Rosie Jones's slow talking, quick thinking stand-up

I would go further than that and say she’s the most enjoyable comedian I’ve ever interviewed and that’s not because it was a lot easier to jot down her musings because of the way she talks.

And before the letters come flooding in - that was Rosie’s joke, not mine!

Anyone who has seen her act will know not to underestimate the slow, methodical way she delivers her punchlines, and as Rosie tells me, the way she talks is actually a huge advantage for a stand-up.

“First of all you’d have to be very brave to heckle some one who talks like me,” she says. “I may speak slowly but I’m quick thinking and my voice allows me more time to think. I love a heckler, because I’ll always end on top.

“When I first started I thought to myself ‘bloody hell, everyone will get to the punchline before I do’ but when I began writing comedy at university I really got to understand the importance of words, and looking at the way of constructing a sentence so that it’s spontaneous and still packs a surprise at the end.

“It’s actually really important that I speak slowly because it makes the audience aware that I’m in control and they have no idea what’s coming.”

With her infectious laugh and high energy, newcomer Rosie Jones is bringing her debut hour show Fifteen Minutes to the Edinburgh Fringe, at Pleasance next month.

Before that’s she’s at the Colchester Arts Centre at the end of the month as part of the Church Street venue’s special week of Edinburgh previews.

Rosie adds: “I’m an equal balance of excited and nervous. I keep waking up at 3am and thinking what the hell I’m doing but it will be fun. I did a short show called 14 Minutes last year and so I’m ready to do a proper hour-long one. I’m really proud of it. There’s a few tweaks that’s required and hopefully they’ll get ironed out during these previews. Perhaps Colchester can help me out with that.”

During birth, Rosie’s shoulder got stuck and she didn’t breathe for 15 minutes, which led to her developing cerebral palsy.

In the hour, she explores who she would be if those crucial first 15 minutes had gone differently. Who is ‘able bodied Rosie’? Nobody knows for certain, but Rosie’s hunch is that she’s probably a knob-head.

Fifteen Minutes is an hour of comedy that packs a punch. It delves into disability, sexuality and, among other things, relieving herself in the most unusual of places.

Originally from Bridlington but now based in London, Rosie started off in television as a researcher, a job she did for six years working on such programmes as 8 Out of Ten Cats, The Last Leg and Would I Lie to You.

“It depended on the show but mainly I would write the biographies for the guests and generally come up with ideas,” Rosie tells me. “Although for Would I Lie To You I did get to write some of the lies. My favourite was, and I can’t remember who it was for, ‘I set eight different alarms at night so I can get up and brush my teeth because I hate having dirty teeth’.

“That’s where it all began,” she reveals. “I was watching all these comedians and thinking ‘wait a minute, they’re doing less work than me for a lot more money, I might give that a go’.

“On The Last Leg I had a bit of baptism of fire because the first one I ever did was the one for the Rio Olympics, which was brilliant because we were in Rio but it meant doing a show every single day. It was good when we got back and doing just a show a week. After Rio, that was an absolute breeze.”

Since finding herself in front of the cameras instead of behind them, she’s recently appeared on 8 Out of 10 Cats, The Last Leg: Correspondents and Things Not To Say To Someone With Cerebral Palsy.

She has also been heard on BBC Radio 4’s Fred at The Stand and The Comedy Club Interviews and recently made her primetime debut, starring as Serena in a Silent Witness two-part special.

“I remember the first time I got up and did stand-up,” she says. “My friend does Improv and I went to one of her shows where at the end someone said we have five minutes left, does anyone want to have a go. My friend could see I was thinking about it and just nudged me to get up there, which I did.

“As soon as I did, it was immediate, it all made sense and I’ve loved doing it ever since.”

Rosie Jones is just one of the stand-ups who are making an appearance at the Colchester Arts Centre as part of a week of Edinburgh Previews.

They will be;

Tuesday. July 24 - Jake Lambert + Joanne McNally

Wednesday, July 25 - Kelly Convey + George Lewis

Thursday, July 26 - Rosie Jones + Henry Paker

Friday, July 27 - Lou Sanders + Bilal Zafar

Saturday, July 28 - Tom Lucy + Suzi Ruffell

Tickets are £10 and £8 concessions, available on-line at colchesterartscentre.com or by calling the box office on 01206 500900.

Doors open at 7.30pm for each show, with the first comic on from 8pm.