EDINBURGH 2025: Review: ROSIE O'DONNELL: COMMON KNOWLEDGE, Gilded Balloon

It’s a somber start to Rosie O’Donnell’s Edinburgh Fringe debut as she touches on losing her mother when she was only ten years old. This leads to her talking about her early experiences visiting Scotland and Ireland- where she now lives.

The show title Common Knowledge comes from a phrase often uttered by O’Donnell’s super-smart youngest child. Clay has been hitting out with obscure facts from a young age that they can’t believe Rosie doesn’t know- its common knowledge! 

O’Donnell is a mother of five and she takes us through her adoption journey. At fifty, her kids had either moved out or were teenagers and she got a phone call about an expectant woman looking for a household without a father. She bonded with her despite advice not to and her story about holding her daughter for the first time is extremely touching. There are quite a few surprisingly moving moments in this hour of standup. 

O’Donnell’s youngest child told her age 9 that they didn’t feel like their name fit them anymore and chose to be called Clay instead. Later, Clay disclosed they were non binary and O’Donnell admits that as an older mother she doesn’t get it right 100% of the time but she’s trying. 

The material about moving to Ireland is a real joy. The reason for moving, not so much. Feeling unsafe in the USA because of “the orange menace” she researched her eligibility to get Irish citizenship. It’s safe to say from what she spoke about that it's a much better quality of life for her and Clay in Ireland. Clay has autism and they’ve found a school and community where they both appear to be thriving. 

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