When I was at school you got an overall general education on many things, even just basic facts. – Jo Brand
My mum always felt that women deserved as much as men, and should have as much power, so I suppose I opted to go into a very male-dominated arena to try and prove that. – Jo Brand
There are two types of people in this world: one who opens a packet of biscuits, has one and puts the rest back in the cupboard, and one who eats the whole packet in one go. – Jo Brand
There are lots of people who believe that caricature of me the tabloids created, so they think they don’t like me. – Jo Brand
Television provokes strong opinions, and sometimes we try a bit too hard to appeal to everyone. – Jo Brand
By crying on my bed, drinking quite a lot and feeling tempted by drugs. Well, just not reading it to be perfectly honest with you. I know it’s a bit of a copout. – Jo Brand
When I got married, the Sun ran the headline: ‘Here comes the bride, all fat and wide.’ Luckily, it was a few days after the wedding – but it was still hideous to read at a great romantic moment. – Jo Brand
Once you get labelled, people expect you to behave within the very narrow confines of that label. – Jo Brand
I cannot abide anyone treating another human being like a piece of dirt, whatever the context. – Jo Brand
I read that book ‘Fat is a Feminist Issue’, got a bit desperate halfway through and ate it. – Jo Brand
One of the guys that used to run it – for some reason I’ve no idea why he used to call me the Sea Monster and I was just looking around for a name and thought that’ll do. That lasted for a couple of years probably. – Jo Brand
I never think, ‘Where am I going to be in a year’s time?’ That seems to be a sure way of missing the fact that you might be quite happy now. – Jo Brand
I’m just trying to spread the word and upturn the myth that actually you should be resting after cancer treatment. You shouldn’t; you should be getting out and doing any kind of exercise you can. You don’t have to run a marathon, but you just have to up your activity levels. – Jo Brand
People say you should read your criticism because it will make you a better person but it doesn’t. It just makes you a sad bitter old showbiz nightmare. – Jo Brand
Suffice to say, many women find their first appearance on a comedy panel show to be their last. Second chances seem to be given less often to the female of the species. – Jo Brand
I wasn’t one of those hideous children who make their parents sit through hour-long performances when you’re seven. I didn’t do anything like that thankfully. – Jo Brand
I think there’s a far more general audience now because I’ve done more populist stuff on telly. – Jo Brand
I think there’s a danger that we’re moving towards a state where the people we are expected to admire are almost not human anymore, and I don’t like that. I prefer it when someone looks like a nice person, and you think, ‘I could have a laugh with them in the pub.’ – Jo Brand
Again, with two small children it’s incredibly hard to commit yourself to anything because you’re just getting interested in it and someone comes along and goes I want Thomas The Tank Engine on, and screams the place down until you put it on. – Jo Brand
I’ve always been criticised for how filthy my material is. Victoria Wood said to me once, ‘I wish I was a bit ruder, like you,’ and I said, ‘Well, I wish I was a bit cleaner, like you.’ – Jo Brand
There’s a general sense that women are more relaxed and less defensive in comedy than they used to be. I think it’s easier than it was but underlying it all there is still a pretty sexist view of women on stage, which to me hasn’t changed that much. – Jo Brand
There are problems with nursing – such as the issue of nurses all having to do degrees these days. But that doesn’t mean to say the entire infrastructure of nursing is falling about and that it is populated by unfeeling psychopaths, which is, frankly, the implication sometimes. – Jo Brand