‘It’s not like I was racist as a teenager’ – Joanne McNally on why she’s unafraid of cancellation
‘They’re like me. Joanne McNally laughed. “No! It’s not. They’re women who like to have a good time.”
Comedian Joanne is talking about the crowd at her sold-out show Prosecco Express. She made history as the only woman to ever sell out record tickets for 40 nights at Vicar Street.
The show sees Joanne discussing the challenges of being single in her 30s, celebrating her friends’ life achievements at garden parties, drinking Prosecco from a jam jar.
To say her schtick has resonated with Irish women would be an understatement – Joanne (38) told girlfriends thirty is Garth Brooks in Ireland over 40.
Is there an audience coming to see her show? “I can usually count the number of testicles in the room – six. Maybe six and a half.”
Joanne’s stardom grew during the lockdown as she and Vogue Williams launched their podcast My therapist has demonized me. The structure of the show isn’t anything new – the two friends chat about whatever comes to mind – but they get on well and create many confusing moments, possibly Vogue talking about laser hair removal. on her ass or a recording of Joanne from a dark room after a clash with designer Brendan Courtney.
Joanne brings up an aspect many listeners don’t know that previously existed in Vogue. “I make her look like the sound. It’s revealing – she has a sense of humour,” she said.
Their different lifestyles are part of the appeal. Joanne says while she’s living out of a suitcase and gigs, Vogue “is giving birth in a lobster pot”.
But all is not smooth sailing. When Joanne first heard the podcast, she was in tears. “I just think we sound like knobs — I’m sure a lot of people think we’re knobs,” she says.
“I called producer Joe… there were literally tears streaming down my face and he just said, ‘Never listen to it again and never call me back. ”
Video of the day
Vogue Williams and Joanne McNally, host of My Therapist Ghosted Me
While Joanne may have allowed Vogue to show off her humour, in return, she’s elevated the celebrity status of the comics. Joanne came out of the pandemic with a book deal, a sold-out tour, a hit podcast and TV projects.
Like her Clear history Co-host Kevin McGahern said: “Even the inventor of hand sanitizer said, ‘F**k me, Joanne McNally had a great lockdown.'”
Vogue and Joanne are now getting ready to move from the safety of their podcast to the TV screens and will feature a new travel series with a UK broadcaster.
Traveling comedy shows are a route that gets a lot of attention, but it’s a show dominated almost exclusively by male comedians.
They can be divided into three categories: comedians who travel alone (Romesh Ranganathan, Mickey Flanagan, David O’Doherty, Billy Connolly, Paul Merton), comedians who travel alone (Ed Byrne and Paul Merton). Dara Ó Briain, Frank Skinner and Lee Mack), or comedians traveling with their parents (Jack Whitehall and his father, and Russell Howard and his mother).
Sue Perkins is one of the few successful comedians to bridge that gap, but Vogue and Joanne as a couple will succeed. Joanne said: “It will be me and her on the road.
As we chatted, the conversation shifted from TV status to life on the road, family, and more specifically children. Motherhood is a big part of Joanne’s show – she wondered if she’d missed the boat after years of queuing to try on clothes at Zara.
She has explored maternal desires and fertility before – in 2018 she made the TV3 documentary Baby Hater about the social stigma against women who don’t want to have children.
That might make her seem like an unusual candidate for Therapie Fertility Clinic’s brand ambassador position, but last month she announced that she would be freezing her eggs with them. “It’s Botox for the uterus,” she says. “And at my age, you freeze everything – your face, your eggs, everything.”
Lockdown makes her take orders and she feels obligated to do something about her fertility.
“During the pandemic, all the work was going on and I thought, ‘God, I don’t have any more. While I find my work extremely satisfying, will that last forever? I do not know. Should I build something else? Should I set the family structure for myself?
“I am conscious of my body and my clock. I think if I was infertile or started menopause early, I would be really sad if that [possibility of having children] was taken from me,” she said.
“I’m not one to agree with certainty, and I’m not one to say no. I want options. I feel like the egg is frozen, while it’s not a guarantee, it’s more of an emotional insurance.”
Joanne McNally addressed the topic of childless women in her documentary Baby Hater. Photo: Damien Eagers
The number of women who freeze their eggs is growing rapidly around the world. In the United States, in 2009, 475 women froze their eggs, according to the Assisted Reproductive Technology Association. By 2018, 13,275 women had done so.
In Ireland, demand is also growing. It is difficult to assess exactly how much because so much data is provided by private clinics. Unlike other countries, we do not have a regulatory body.
Therefore, we do not have the same solid data, said Dr David Crosby, an Obstetrician, Gynecologist and Sub-specialist in Reproductive Medicine at the National Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynecology. “However, it is estimated that frozen eggs have doubled since the pandemic began,” he said.
While we may not have exact figures, what is certain is that the vast majority of women who freeze their eggs do not use them.
“Most patients who have gone through it do not return to using them, regardless of the age at which they freeze them,” says Dr.
Joanne is aware of this but believes that “it is better to do nothing”. She’s one of a number of influencers that have started commercial partnerships with fertility clinics in recent months; Models Thalia Heffernan and Holly Carpenter worked with Sims IVF.
Giving out information about influencers selling products or services is a bit redundant since that’s how they operate.
But it could be argued that there is a greater sense of responsibility when you are selling your fertility-proofing dream in the future.
“I think that’s assuming women are just sheep,” says Joanne. “It’s not a hair conditioner. No one starts freezing their eggs without information.
“To me, this is the legal thing…” she paused. “I won’t use the word ‘journey’ because it’s too lame. It was a legitimate move on my part. It’s not like I’m sitting here pretending that I drink Blue Wicked when I’m not. That is a justifiable thing. ”
Joanne is working until July, and when it’s done, she’ll begin writing her first book, which will be published next year by Penguin.
I was relieved to learn that it would not be a self-help book, but rather a collection of essays, a ‘kind of Caitlin Moran vibe’.
She plans to write in August when she takes a month off from non-stop performances. And then write another indie tour?
“It’s a bit like your first big album,” she said. “Right now, the idea of writing another program seems completely strange to me… I’ll just go out and have a bunch of trash one night.[But] I would absolutely wash this tour to death,” she laughs.
Older comedians often complain about modern sensibilities and your inability to say anything standing up today. The risk of cancellation is a constant concern, we said.
Although Joanne knew she had to be cautious and deliberate, that wasn’t what kept her up at night.
“You have to be careful, but I found my audience. They know… I like to put things in line, but I don’t feel like I’ve really gotten over it,” she said.
“I don’t consider myself controversial and it’s not like I was racist as a teenager. Some people are like ‘Oh it’s back in the day’, but no. There’s nothing out there that I’m particularly interested in. “
We conclude our conversation about the comic book woman who inspired her: Amy Schumer’s TV series Inside Amy Schumer is a game changer.
“She broke the mold and it flowed around the world,” she said.
In a way, Joanne’s success proves that Irish women have been chronically undervalued when it comes to portraying themselves and their stories on stage, screen and television.
“Definitely so,” she said. “It is not available, there is no strategy. To me, it seems like an open-ended goal. ”
https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/its-not-like-i-was-racist-as-a-teenager-joanne-mcnally-on-why-she-doesnt-fear-getting-cancelled-41429537.html ‘It’s not like I was racist as a teenager’ – Joanne McNally on why she’s unafraid of cancellation