I sort of stumbled headfirst into comedy. Driven almost entirely by the potent mix of delusion and heartbreak, I knew I wanted to make things but didn’t really know where to start.
I decided to just write an hour, conjure a character and I’ve sort of been learning on the job ever since. In 2021, I had a vague inkling of this regency girlie; a pop princess pastiche of love, girlhood, history and everything in between.
Unwittingly, she became a bit of a north star back to myself.
My life kind of imploded during the pandemic and I lost my way a bit. I ended up making the show I needed to see. I made Clementine up almost entirely for myself and I think she saved me in so many ways.
I’m so grateful that audiences continue to resonate with her and connect to the show. It reminds me why I started writing and performing.
Year 5
My first ever stage performance remains my proudest achievement to date. Aged 9, I was a triple threat: braces, glasses and a tight bob. I wasn’t exactly leading-lady material but against all the odds I’d managed to bag a role in the upcoming Year 5 musical.
We couldn’t afford to do a real show so it was sort of Frankenstein's monster of existing IP; a deliriously derivative mash-up of Oliver!, Pygmalion and potentially Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
Not that I minded. This was my big moment, my primary school gym hall became my West End and every parent, teacher and guardian in the room was sobbing uncontrollably.
I might have misremembered both the quality of my performance and the audience reaction but, like Clementine, I’m perfectly happy romanticising the past.
Stuffing my face with cake
I vividly remember the first time I made people properly laugh on stage. I was in a student play, for my sins, and had been given about 3.5 lines to keep me occupied across three acts.
Delusions of grandeur have plagued me all my life and by night three, I couldn’t help but rebel. I’d been given a note to act bored in the background while eating cake. So, I dutifully dissociated at the back of the stage and started stuffing my face with the Tesco sheet cake that had been standing to attention backstage for about a week by that point.
The whole scene was derailed (which, in hindsight, is poor stage practice) but the audience were in hysterics. I think it was funny because it was real. I was bored and I was hungry.
I knew then I was completely hooked. Whatever chaos that was conjured in that moment, I knew I’d forever want another bite.
Rosalie Minnitt as Clementine
Soho Theatre
I remember seeing Lucy McCormick’s Post Popular at Soho Theatre before Covid. I had no idea what I had just seen but I remember thinking, whatever it was, I want to do that.
Cut to 2023 and I had just sold out my first run. Then I got another one. I was working a really demanding full-time job throughout the run. I got an ear infection. I had some terrible shows. I had some brilliant shows. But I was learning on the job.
Within a year of performing Clementine, I'd managed to get the show from a jumble of ideas in a sprawling Google doc to the West End. I’ll never forget that feeling.
Stickers in the wild!
Last year, while I was on holiday in Italy, I saw someone on the plane with one of my stickers on their phone. I didn’t recognise them, but they must have seen my show.
It was a reminder of something I often forget in the midst of trying to perfect every detail: the audience. After three sold-out runs at the Soho Theatre, countless work-in-progress shows, and three Edinburgh Fringes performances, I’ve realised that more than 5,000 incredible people have now seen the show live. I can’t fully put into words what that means to me, but I’ll never forget what a privilege it is to perform. I can’t wait to show Clementine to new audiences in March.
She’s a reminder to take things less seriously. If you’re looking for an hour of pure escapism, come join Clem on her tour and lose yourself in her wonderfully stupid world.
Rosalie Minnitt’s Clementine tours from 8 March - 5 April – all details here.
