Yahoo News Comedian who sparked Susanna Reid warning says why Scousers 'should vote Tory'
If you've ever been fooled by Rosie Holt, you're not alone.
The comedian's hilarious brand of political satire has taken the internet by storm as she cleverly edits videos to make it look as though she is a hapless Tory MP being grilled on breakfast TV. You may have seen such viral clips as the one when the fictional politician appears to be on Good Morning Britain blaming the Horizon post office scandal on Toby Jones for not making ITV drama, Mr Bates vs The Post Office, sooner.
Or another one during the Partygate scandal when Rosie argued she won't know if she attended one of the Downing Street gatherings until Sue Gray's report is published. However, the actual political landscape has descended into such madness that thousands have taken the sketches at face value with Susanna Reid even reposting the edited GMB interview with the warning: "Always double check who Rosie Holt is before you reply!"
The comedian has now transferred her internet characters onto the stage and is touring the country with That's Politainment. The show arrives at the Liverpool Playhouse on May 25 and sees Rosie play her right wing politician and talk show host characters to deliver a pitch on why the crowd should vote Conservative in the looming general election.
In reality, Rosie is on the left of the political spectrum and is looking forward to playing in front of a Liverpool crowd who will lap up her anti-Conservative sentiments. She said: "One of the fun things about travelling around the country is you find out the political concerns of the area and figure out how you can incorporate that into my show.
"When I did the tour last year, if I was going into a predominantly Tory area, my character would be a lot more excited and be talking about how wonderful it was. If she's in a lefty area then she's going to be insulting them all and threatening to send them all to Rwanda.
"I've not performed as my character in Liverpool but I imagine she'll be going in and have things to say about Liverpool and a lot of them would be pretty ignorant." She joked: "Liverpudlians love the Tories so much."
Rosie is confident the crowd will be in on the joke and said she always loves performing in a city renowned for its sense of humour. She added: "It's terrible to generalise but usually when I've gone north, the crowds have been better.
"When I've performed there, Liverpool has always seemed a comedy savvy audience. The city has got a really good comedy scene with great comedians." Away from the stage, Rosie has a special connection to the region as her brother lives in Merseyside and she has many fond memories from her times visiting.
She said: "Last time I was there I went to the cathedrals. There's two, I couldn't get over it. They're both amazing and they're really different.
"I just like the whole vibe and can't believe you can go out on a Monday and there's so many bars with music and open mics." This will be the first time Rosie is performing her new brand of character comedy in the region as she only pivoted from traditional stand up to political satire during the pandemic.
She came up with the concept for her politician character when she watched Dominic Raab on breakfast TV arguing a group of Tory politicians having a glass of wine while lockdown restrictions were in force was "not a social gathering". She said: "He was clearly brought in having to defend it and he was saying 'sometimes when we work, we have a glass of wine'.
"I was thinking 'this is so funny'. It's awful but it's so funny that he's trying to defend this indefensible thing.
"And also, he looks completely terrified and doesn't know what to say. I thought how can I parody that? It felt like such an easy thing to do but in a way of mocking how our politicians try and excuse themselves on TV."
Rosie said it was never her intention to actually fool people, but can understand why so many think her clips are legitimate. She added: "Our politicians are so ridiculous now and I'm only just cranking up the level of ridiculousness a little bit
"Also I think people have lost faith in our politicians so when they see someone being ridiculous on TV, they don't stop to think that it's fake." Rosie's comedy has also shone a light on the issues with social media and how people are easily angered when they are behind a keyboard.
She said: "I think people like getting outraged on Twitter/X. They like getting angry. They watch something and don't check the source. It's not like my profile says 'I'm an MP in Parliament'. It's clear if you click on my profile that I'm a comedian. [X] is all about the outrage, being on the right side of history and staking your claim."
In an era when politics has become increasingly difficult to parody, Rosie's comedy has been hailed as pitch perfect political satire and earned comparisons to classic shows such as The Thick Of It. She has built on her viral success as she is set to release a book later this year, in addition to the nationwide tour.
The comedian laughed her success has put her in a difficult position as she wonders how her act will evolve if the polls are correct and the Conservatives are voted out of government in the upcoming general election. She joked: "Yes, this is why we've got to keep the Tories in power so that my comedy career is alright."
She added: "There definitely is a worry because you go, 'I want Labour to get in but what does this mean for my career'. I'll just have to see what happens. With my podcast host, she's always going to be a right wing talk show host but I think the MP character could easily translate to Labour as I don't think she's party political.
"The characters can move around so it will be interesting to see what people want."
Rosie Holt is performing at the Liverpool Playhouse on May 25. You can get tickets here
Why We Were Right: A Catalogue of Conservative Successes is Rosie Holt’s debut book which will be published in July.
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