Josie Long shares why comedy and ADHD work well together

Anyone who needs a shot of optimism about how we can make the world a better place should spend time in the company of Josie Long, a comic in possession of a rare blend of open-hearted enthusiasm and righteous anger.

She’s just starting a tour of her latest acclaimed show, Re-Enchantment, which sold out its run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and is a typically entertaining combination of the political and the personal.

‘It’s about trying to rebuild after Covid and the 2019 election defeat and moving my whole life to Glasgow,’ says Josie, the first woman to have received three Edinburgh Comedy Award nominations. ‘It’s also about trying to fall back in love with the world again and allow yourself to believe that more is possible, and trying to rekindle a sense of rebellion after defeat and difficulty.’

A lot has happened in Josie’s life over the past three years. As well as fulfilling a long-held ambition to move from London to Glasgow, she’s had a second baby and, like so many others in her sphere of entertainment, has been diagnosed with ADHD. ‘It makes so much sense because part of ADHD is connecting unusual things in your brain quickly, and that’s a big part of writing jokes,’ she says.

‘I can totally see how ADHD people can gravitate towards stand-up and comedy; it suits us so well in so many ways.’

As well as being a fascinating process for her, getting a diagnosis has been a relief, providing, as it has, an explanation for some of her unusual responses to situations and events. Being able to recognise the emotional side of rejection-sensitive dysphoria, understanding the reasons for short-term memory concerns and a tendency towards chaotic thinking, and appreciating the validity of concentration issues has helped her enormously.

‘If I’d known in my twenties… oh my God. I look back and see all these things that were screaming “ADHD” to the world, but the world didn’t know or care,’ she says.

She’s looking forward to trying medication to address some of these issues, but wants to wait until she’s finished breastfeeding that sweet baby of hers, who is taking an active role in this Zoom call before flipping a bowl of tuna mayonnaise onto the floor.

Josie’s been in Glasgow for two years now, and describes herself as being ‘embarrassingly in love with the city’. One of its attractions for her is its radical history, something she feels is in ‘touching distance’.

‘There are people here whose parents would have known Jimmy Reid, who led the shipyard workers in the 1970s. They’re born out of that culture,’ she says.

Josie and her close friend Isy Suttie (known for playing Dobby in Peep Show) are planning to develop a new podcast. They both have too many ideas to narrow down right now, but it’s likely to be about optimism, finding wonder in the world, and their long-distance friendship. They also plan to write a show together.

Josie has a book of short stories, Because I Don’t Know What You Mean And What You Don’t, coming out in June, and hopes eventually to have the focus to write a novel. She also wants to write more films (she’s already done some low-budget shorts with Doug King, with whom she made her BBC Radio 4 series Romance And Adventure) but is unlikely to stop doing stand-up.

‘It’s something I’ve grown up with; it’s such a big part of my identity and how I interpret the world,’ she explains. ‘But I also think, being neurodiverse, I didn’t fully appreciate until recently that it’s one of the times when I genuinely feel very comfortable, focused, at ease and not anxious – all those things normal people feel the rest of the time.’

Whatever else is going on, though, she jokes that sometimes she thinks she’s not ambitious enough. ‘When I was younger I’d be thinking about Hollywood, now it’s a case of, “Maybe one day I’ll play a very kind cab driver.”’

Josie is touring Re-Enchantment until July 9

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