Canadian comedian DeAnne Smith is heading to Perth next year for the Perth International Comedy Festival. OUTinPerth’s Scott-Patrick Mitchell put some tough questions to DeAnne.
Talk us through the DeAnne Do: is your hair quintessentially you or are you quintessentially your hair?
I love this question. Without exaggeration, my hair comprises at least 26% of my daily thoughts. For context, pretty girls come in at about 40%, whether or not there’s something in my teeth is at about 29%, and how much I love almond butter makes up the remaining 5%. That said, I have shaved my head. Twice. The first time because I was young and it seemed like a thing kick-ass girls did in the late ’90s, and I wanted to be kick-ass (Another kick-ass thing girls did in the late ’90s: listen to Throwing Muses and wear combat boots with dresses). The second time, I shaved my head to undo a horrible haircut I got in a Mexican barbershop. I’m not sure I’ve answered your question, but just so you know, I’m cutting myself off. I could easily talk about my hair for the rest of this interview.
Do you have any crazy DeAnne-ian Fans? Do you have any stories you can share?
I feel like you using the word ‘DeAnne-ian’ puts you in the running. Let’s see…I haven’t run into any truly crazy people yet, but there have been a few that felt a bit unhinged. Sometimes people bring little gifts to the show and that feels very sweet, and kind of weird, especially when they’re flowers or Valentine Day’s cards or gaming dice. People seem to like to make cartoons and drawings of me, but I LOVE that, so I wouldn’t want to discourage it. Maybe what I’m getting at here is that the DeAnne-ian fans better step up the crazy. Because so far, I just like the attention.
Check out DeAnne Smith live in action on Good News Week.
What’s your favourite thing about Australia?
I have so many favourite things about Australia! But one of my all-time favourite things is how you shorten words. Pressie, Chrissy, brekky, footy. The first two Australians I ever met talked that way, and I just figured it was because they were super gay. Then I got to Australia and realized, Oh, that’s just how people talk here. Everyone sounds super gay! ‘After brekky, I have to go buy a pressie for my sister for Chrissy.’ I love it.
Complete this sentence: Australian girls are….!
Hot.
You mention you’re an elf trapped in a man’s body… what kinda elf?
An adorable one that’s really good at comedy and has amazing hair, obviously.
Scott-Patrick Mitchell
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