Rosie O'Donnell: Common Knowledge comedy review - Masterful and comedic storytelling
American comedian Rosie O'Donnell brings her storytelling skills to the Fringe with a tear-inducing and hilarious show
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When no less a moron than Donald Trump effectively calls you public enemy number one and threatens to revoke your citizenship, you know you’re doing something right. You also, if you’re Rosie O’Donnell, uproot to Ireland, land of your ancestors. In this by turns moving and funny, tear-inducing and hilarious one-woman show about family and inclusion, the US actor, comedian and former talk-show host reveals herself to be a masterful storyteller.
The comedic elements are not instantly assured. She opens with an account of how, as a ten-year-old in New York, she learned of her mother’s passing, precipitating the dubious decision of her father to drag her and her four equally traumatised siblings to Donegal at the height of The Troubles. They met other cousins in Scotland too, laying the groundwork for O’Donnell’s desire for a big brood. However, long after her four adopted kids had grown up and flown the nest, a chance phone call led to O’Donnell adopting another child, the precocious, neurodivergent Clay. Every parent believes their kid to be special on some level. But the non-binary Clay is a true outlier, challenging the comic to relearn the fundamentals of a mother-child relationship.
Occasionally conflating the Irish public with her Scottish audience, to no great irksomeness, O’Donnell is so swept off her feet by the Celtic welcome and differences in the health and education system, that she mistakes good service for flirtation, recalling the mortifying incident with good humour. She gives and receives in turn, with an appearance on The Late Late Show inspiring a young fan to reach out to her. It’s all rather lovely, leaving not a dry eye in the house.
Rosie O’Donnell: Common Knowledge, Gilded Balloon Appleton Tower, until Sunday 10 August, 8.45pm; main picture: Steve Ullathorne.