'I’m not a national treasure. I’m a national disgrace': Jo Brand in her own words | Comedian's wit and wisdom from the Imagine documentary © BBC

'I’m not a national treasure. I’m a national disgrace': Jo Brand in her own words

Comedian's wit and wisdom from the Imagine documentary

Jo Brand is the subject of Alan Yentob’s arts documentary strand Imagine on BBC One tonight. Here are ten memorable quotes from the programme:

1. ‘Nobody becomes a comedian because they completely fit into the world they come from.You tend to not get your very well-balanced, comfortable-in-their-own-skin sort of person [in comedy] but people who are prepared to put themselves at great risk in order to validate something about themselves. If it doesn’t work, it’s not like being stabbed or anything, but it hurts emotionally.’

2. ‘If you arean actor and you are playing so-called "character" parts – which is a euphemism for "not pretty" – you have to suppress any sense of self-worth that you have. But when you are a stand-up you have the power to deliver your own thoughts, which is what’s so brilliant about it.’

3. ‘I wanted to stop blokes going, "women aren’t funny". To be so funny that it couldn’t be denied that I was a  woman and that I was funny.’

4. ‘I was quite happy from quite an early age to compete in what was a man’s world.’

5. On Joyce Brand, her mother: ‘She hated anything girly, anything that reduced women down to anything less than they actually are.’

6. ‘My act is the side of my personality that doesn’t mind people hating me.’

7. ‘I've had my share of abuse. [TV critic] Victor Lewis Smith once said I should be sent to Saudi Arabia as they know how to deal with extra pounds of ugly flesh there. Charming!’

8. ‘I thought if I go on [stage] and I’m more entertaining about my weight an how I look than a heckler is, then they would make them think "Oh, it’s hardly worth me bothering".’

9. ‘Women, as they get older, they tend to get a bit invisible. I would encourage all women to be really annoying, and really out there. Be pissed. Be annoying. Shoplift. The whole lot.’

10. ‘People have told me that I’m a national treasure. That’s ridiculous. If you’re a national treasure you can’t go around telling people to "fuck off" – and I still want do that. I’m not a national treasure. I’m a national disgrace.’

• Imagine: Jo Brand - No Holds Barred is on BBC One at 10.45pm tonight, then on iPlayer.

Published: 28 Jan 2019

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