doesn’t cut it, but there’s the distinct feeling that she’s relying on that, spending very little apparent effort writing material.

For a show entitled Being Julie Jepson, it’s thin on the autobiographical. She’s a lesbian, single, 38, living in Brighton and works with kids with challenging behaviour. You’d learn as much from her Facebook info panel than almost an hour in her company.

She has one good joke about using ‘toys’ in her sex life – which isn’t a good strike rate for someone five years in the business. Mostly she relies on the sort of throwaway lines you’d barely think worth repeating, such as turning to the audience during a bit about bra fittings and asking: ‘Know what I mean… Stan?’ That she gets the best laughs from recycling a few old pub gags (which she does acknowledge as such) is telling.

This isn’t a show you’ll hate – as there’s really not enough of it to hate – while she is so upbeat and animated you easily warm to her. But it’s just so inconsequential that you may well end up wondering why you bothered. After all, she barely did.

My friend and I stumbled across Julie's free show at the Fringe by complete accident and I have to say it was really good. We saw 5 comedians that day and she was the highlight for us. Loved the story about being called a homophobic lesbian! Her interaction with the audience was so funny, laid back and natural, which we loved. I will certainly go and see her again.

Lesley, August 2010

Weird. You see I was at the same gig, only the one I went to see was full of people laughing and enjoying comedy of the highest order. The other thing that puzzles me is this: if Julie did banter with the audience and ask everyone what they did for a living, how come I don't remember anyone there say "I'm a comedy critic" - strange, that.

Matt, August 2010

Weird. You see I was at the same gig, only the one I went to see was full of people laughing and enjoying comedy of the highest order. The other thing that puzzles me is this: if Julie did banter with the audience and ask everyone what they did for a living, how come I don't remember anyone there say 'I'm a comedy critic' - strange, that.

Matt, August 2010

She lifted the mood a treat with her self-deprecating lesbian jokes. Brilliant.

Matt Mack, May 2010

I saw her play a really rowdy gig in Brighton. She didn't get a chance to start her material but bantered of the top of her head a night of genius!

Anthony Ayton, October 2009

I thought Julie Jepson was certainly in the top three atthe Funny Women final, and, having seen her performance a couple of times since, she's developed strongly, and her material was different on each occasion. I think she's one of the funniest women around on the circuit, to be honest.

Dexter Perrott, February 2006