Hannah Gadsby

Comedian

73 Quotes

I've always wanted to make Australian art interesting. To get a different audience watching art documentaries would be great.

Comedy is a man's art form. It pretty much came from a time, post-World War II really - the 1950s are not really known for the subtle expressions of feminine life.

This adoration of an artist as a lone genius is quite misled, I think, because they are very much part of their time and their community.

The only people I don't reach on a very personal level are straight white men. They don't really need another entertainer dedicated for them exclusively, so they're fine.

I don't want to be a didactic voice. I like to ask more questions than I answer, just to get people thinking and to make it safe to access art.

The art world doesn't exist in a vacuum.

I get anxiety and distressed from external stimuli quite easily, so if I'm in a constant state of self-protection, it's exhausting.

There are times I've been surprised by how emotional I can be on stage.

Just because you're gay doesn't mean you're not homophobic.

Self-deprecation runs right through queer culture. It was seen as a badge of honor. I started to feel like perhaps it was destructive as well.

'Nanette' has been a journey. She went from being something of a personal little blast to the world from me, that I expected would seal me off into the margins as far as my career is concerned, and into an idiosyncratic sort of life beyond all of that.

If a documentary crew were to follow me around, they'd probably think they were making a film about the saddest person in the world.

I'm a pretty good procrastinator.

If the only reason to be on stage communicating with people is to tell them a joke and make them laugh, that seems thin for me. That has a place - I don't think it should stop happening - but for me, I don't know. I just don't.

Comedy is great in that it's accessible to someone like me, from a low socioeconomic background, struggling in life. The gatekeepers are a lot stronger in other art forms.

The idea that standup is a thing with defined boundaries is kind of ludicrous.

Just because you're gay doesn't mean you're not homophobic.

I've always wanted to make Australian art interesting. To get a different audience watching art documentaries would be great.

My brain is just so busy. I'm inattentive; I'm a daydreamer: the space cadet kind.

I've got Asperger's. I come at things from sideways.

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