Moving on Up by Rosie Jones
£12.99 Hachette, is out now.
Triple Threat is at Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh from 14th–15th August,
tickets.edfringe.com.
Meet Yorkshire-Born Comedy Star Rosie Jones
When she's not touring her stand-up show, acting, or appearing on comedy panel shows, Bridlington-born Rosie Jones is also publishing children's books. Living North finds out how she does it
When I speak to Rosie Jones, she is in the midst of a highly unusual few days. 'Three whole days off!' she exclaims. 'Normally I'm a workaholic: writing, gigging - doing something every day. So to have three days off… I'm feeling like a whole new lady!'
Rosie began as a writer at the BBC, before getting her break in stand-up and making her first appearance on Live at the Apollo in 2019. In 2021, she released her first children’s book – the Amazing Edie Eckhart – about a girl who, like Rosie, has cerebral palsy and is growing up in Bridlington. She has acting credits to her name, including in Silent Witness, Casualty and Call the Midwife. She is also an activist, and last year she released a documentary with Channel 4 in which she took on X (formerly Twitter) over the ableist abuse she receives from online trolls. In March 2023 she began her first UK tour performing her stand-up show, Triple Threat, and in February she became the host of a new comedy panel show, Out of Order, on Comedy Central. Oh, and she has a new book children’s book, Moving On Up, which has just been published. With so many strings to her bow, I’m curious about how Rosie views herself these days.
‘I am first and foremost a comedian,’ Rosie says, ‘but I’m also a writer, actor, performer. I’m basically the most ambitious person you’ll ever meet. Nothing is out of reach… politician? Maybe one day I’ll give it a go,’ she laughs.
Comedy might be her main focus, but her authorial ambitions have deep roots. ‘I’ve always wanted to write children’s books,’ she says. ‘I remember at primary school, when I was five years old, we had to say what we wanted to be when we were older: there was a lot of cowboys and princesses and astronauts and I said I wanted to write children’s books.
‘Being disabled I couldn’t walk or run,’ she continues, ‘but I could read really quickly. I loved it but at the same time it was incredibly disheartening for me to read all these children’s books and never see a disabled character in there. The rare occasions that a disabled character appears, they were always the victim or the one you felt sorry for, which is never how I felt growing up.
‘I made a decision there and then to write children’s books when I’m older about a girl who has cerebral palsy – but she wasn’t a victim. She was normal, buzzy, happy, clever, stubborn. Not only for disabled readers to feel like they are seen and worthy and included, but also for non-disabled readers to read it, enjoy it, and really [understand] that just because a person with a disability talks slowly or walks slowly, it doesn’t mean that they’re less of a human being.’
One way that Edie, the protagonist of Rosie’s first children’s book, differs from Rosie is that she is growing up 20 years later, something that Rosie tells me was quite liberating for her, especially when it comes to Edie discovering her sexuality.
‘I assumed that being a writer who has a disability who was also gay, writing for children I needed to choose whether I wanted to write a book about disability or a book about being gay.
‘My original book editor was incredible. She said “You’re gay and disabled – I want you to write me a book that represents where you come from”. Having that opportunity to write something that was fully authentic to me and my background was so therapeutic. Hopefully the book is a really accurate depiction of embracing difference, [and] accepting who you are.’
Of course, embracing everything about yourself is easier said than done. The super-power of stand-up comedians, choosing to reveal the awkward and embarrassing moments of life, is so often what draws audiences to them. Translating these lessons to your own life isn’t easy, even as an adult, but Rosie’s new book Moving On Up seeks to use her own abilities in this arena to help kids navigate the trickier moments of growing up – whether that’s everyday awkwardness or more serious issues like bullying.
One author that her work has drawn praise from is the queen of children’s books herself, Jacqueline Wilson. I ask Rosie how it feels to have such an eminent fan? ‘It is the best thing in the world, she is my absolute hero,’ she says. ‘She never patronises children; I remember reading all about these adults topics at 12, 13 and feeling understood. That is definitely what I wanted to emulate in my novels.’
Meanwhile, Rosie’s comedy chops have been undeniable since she first stepped out on Live at the Apollo in 2019 and announced: ‘As you can tell from my voice, I suffer from being Northern’. She’s since appeared on shows ranging from QI to Richard Osman’s House of Games, and in 2023 she won Celebrity Mastermind – but the last year has been particularly big for her.
Since February she has been the host on Out Of Order, a new panel show on Comedy Central, which features Katherine Ryan and Judi Love as team captains. It’s not lost on her that having three women on a comedy panel show is a break with the norm. ‘It felt like a really empowering moment,’ she says. ‘We always stressed that even though that was the case, it was never about ladies being ladies, doing lady comedy.’
As host, it was up to Rosie to choose her captains, but she is adamant that their gender never came into it. ‘I chose them because, in my opinion, they are two of the funniest comedians in the UK right now,’ she says.
Nevertheless, the shift in the dynamic was palpable. ‘At this point, I’ve pretty much been on every panel show going. There’s some amazing male comedians out there, [but] there is still a sense of competition, a little bit of aggression, a little bit of pointing, poking people,’ she explains.
‘When we were making Out of Order there wasn’t a sense of any of that,’ she says. ‘It was simply about celebrating each other, accepting each other, encouraging each other to be the funniest versions of ourselves we could be. I fundamentally believe that when you create an environment where everyone can be whoever they want to be it’s the best playground for comedians.’
Rosie’s stand-up show, Triple Threat, will be making a visit to the epicentre of British comedy this summer: the Edinburgh Fringe. It’s hard to talk about Triple Threat without ruining the jokes (which are excellent and abundant), Rosie tells me that it’s her favourite piece of comedy she’s ever made.
Conscious (courtesy of some pre-interview Instagram stalking) that Rosie is clearly good mates with some of the biggest comedians in the UK, I somewhat tentatively ask her if she thinks Northerners are funnier. Rosie is far less hesitant than I am.
‘I’ve been a Northerner living in London – to my shame – for four years now,’ she says. ‘I still believe with all my heart that the North is where you breed the best and funniest people.’ Who are we to disagree?
