Interview: Rarely Asked Questions – Hannah Gadsby: Page 2 of 2

6. What do your parents think of your job?

They think it is wonderful and stupid in equal measure. 

7. What’s the worst thing about being a comedian?

The isolation and lack of creative collaboration that is inherent in how the art form has developed.

8. I think you are very good at what you do (that’s why I’m asking these questions). What do you think of you?

I am a nice person.

9. How much do you earn and how much would you like to earn?

This is a boring and tedious question. (ed - sorry I asked)

10. How important is luck in terms of career success – have you had lucky breaks?

I am lucky that I have had a very difficult and traumatic life because these are hands down the best ways to forge the skills, resilience and strategies you need to be good at comedy.  But honestly, I reckon it would have been much better luck to be born straight, white and male so that I didn’t have to justify my existence or explain my differences in order to placate audiences and offset the kinds of hostile stereotypes that twits like Jim Jefferies hatefully spit out about queer women.

11. Alan Davies has said that comedian’s fall into two categories - golfers and self-harmers. The former just get on with life, the latter are tortured artists. Which are you – or do you think you fit into a third category?

I like Alan Davies but I will respectfully call bullshit on this.  Firstly, let me say that I am a very good golfer and I played representative golf when I was a teenager but I was forced to stop playing when I left school because I could not afford to play as an adult, assuming that I could have found a club that allowed women to play on the weekends.  It is easy to get on with life if you are wealthy and have easy and unchallenged access to the most elitist, sexist, racist and badly dressed sport in human history.  I think the most effective and peaceful revolution this world needs right now would be a co-ordinated attack on every golf course in the world – fill up the fairways with gardens and invite the bees.

I guess I am a tortured artist.

12. Who is your favourite person ever and why – not including family or friends or other comedians?

I just don’t have an answer to that.  Why would I have a favourite person who is not family or friend?

13. Do you keep your drawers tidy and if not why not? (please think long and hard about this question, it's to settle an argument with my girlfriend. The future of our relationship could depend on your response).

How about you deal with your own shit and learn to communicate without outsourcing conflict resolution to comedians – many of whom are terrible at interpersonal skills and rarely have a balanced approach to life.  Also, just get your own drawers and stop arguing about stuff that doesn’t matter.  

 

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