When Rosie married me she knew anything embarrassing that happened in our lives would be used in my stand-up
Chris and Rosie Ramsey talk to HANNAH STEPHENSON about marriage, podcast success and having a second child on the way
Your award-winning podcast Sh****d. Married. Annoyed. has now been running for 18 months. Are you competitive when it comes to getting laughs?
Chris: People think that because I’m a comedian I’m going to be precious about the fact people think my wife is as funny or, in many cases, funnier than me. But I wouldn’t be married to Rosie if she wasn’t funny, because it was one of the things I found so attractive about her in the first place.
How have you coped during lockdown with the live version of the podcast tour being postponed until next summer and Chris’s stand-up tour being delayed until February?
Chris: It’s been horrendous. I couldn’t get out of bed at the beginning of lockdown. My tour was supposed to start the day lockdown was announced, when I’d spent three months slogging my guts out writing. If it wasn’t for the podcast and the book, this year would have finished me financially.
We’re sociable, we like to see our family and our friends. I like to tour. It was going to be a very busy year which just got taken from us. You can’t just constantly be ‘Cheshire cat’ grinning in the face of everything that’s happened.
Rosie: It’s been hard. We’ve been lucky in that we’ve got a lovely garden, a decent-sized house, a child [they have a five-year-old son, Robin] and our health. But we have struggled. If one of you has a bad day, the other one cheers them up and vice versa. When children are involved, you can’t fall apart in front of your child.
You’re expecting your second child in January. How do you feel?
Rosie: I feel great. I didn’t get any sickness ...
Chris: ...but she did nearly faint in a tile shop,
Rosie We lost the last baby at 12 weeks, which is still an early loss, but we found out at the scan, so it was a shock and we weren’t expecting it. When we went for the 12-week scan with this baby, I said to Chris beforehand, ‘If this has gone wrong, we’ll have to deal with it.’
It has been worrying, but now I’m at 20 weeks and have had my second scan, everything seems great. We’re just enjoying it now and finally getting excited.
Chris, was it hard not being there for the scan because of lockdown restrictions?
Chris: That was a horrible experience, because I knew how harrowing it was at the last one. I had to sit outside in the car. She texted a photo of the scan and I was just crying.
Does family life give you plenty of stand-up comedy material?
Chris: When Rosie got married to me she knew anything funny or embarrassing that happened in our lives would be used in my stand-up, because that’s how we pay the bills.
Marriage and fatherhood has completely changed me for the better.
Until I met Rosie, I didn’t even know if I wanted to get married, I definitely didn’t want to have kids. We were engaged after six months, married a year later, and then had a child a year after that. Everything just clicked, and I can’t see my life without them.
How would you describe your relationship?
Chris: We are very affectionate, very cuddly kissy, but who wants to read about that? We know how much we love each other, but the podcast and the book are essentially a sparring match. When we were doing the audio book, Rosie mentioned she had said some lovely things about me and that I did not reciprocate at all. I’m always looking for laugh. Rosie: But what you don’t realise is that in real life Chris is an absolute wet blanket, he’ll cry at anything. If I’ve been a bit down I can guarantee I’ll get a lovely bunch of flowers and little things that he knows I like, like a bar of chocolate. Little things mean a lot.
Chris: She’s very easily pleased.
How would you describe each other? Rosie: Chris is a catastrophiser, so something will happen and I’ll be like, ‘Oh well, we’ll deal with that later’, but Chris will think of scenarios which he thinks could happen.
Chris: Rosie helps by talking me down and I know when I’m doing it now, which helps. And since we had our son, I don’t really let much keep me awake at night.
SH****D. Married. Annoyed. by Chris and Rosie Ramsey, is published by Michael Joseph, priced £16.99 hardback, £7.39 ebook. Go to chrisramsey comedy.com for podcast details and 2021 tour dates.
If one of you has a bad day, the other one cheers them up and vice versa. When children are involved, you can’t fall apart in front of your child... Rosie Ramsey on lockdown stresses