Stories appeal to humanity.

I'm a pretty good procrastinator.

The art world doesn't exist in a vacuum.

#MeToo should not be limited to art or TV.

Most accountants are strange - let's be honest.

I always kept my expectations in life very tame.

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

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

That's the problem with ADHD: I have no focus; I get bored.

The sheer number of paintings of unconscious women is distressing.

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

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

A lot of people have told me they have mothers like my mother. I seriously doubt it.

A lot of people are intimated by art, but it's something to be revered beyond criticism.

Just because it's been around for centuries, doesn't mean it's cool to be a creepy old man.

To get recognized in New York is weird because that's definitely a place you shouldn't be recognized.

I would never date a celebrity. I would want someone with real skills. Doctor, nurse, electrician... tailor.

We need to hear stories from older women. There's a wealth of wisdom and real resilience there, but they're silenced.

I've walked away in the middle of a conversation and had no idea that was wrong until someone told me I was being rude.

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

The thing about comedy is it gives you a platform to expose your own shortcomings, so it becomes a public display of weirdness.

A lot of people who have experienced trauma at the hands of people they've trusted take responsibility, and that is what's toxic.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

I found that pottering is very conducive to my creative process, so now, I find myself being incredibly creative because I've got such much to procrastinate with.

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.

I've always done live art history lectures and small documentaries in the past in Australia, on Australian art and art galleries, so I've already done a lot of that.

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.

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.

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.

'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.

Shame has its place. Shame is what you do to a kid to stop them running on the road. And then you take the shame away, and immediately, they're back in the fold. You should never soak anybody in shame. It's the prolonged existence of shame that then flips out into destructive rage. We can't exist in that. It's like treacle.

Share This Page