Rosie Jones is offering up Big Laughs for Small Steps
Published: Thursday 9th May 2024
Rosie Jones is hosting a one-night-only comedy show with some of her friends to support Small Steps, a charity that works with preschool children with cerebral palsy in all areas of development using conductive education.
The show, Rosie Jones and Friends - Big Laughs for Small Steps, which is on Friday 17th May at the Rose Theatre in Kingston, will have guests including Katherine Ryan, Joel Dommett, Suzi Ruffell, Nish Kumar, Charlie Baker, Chantel Nash and Dane Buckley. All of the profits from the show will go to Small Steps.
Recently, we had the chance to chat with Jones about this upcoming charity event. We discussed the importance of supporting Small Steps, what it has been like bringing this event together and what the London Marathon with Ivo Graham was like.
So can you tell us a bit about this event that you're hosting?
Absolutely! Small Steps are a brilliant charity I'm an ambassador for, and they just do amazing stuff - helping young children and their families, a lot of whom have cerebral palsy. Their main aim is to get them moving to some degree, whether that's walking, crawling [or] rolling over. I'm so proud to be an ambassador for them because I have cerebral palsy, and when I was a baby me and my parents would have completely benefited from a charity like Small Steps.
So I wanted to do something for them and put them in the limelight and, hopefully, raise lots of money for them. So I thought, "Well, what can I do? Oh, I can stand on stage and be a silly billy!" So I'm hosting a comedy night with all of my brilliant comedian friends.
I called in a lot of favours so we've got a stunning lineup of people like Nish Kumar, Katherine Ryan, Joel Dommett, Suzi Ruffell and then some newer, brilliant comedian friends of mine like Chantel Nash and Dane Buckley. I'm so excited to have an evening of raucous, lively comedy but at the same time, raise money for such a brilliant charity.
What is the process like for creating an event like this?
Well, I need to say that I am very grateful to have a lot of help around me! It was my job to book the lineup and I'm very happy with that.
I'm very happy with that - I think I absolutely nailed it! We've got a group of brilliant people, and not a dickhead in sight! Apart from Nish Kumar, but you always need a dickhead for good measure.
In terms of booking the venue and getting tickets sold, that's not my wheelhouse. My brilliant agency are on top of that. I'm just a funny lady!
And you recently participated in another charity event - the London Marathon! How was that?
Oh my God! I absolutely cracked the system. I got to experience that whole day, see London by running through it and hearing all the crowds and I got a medal. So I got all those cool perks of the marathon without doing a single day of exercise because I just sat in a chair and let Ivo Graham push me! I was living the dream!
The best way to experience the marathon!
But also, shoutout to Ivo because he did such an amazing job! He ran in a record time - it was like three hours and thirty minutes, which would be impressive if he was on his own, so when you bring in the fact that he did that while pushing a very loud, little lesbian, that's what dreams are made of!
That should be the slogan for the marathon...
Being a tiny, little, loud lesbian not compulsory, but it does make you go quicker!
What is it that keeps you supporting all of these charities?
'Cause I'm a great person! [Laughs]
Very humble!
I want to be a Dame one day. It's my constant desire to be a national treasure. I will one day! But no. When you're different in any way, like for me growing up with cerebral palsy, life was shit at times. You never forget that. So now, I'm lucky enough that I'm in a position where I have a platform and people take notice of what I say.
I really feel like it's so important to champion and shout loudly about people who often get ignored and overlooked in society because, hopefully, that is how we can make the world a better place. Also the damehood!
Yeah, that wouldn't be too bad! What can audiences expect from the show?
Just a lot of laughs! I booked in the most brilliant people - there's such an array of different comedians so you'd be such a silly billy to miss it! It's very rare to get that level of comedian all together at the same time. Just come and enjoy the LOLs!
And what would you recommend for people who want to support Small Steps but aren't able to attend the show?
By going to look them up! They've got a brilliant website and do very regular fundraising activities. You can give to them online. I and they will be so grateful for whatever you can give.
For more information on Small Steps, visit smallsteps.org.uk
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