Whenever Jo Caulfield appears on a TV comedy panel show, she is always the only woman booked.

“There are less female comics, but even so, you can’t keep putting out shows with all-white middle-class males. I’m tired of posh boys in skinny jeans,” she says.

“Often, a woman on a TV panel show has nothing to do with comedy, she’s simply there for the rest of the panel to make fun of.”

One of Britain’s sharpest comics, Jo says anger fuels her material. In her Radio 4 show, Jo Caulfield Won’t Shut Up, she rants about everything from tragic life stories to Dragons Den inventions.

“A lot of my material comes from getting annoyed by something,” she says, listing: “relationships, my husband, my Irish mother, advice on dealing with irritating people, bad service, celebrity perfumes, reality TV and kids’ bedtime stories.”

Jo is at Otley Courthouse next week as part of her ‘Tour Of Towns I’ve Heard Of But Never Been To’. She’s intruiged to hear the auditorium is a Victorian courtroom, with prison cells upstairs.

“I love quirky old buildings like that,” she says. “I like pointing out to the locals things I’ve noticed about their high street. At one show I talked about the bad service I’d received that afternoon in a local cafe. Turned out the man who owned it was in the audience and the grumpy waitress I’d slagged off was his daughter! Luckily, he agreed she was a terrible waitress.

“I did a gig in East Sussex and the audience was loaded. I have an observation about TV show Location, Location, Location, how I can’t watch if it starts with a voice–over telling me the couple have a budget of £850,000.

“Normally people laugh in recognition that it’s a huge amount of money. At this gig, they all just sat there thinking ‘Well, they’ll get nothing round here for £850,000’.

“I set myself a challenge to write material specific to the town I’m in. So if you see a woman in the Old Cock in Otley knocking back drinks scribbling on some crumpled paper, don’t disturb – I’m hard at work!”

Born in Wales, Jo was brought up in Derbyshire. Aged 17, she moved to London and played drums in a rockabilly band before trying comedy. Success on the stand-up circuit led to a career writing for Graham Norton.

“Graham is lovely – I’ve never seen him lose his temper. He’s brilliant to work with. We liked the same things – boys and gossip – and I got paid to laugh all day,” says Jo.

“I’d come up with a list of topics, like who was flavour of the week for him to have a go at. I knew the sort of thing he liked.”

Jo, who has also written for stars such as Ant and Dec and Ruby Wax, has appeared on countless TV shows, including Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow and Never Mind The Buzzcocks.

She prefers to use her own material. “They come in with reams of jokes for panelists and I’m thinking, ‘But they’re not my jokes’. Mock The Week is the only show where they’re all comics, it’s like a party of toddlers – everyone wants attention.”

A regular on Radio 4, Jo says radio takes more risks with new talent. “On TV, there are more restrictions. In radio, you get more control, as long as the tone isn’t too nasty.”

Growing up, she was influenced by Dave Allen. “My parents are Irish and always watched him. He was smart, but not a smarty-pants, and he never patronised his audience,” says Jo.

“I loved it when he talked about everyday absurdities of life. My mum says I’d sit really close to the screen and clap loudly – like when a dog sees another dog on TV.

“I loved Joan Rivers too. I couldn’t believe how she got away with being so rude and outrageous.”

She adds: “Comedy is tough for women, but then it’s tough for everyone. People still sometimes think they’ve booked a man called Joe and when I turn up, I see that look in their eyes – ‘oh no, it’s a woman’.

“But women get heckled less than men; there’s still something that makes men reluctant to shout abuse at a woman in public. That may be a form of sexism I can live with.” 

Jo Caulfield is at Otley Courthouse on Friday, September 23 at 8pm. For tickets, ring (01943) 467466.