Comedian Rosie Waterland’s Kid Chameleon

Comedian Rosie Waterland gets frank about her relationship with boyfriend and conservative Sky News contributor Caleb Bond.

Rosie Waterland: ‘Once I make it clear to the audience that they’re not laughing at me, they’re laughing with me, they tend to relax a bit more and enjoy the content.’

Adelaide-based comedian Rosie Waterland has spun her childhood trauma into comedy. The author, screenwriter and podcaster will perform as part of Sydney Comedy Festival and spoke to Ellie Dudley about her upbringing, talking politics with boyfriend Caleb Bond and what it means to be the “anti-cool girl”.

You’ve been open about the differences between you and your “conservative” boyfriend (Sky News contributor Caleb Bond). Does that ever cause complications in your relationship?
Caleb and I certainly differ on a lot of political issues, but it’s the core issues that we agree on. There are some things that he writes about or talks about that lead to some pretty grumpy discussions when he gets home, but I will say that debating with him about what he thinks helps me better understand why I think the way I do. However, yes, there are definitely some superficial political things that make me want to punch him in the face and then make him sleep on the couch.

You’ve had a very colourful upbringing, which is obviously a large part of your show Kid Chameleon. At what point did you realise your tumultuous childhood could become comedy content?
It was incredibly early on. I had to survive this awful trauma, with parents who neglected me, dealing with their drug addictions and alcoholism. I kept very detailed journals as a kid and thought to my parents: “Keep it up, guys. People love this nonsense, and one day I am going to write all this down and sell it.” I knew the one way I was going to survive the disaster that was my childhood was by taking ownership of the story and trying to make it funny.

When dealing with dark material, how do you know which jokes to steer away from?
I don’t, really. Being a writer is an incredibly solitary thing. You sit at home and write the stories that you think are interesting and you write the jokes that you think are funny and then you just send it off via email to someone. Telling those jokes to a crowd of people is a whole different kettle of fish. One thing I’ve found is that people aren’t sure if they’re allowed to laugh at your trauma. Once I make it clear to the audience that they’re not laughing at me, they’re laughing with me, they tend to relax a bit more and enjoy the content.

In your podcast Mum Says My Memoir is a Lie, you and your mum dissect your memoir. Have these conversations prompted any regrets about how you told your story?
Taking ownership of my story was a huge part of dealing with the trauma I experienced as a kid. Unfortunately, most of what my mum did on the podcast was deny things that happened when I was younger, and deny any trauma that she may have caused. When I came up with the idea, the content creator and the storyteller in me thought it was podcast gold. In hindsight, having to sit and listen to the person who neglected me deny that they did so was possibly not worth it in the end.

You spend a lot of your time performing through podcasts now. What is the main challenge you’ve found in presenting on an audio format?
After I finished high school I trained as an actor for three years. So much of what I learned was how to tell stories and perform from a stage, and bounce off the energy from the audience. Then, I started writing for Mamamia where my storytelling was just me sitting at a computer alone. When I moved to podcasts, it was safe to say I had no idea what I was doing, but was able to learn from the ground up.

What does it mean to be the “anti-cool girl”?
When I got the book deal and wrote The Anti-Cool Girl I thought I was a phoenix rising from the ashes … an anti-cool girl who didn’t care what other people thought. But, the reality is, I still have bad days and I still have good days. There are days when I laugh and days when I cry. So, I guess being an anti-cool girl is knowing that you never really stop growing.

Rosie Waterland will perform at Astor Theatre as part of Perth Comedy Festival, April 23; and at Factory Theatre as part of Sydney Comedy Festival, May 7-8.