Rosie Wilkinson

She was Bev in the AA adverts but now you can find Rosie Wilkinson moaning about household chores, loving bleach and bouncing on a hobby horse. Confused? Don't worry, she'll explain all.

How did you get started in comedy?

I was actually a quiet child but I started larking about in high school. I was always into acting and then got into drama teaching. I realised I didn't want to teach and so I got sponsored and did my acting course. Then a sketch group needed a funny girl and I joined.

A lot of it is probably down to working in my family's butcher shop. You have to have a thick skin to work there. The camaraderie and customers. You know, an old lady would ask for an oxtail and I would be like, no that's just the way I walk.

Can you remember your first gig?

I was backstage on a hobby horse wearing luminous shoes and a pink fleece hat. I was galloping on it and looking at myself in the mirror. A member of the stage crew came to get me and looked at me as though I was a freak.

Who makes you laugh?

My mum. She says funny things. I asked her the other day what food is good to have at a funeral and she was like, quiche - that's always good for a laugh. I like Peter Kay, Billy Connolly and Victoria Wood. I laugh at anything actually. It's easy to make me laugh.

What makes you laugh?

People who are self-deprecating. Not self-defecating. That's something entirely different.

What's the weirdest thing you've ever seen at Edinburgh?

A few years ago we went to see this show and there was a guy who came on with loads of clothes on and started singing I want to break free by Queen. Then he took all his clothes off. Then a skinny girl came on naked with a Barbie doll between her bum cheeks and SKINNY BITCH written on her bum. Then a bigger girl came on with a Barbie doll in-between her bum cheeks and had FAT COW written on her bum. Weird. Also, the other day I was in the post office getting tax for my car and was getting stressed about having the wrong documents. This old woman turned round and yelled "Jesus loves you." Strange.

Tell us about your Edinburgh show.

There's two Northern Women, Joan and Jean, who top and tail the show. They say things like, "don't feel guilty about not grounding your own flour or going to the farmers market at the bottom of your road." That sort of thing. We have lots of characters, me and Helen. We have rich posh teenagers who are obsessed with being groomed. It's fun actually, some guy said the other day - I came to see your show under duress and I am so glad I did. That's the thing with female comedy. I've never thought about it like that - females were always an equal in my household but it's nice that people are enjoying it.

What will you be doing with yourself when you've finished performing at the Fringe?

I'm baking buns. You get a bun with our show you see. So I'm making cinnamon buns a la Nigella. It's funny; people are so passionate about the buns. My boyfriend was hell bent on there being Smarties on them and Chris, a member of the crew, told me he was waiting for the day when the buns we make actually start looking like the ones on the poster for our show.

So are you a domestic Goddess? What's your favourite or least favourite household chore?

I have to say I like a bit of bleach. Bleaching my surfaces. Bad for the environment but a bit of bleach on the work top - magic. Bins are my least favourite - I leave that to the men.

Do people still come up and ask you about car insurance?

Yeah they used to years ago. I got recognised once in Spitalfields Market. My boyfriend was like, I hope people don't start pointing and saying there's Kev (Kev was Bev's boyfriend in the AA commercials). I used to like it though - people would be friendly, like they knew you but they hadn't ever met you.

If you weren't in comedy, what would you be doing?

I would probably be dead. No, I would be a Mother Theresa type figure; I would be solving worldly issues. Instead, I'm inflating my own ego.