DeAnne Smith (born July 22, 1979) is a Canadian-American comedian, writer and columnist. They first gained notice as a comedian in 2008 touring their debut full-length solo stand-up show to popular and critical acclaim, culminating in winning the

Sydney Comedy Festival The Sydney Comedy Festival is an annual comedy festival held in Sydney. Launched in 2005 as The Cracker Sydney Comedy Festival at a number of inner city venues, the Festival has grown quickly and now attracts 111,000 patrons every year at venue ...

's Time Out Best Newcomer Award and a nomination for Best Newcomer in the 2008

Canadian Comedy Awards The Canadian Comedy Awards (CCA) is an annual ceremony that awards the Beaver for achievements in Canadian comedy in live performance, radio, film, television, and Internet media. The awards were founded and produced by Tim Progosh in 2000. The ...

. Smith has since continued to tour internationally, with shows proving to be both commercial and critical successes. Their shows have seen them nominated for numerous awards, including the

Melbourne Comedy Festival The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) is the largest stand-alone comedy festival and the second-largest international comedy festival in the world. Established in 1987, it takes place annually in Melbourne over four weeks, typicall ...

's prestigious Barry Award in 2011 and being consistently rated amongst

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

's Top 10 comedians. In addition to their live solo shows, Smith is also known for appearances on television and radio, most notably on Australia's ''

Good News Week ''Good News Week'' is an Australian satirical panel game show hosted by Paul McDermott that aired from 19 April 1996 to 27 May 2000, and 11 February 2008 to 28 April 2012. The show's initial run aired on ABC until being bought by Network Ten in ...

'' on the Channel 10 network and

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

series ''Funny As Hell''. Smith began performing stand-up in 2005 at the age of 25, and has produced four solo shows which have toured internationally. Smith has also created and hosts four live comedy show series in

, and co-wrote a show with Sarah Quinn and Samuel Booth which made its festival debut in 2011. Smith uses they/them pronouns.

Career

Festival appearances

* 2011, 2012 –

Edinburgh Fringe Festival The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

;

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

* 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 – Just for Laughs;

* 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 –

Melbourne International Comedy Festival The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) is the largest stand-alone comedy festival and the second-largest international comedy festival in the world. Established in 1987, it takes place annually in Melbourne over four weeks, typicall ...

* 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 –

Roadshow * 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 –

* 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 –

Adelaide Fringe Festival The Adelaide Fringe, formerly Adelaide Fringe Festival, is the world's second-largest annual arts festival (after the Edinburgh Festival Fringe), held in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Between mid-February and mid-March each year, ...

* 2012 –

Perth International Comedy Festival The Perth International Comedy Festival is an Australian not-for-profit festival. History The PICF organizing committee was created in mid-2011 and went on to launch an inaugural festival in May 2012. This festival was 19 days in length and was ...

;

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

* 2012 –

Brisbane Comedy Festival Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

;

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

* 2010 – Hobart Comedy Festival

Media appearances

Smith has been rated amongst

's Top 10 Comedians over the past five years, ranking #3 in 2010–2012, and #4 from 2007–2009. as reported in ''

The Montreal Mirror ''Montreal Mirror'' or just ''Mirror'' was a free English language alternative newsweekly based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada which was distributed every Thursday. It had a circulation of 70,000 and reached a quarter of a million readers per week. ...

'', which also named them a Noisemaker in 2009. Smith regularly appears on television and radio in Canada and Australia. Their radio appearances, include Australia's

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...

, and Canada's

CBC Radio One CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent of Ca ...

, where they have appeared as a regular on ''

Definitely Not the Opera ''Definitely Not the Opera'' (or simply ''DNTO'') was a magazine-style radio program focusing on aspects of pop culture and storytelling, that aired on CBC Radio One on Saturday afternoons from 1994 until 2016. The show's running time varied ove ...

,'' and ''

The Debaters ''The Debaters'' is a Canadian radio comedy show hosted by Steve Patterson. It airs on CBC Radio One, Saturdays at 1:30PM and Wednesdays at 11:30AM, Eastern Time. During each episode, two debates take place between two sets of two contestants. ...

''. In 2012 they appeared on British TV for the first time, on

Morgan Spurlock Morgan Valentine Spurlock (born November 7, 1970) is an American documentary filmmaker, humorist, television producer, screenwriter and playwright. Spurlock's films include ''Super Size Me'' (2004), '' Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?'' (20 ...

Sky Atlantic Sky Atlantic is a British pay television channel owned by Sky Group Limited broadcast in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel is primarily dedicated to imported programmes from the United States, and holds the domestic rights to HBO ...

programme '' New Britannia''. * 2013 – ''

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Scottish actor and comedian Craig Ferguson. This was the third iteration of the ''Late Late Show'' franchise, airing from January 3, 2005, to December 19, ...

;

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

, US * 2012 – '' New Britannia'';

, Britain * 2012 – ''

Opening Night Gala for Oxfam''; Channel Ten, Australia * 2011 – ''Funny As Hell'';

, Canada * 2009, 2010, 2011 – ''

''; Channel Ten, Australia * 2009 –

The Comedy Network CTV Comedy Channel (often shortened to CTV Comedy and formerly known as The Comedy Network) is a Canadian English-language specialty channel owned by Bell Media which focuses primarily on comedy programming. The channel first launched on Octo ...

, Canada * 2007, 2014 – ''

Last Comic Standing ''Last Comic Standing'' was an American reality television talent competition show on NBC that aired from June 1, 2003, to August 9, 2010, then again in 2014 and 2015. The goal of the program was to select a comedian from an initially large group ...

'';

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

, US

Solo shows

* 2013 – ''DeAnne Smith: Let's Do This!'' * 2012 – ''DeAnne Smith: Livin' the Sweet Life'' * 2011 – ''DeAnne Smith: The Best DeAnne Smith DeAnne Smith Can Be'' * 2011 – ''About Freakin' Time'' * 2010 – ''DeAnne Smith: BALLSY'' * 2009 – ''DeAnne Smith Lacks Focus'' * 2008 – ''Shouting Over Drunks''

Other work

Creator and host

* 2010–present – ''Happenglad's New Hat'' * 2010–present – ''Freedom Nation'' * 2008–present – ''Stand Up / Strip Down'' * 2008–2010 – ''Tale Spin!'' * 2005 – 2009 – ''Comedy OFF the Main''

Co-writer

* 2011 – ''Sarah Quinn in Other People's Problems''; with Sarah Quinn and Samuel Booth

Podcasts

* 2013–2016 – ''DeAnne Smith's Questionable at Best''

Awards

* 2012 –

– Amused Moose Top Ten; ''shortlisted'' * 2011 –

– Best Female Stand-Up; ''nominated'' * 2011 –

– Barry Award for Most Outstanding Comedy Show; ''nominated'' * 2009 –

– Best Established Comedian; ''nominated'' * 2008 –

– Best Newcomer; ''nominated'' * 2008 –

– Time Out Best Newcomer; ''won''

Personal life

While hosting Comedy Up Late at the

2017, DeAnne described themself as

agender Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typically ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Deanne 1979 births Living people American stand-up comedians Canadian stand-up comedians Canadian LGBT writers American LGBT writers People from Endicott, New York Non-binary comedians Comedians from New York (state) 21st-century American comedians 21st-century Canadian comedians American LGBT entertainers Canadian LGBT entertainers American emigrants to Canada Canadian Comedy Award winners 21st-century LGBT people