It’s hard to imagine anyone could ever be mad at Rose Bishop.
She’s a charming, witty, and affable storyteller who had the audience in the palm of her hand from the moment the show began. Despite the title of her 2025 offering, there was applause (and laughs) aplenty throughout 'Clap If You’re Mad At Me' and it was clear that it was all coming from a place of deep appreciation.
Rose is an incredibly relatable comic; her gentle and engaging nature allowed her to share some beautiful vulnerability with the crowd as her story unfolded. Rose has pulled together a very funny hour of meandering stories about growing older and making the choice to live a life that includes cats – something which is a very clear and distinctive choice! But don’t let the mention of cats put you off in any way – I’m not a cat gal myself, normally there’s nothing I want less than for someone to tell me about their cats and their ‘crazy cat antics’ but the stories that Rose spins are so engaging that even an anti-cat human like me was happy to go along for the ride.
There were many moments of caught-off-guard laughter in this show, where you struggle to catch your breath after not realising the joke was going to hit so hard. The sneak attack is very much Rose’s style – she’s an expert at delivering jokes that zig when you think they were going to zag. It’s a lot of fun to experience!
There were a few quiet and contemplative moments within the show, providing clear peaks and troughs to the narrative, but they were often and quickly followed by a well-structured and excellently-delivered joke. Rose is a masterful comedic storyteller and the show she has constructed lets her put all these talents on display.
