The political and personal have grown inseparable in her stand-up, with her incomprehension at the rise of the alt-right underscored by her newly-found millennial angst and a ticking biological clock as she approaches 35. Few comics exploit the differences between their lofty ideals and feet of clay with such effectiveness. Yet Long revels in them, open about her messy contradictions in a spirit of inclusivity. There’s a fun preamble to the show in which she karaoke-deconstructs Rupert Holmes’ ludicrous but catchy infidelity number Escape (The Pińa Colada Song), setting up her usual mood of girlishly infectious enthusiasm and delight in the ridiculous, even as it introduces an undertone of betrayal that she pursues in regard to the UK leaving the EU.
A grammar school girl who’s anti-grammar schools, she’s certainly checked her privilege. But she muddies class distinctions, a so-called member of the metropolitan liberal elite with slobbish tendencies. When she references The Crucible and To Kill A Mockingbird, those egalitarian texts that supposedly everyone should have read in school but perhaps haven’t, she’s mischievously goofy, indulging in a hilarious, patience-testing routine about Harper Lee’s masterpiece, wilfully misreading it from a perspective closer to Dastardly and Muttley trying to catch a pigeon.
Yet she also notes the government excising Mockingbird from the curriculum, and the witch-hunt paranoia of the books echoes her desire to unmask and fight those Brexiteers she belatedly comprehends moving among us. Resisting her inclination to dismiss rather than debate, she arrives at a message of hope almost in spite of herself.Being churlish, you might grumble that the show is slightly too long, but time generally bounds along in Long’s company, even when she’s decrying the state of the nation, and the assured set of her fast-rising support act Tez Ilyas only adds value for money.
Tellingly, there’s a lovely little coda, almost mentioned in passing, in which she reveals that in her personal life at least, she’s now back on the winning team.
September 2025
Saturday, 6th September 2025 7:30 pm
Mull - An Tobar and Mull Theatre - Now Is The Time Of Monsters
Thursday, 11th September 2025 8:30 pm
Glasgow - The Stand - Now Is The Time Of Monsters
Friday, 12th September 2025 7:30 pm
Aberdeen - Lemon Tree - Now Is The Time Of Monsters
Saturday, 13th September 2025 7:30 pm
Stirling - The Tollbooth - Now Is The Time Of Monsters
Wednesday, 17th September 2025 7:00 pm
Cork - Coughlans - Now Is The Time Of Monsters
Thursday, 18th September 2025 8:30 pm
Dublin - Sugar Club - Now Is The Time Of Monsters
Friday, 19th September 2025 7:00 pm
Belfast - Limelight - Now Is The Time Of Monsters
Monday, 22nd September 2025 8:00 pm
Bath - Komedia - Now Is The Time Of Monsters
Wednesday, 24th September 2025 8:00 pm
Milton Keynes - The Stables - Now Is The Time Of Monsters
Saturday, 27th September 2025
Norwich - Playhouse - Now Is The Time Of Monsters
- ON SALE SOON
October 2025
Saturday, 4th October 2025 8:00 pm
Lancaster - The Dukes - Now Is The Time Of Monsters
Friday, 10th October 2025 7:30 pm
Leeds - City Varieties - Now Is The Time Of Monsters
Sunday, 12th October 2025 8:00 pm
Salford Quays - The Lowry - Now Is The Time Of Monsters
Sunday, 19th October 2025 7:30 pm
Hebden Bridge - The Trades Club - Now Is The Time Of Monsters
Wednesday, 22nd October 2025 7:30 pm
Cambridge - The Junction - Now Is The Time Of Monsters
Thursday, 23rd October 2025 8:00 pm
Brighton - Corn Exchange - Now Is The Time Of Monsters
Tuesday, 28th October 2025 7:30 pm
Cardiff - Sherman Theatre - Now Is The Time Of Monsters
Wednesday, 29th October 2025 8:00 pm
Margate - Where Else (Chumps) - Now Is The Time Of Monsters
Thursday, 30th October 2025 7:30 pm
Oxford - Playhouse - Now Is The Time Of Monsters
- ON SALE SOON
November 2025
Saturday, 8th November 2025 7:30 pm
London - Soho Theatre Walthamstow - Now Is The Time Of Monsters
Saturday, 15th November 2025
Liverpool - Playhouse - Now Is The Time Of Monsters
- ON SALE SOON
Sunday, 16th November 2025 7:30 pm
Bristol - Old Vic - Now Is The Time Of Monsters
Wednesday, 19th November 2025 8:00 pm
Exeter - Phoenix - Now Is The Time Of Monsters
Thursday, 20th November 2025 7:45 pm
Clevedon - Curzon Cinema & Arts - Now Is The Time Of Monsters
Friday, 21st November 2025 7:30 pm
Coventry - The Tin Music and Arts - Now Is The Time Of Monsters
Saturday, 22nd November 2025 7:30 pm
Northampton - Royal and Derngate - Now Is The Time Of Monsters
Wednesday, 26th November 2025 8:00 pm
Sheffield - The Leadmill - Now Is The Time Of Monsters
Saturday, 29th November 2025 7:30 pm
Leicester - Y Theatre - Now Is The Time Of Monsters
Sunday, 30th November 2025 7:30 pm
York - The Crescent - Now Is The Time Of Monsters
December 2025
Thursday, 4th December 2025 8:30 pm
Newcastle - The Stand - Now Is The Time Of Monsters
Friday, 5th December 2025 7:00 pm
Glasgow - Oran Mor - Now Is The Time Of Monsters
Friday, 12th December 2025 8:00 pm
Kendal - Brewery Arts - Now Is The Time Of Monsters