Written by: Rosie Wilby
Published: Wednesday 3rd August 2011

Rosie Wilby explains how her Edinburgh show last year turned her into 'an annoying love pedant'...

For the last two years at the Fringe, I've been presenting a spoof lecture, The Science Of Sex. The real neurochemistry behind lust, romantic love and attachment is a fascinating topic which I only touched lightly on in my comedy shows.

Yet reading up on the science behind what was going on in my real relationship (which went into freefall during the years that I toured that show) gave me huge insight but still not much empowerment to put things right. I realised that the great thing about love is its mystery and rationalising it seemed pointless and ultimately distancing. There's nothing more annoying that going out with someone who says 'this argument is just down to our conflicting love styles!'

I think I also fully realised how much we all fall for some of the media's schmaltzy Valentines paraphernalia, however much we resist it. I'd been just as desperate to have some major falling in love moment as the next person. When I started out as a comedian, all my material was about internet dating (including the site that matched me with myself!) and wanting to meet someone.

Yet my real falling in love moment came almost 3 years into the relationship contextualised by what I'd been reading from the 'love experts' (interesting sex researchers over the decades had the worse love lives of all, Kinsey being a prime example. He was so well hung, it was too painful for his wife to actually do it).

For all comedians we use our real life as a source of material, particularly for Edinburgh shows where we want to include a longer story. Yet there's often a conflict between art and life. How much can you talk about family, friends and partners without impacting your actual relationships with those people?

I'm hoping that this year's show which is a memoir about my time as a singer songwriter during the Britpop years will be safer territory. And my new relationship is safe!

Rosie's Pop Diary is at The Tron at 6.20pm until 28 August.

For more information about Rosie, visit www.rosiewilby.com or follow @rosiewilby on Twitter.