The standup is hitting new heights of pastiche with Clementine, a riotous one-woman show about a Regency belle seeking a tailcoated beau. As the Edinburgh hit goes on tour, Minnitt explains why her mum’s doing the driving

Every now and then a comedy concept comes along that seems so obvious, you can’t believe no one has done it before. How can Rosalie Minnitt’s Clementine be the first character-comedy show to really mine the absurdities of our love of all things Jane Austen, all things frilly-bonneted and Bridgerton? OK, it’s not a completely untapped seam of funny: think West End improv perennial Austentatious or that fantastic touring theatre hit Pride and Prejudice* (*Sort Of). But Minnitt is the first to distil it into a single comedy character, and to make it far funnier than we have any right to expect – not by doubling down on period pastiche, but by making her alter ego both none-more-Regency and thrillingly 21st century too.

The character debuted in 2022 and Minnitt, 28, has been threatening to retire her for a while. But demand never quite goes away and a UK tour now beckons for a character her creator didn’t initially envisage as a comedy act at all. Lady Clementine’s genesis took place under lockdown. “Everyone had lost their minds a bit,” says Minnitt, a graduate of Durham University, where she performed with the Durham Revue. “And I had lost a bit of confidence in myself. I was working in a bar, then in a summer camp, then for a charity. Then I lost my job and was on furlough. I didn’t know what I was doing with my life. I was lost and directionless. Then I went through a breakup – classic!” She rolls her eyes. “So I was like, ‘I need to put this energy into something.’ And it was this.”

The standup is hitting new heights of pastiche with Clementine, a riotous one-woman show about a Regency belle seeking a tailcoated beau. As the Edinburgh hit goes on tour, Minnitt explains why her mum’s doing the driving

Every now and then a comedy concept comes along that seems so obvious, you can’t believe no one has done it before. How can Rosalie Minnitt’s Clementine be the first character-comedy show to really mine the absurdities of our love of all things Jane Austen, all things frilly-bonneted and Bridgerton? OK, it’s not a completely untapped seam of funny: think West End improv perennial Austentatious or that fantastic touring theatre hit Pride and Prejudice* (*Sort Of). But Minnitt is the first to distil it into a single comedy character, and to make it far funnier than we have any right to expect – not by doubling down on period pastiche, but by making her alter ego both none-more-Regency and thrillingly 21st century too.

The character debuted in 2022 and Minnitt, 28, has been threatening to retire her for a while. But demand never quite goes away and a UK tour now beckons for a character her creator didn’t initially envisage as a comedy act at all. Lady Clementine’s genesis took place under lockdown. “Everyone had lost their minds a bit,” says Minnitt, a graduate of Durham University, where she performed with the Durham Revue. “And I had lost a bit of confidence in myself. I was working in a bar, then in a summer camp, then for a charity. Then I lost my job and was on furlough. I didn’t know what I was doing with my life. I was lost and directionless. Then I went through a breakup – classic!” She rolls her eyes. “So I was like, ‘I need to put this energy into something.’ And it was this.”

Council of Europe says Swiss government failing to respect human rights court’s ruling on emissions

• Europe live – latest updates

The Swiss government has been told it must do more to show that its national climate plans are ambitious enough to comply with a landmark legal ruling.

The Council of Europe’s committee of ministers, in a meeting this week, decided that Switzerland was not doing enough to respect a decision last year by the European court of human rights that it must do more to cut its greenhouse gas emissions and rejected the government’s plea to close the case.

Council of Europe says Swiss government failing to respect human rights court’s ruling on emissions

• Europe live – latest updates

The Swiss government has been told it must do more to show that its national climate plans are ambitious enough to comply with a landmark legal ruling.

The Council of Europe’s committee of ministers, in a meeting this week, decided that Switzerland was not doing enough to respect a decision last year by the European court of human rights that it must do more to cut its greenhouse gas emissions and rejected the government’s plea to close the case.

Former California attorney general weighing campaign for 2026 election in home state since defeat to Trump, allies say

Kamala Harris is considering a run to be governor of California and has given herself until the end of the summer to make a final decision, sources close to her have told Politico.

The former US vice-president has been weighing up a gubernatorial campaign in her home state as one option for remaining in the political arena since her presidential election defeat to Donald Trump last November.

Former California attorney general weighing campaign for 2026 election in home state since defeat to Trump, allies say

Kamala Harris is considering a run to be governor of California and has given herself until the end of the summer to make a final decision, sources close to her have told Politico.

The former US vice-president has been weighing up a gubernatorial campaign in her home state as one option for remaining in the political arena since her presidential election defeat to Donald Trump last November.