Rosie Jones: I Can’t Tell What She’s Saying comedy review – A-list comedy
The television mainstay tackles her disability, online abuse and Taskmaster with her well-known sense of bolshy confidence
Rosie Jones is a rich, famous comedian and a national treasure: her own words. Even if she’s exaggerating, it’s fair to say that Jones’ star has risen markedly of late. As she puts it, she feels sorry for anyone who doesn’t know who she is, because they obviously don’t own a television. Her new hour goes out of its way to put distance between the sweet, excitable persona she projects on shows such as Taskmaster, and Rosie Jones, the 36-year-old professed lover of ‘gravy and tits, preferably at the same time’.
As a disabled, gay woman, she notes that she would be first in line for both arts council funding and a concentration camp, and Jones is unflinching in confronting some of the patronising attitudes she has encountered over the years. Her lampooning of the ‘Darrens’ who have trolled her online since she became famous is especially keen. Their biggest problem with her, apparently, is their claim not to understand what she says. This baffles Jones, whose cerebral palsy means that she has to talk slowly and loudly, which she always thought made her sound like ‘an arrogant man in a foreign country’.
The leisurely pace means her audience is made to wait for punchlines, which is thrilling, especially as you’re never quite sure where she’s going next. Some material on representation and online abuse is discomfiting, but Jones is always quick to undercut the threat of seriousness with wit and an infectious grin.
Rosie Jones: I Can’t Tell What She’s Saying, Pleasance Courtyard, until 30 August, 4pm; picture: Jiksaw.