Watching the news, there seems to be an empathy failure and miscommunication.

Sara Pascoe

Categorized in : Watching Failure News Empathy

When I was 14, I auditioned for Michael Barrymore's 'My Kind Of People'.

michael kind people

I want my funeral to be uncomfortably quiet.

funeral want quiet

Ten years ago, I went to visit my dad in Australia. I walked to the edge of a cliff and looked over and tripped. I righted myself but my head was over the edge. No one saw it.

head myself australia dad

There was a girl I was best friends with at college; I always used to kiss the boys she liked. I'd like to apologise to her.

kiss best friends girl

Since I was really small, my mum says I wouldn't talk at breakfast because I would just read the back of the cereal packet.

talk small back breakfast

I used to steal from the library, which is a crime and it's bad, but I just couldn't get enough books, and I also didn't like to give them back once I'd read them. I just read everything.

bad back library enough

I get a fizzy thing in my brain, like a nice glass of wine, and I want to know facts and I want to understand.

understand wine brain facts

When I was little, I wore shoes that were too small for me for years, so my feet grew weird, so my little toenails grow and then they just fall off and then they grow again.

grow me shoes fall

Standup is a place where, as long as it's funny enough, you can say your most embarrassing things, shameful things and disappointing things.

place you funny long

We don't live in a world where, if you commit a crime, your life's over. We as a society believe in rehabilitation. We believe in second and third chances.

you society life world

The definition of comedy is 'unsafe space' - you can't control what people laugh at.

laugh you space people

I've been an actor since I was 18. So that's my proper job. But I was not a very successful actor, if you consider being able to afford your rent successful. I did lots of old people's tours; reminiscence tours.

your job you people

But with 'Newsrevue' I started doing some characters, and I just loved how you were in control. You could write something that day and go and do it that night, rather than waiting for a job that involves other people. So I did character stand-up, and then proper stand-up, and I loved it; I got addicted.

day you waiting character

There's nothing you can't tell to an audience, because they're all people who've had lives. The only thing they don't want to watch is someone who's really angry or out of control.'

control you angry people

When you're the person in the room with the microphone, you have a platform to talk about whatever you want, and it's much more interesting if we're discussing something that feels relevant.

person talk you want

I'm proud that I can do that material in a club gig where a lot of people think Page 3's a bit of fun and you're the feminist with the problem. It's always funnier to say: this is my opinion, look how we disagree.

look you proud people

I did an open air gig in Regent's Park and that's an incredible venue because the sun sort of sets while you're on stage and you can see the audience so brightly.

see you stage sun

I'm always thinking about being inclusive in my sentences.

inclusive being always thinking

I'm a vegan and London's great for vegans.

great vegan london

I wanted the audience to write stories and then read them out if they wanted to. It's always the best part of the show because people are so imaginative.

best always audience people