July 26 (UPI) -- Hannah Gadsby confirmed on The Tonight Show that she won't be leaving comedy as planned after the success of her Netflix special Nanette.
The Australian comedian told host Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday that Nanette was meant to be her way out of comedy, with its message about self-deprecating humor and how she doesn't want to humiliate herself anymore.
"I wrote the show because I'd had enough ... It's a quitting show," Gadsby, 40, said. "I thought, 'I'll drop a bomb and leave.' And I really thought it would divide audiences and it just hasn't."
Nanette, released on Netflix in June, has received rave reviews. The special featured Gadsby reflecting on gender, sexuality and her story of being sexually abused.
"When I wrote it, it wasn't supposed to go, 'Oh, I'll get a Netflix special out of this, everyone will see it.' It was like, 'Oh, I'll probably get 12 shows and be asked to leave.' And the plan's backfired," she said.
Gadsby will perform Nanette live one last time at the Montreal Comedy Festival on Friday.
Fallon expressed interest in seeing new material from Gadsby.
"I'll do something," she said. "I said I was quitting, and then if I quit, I'm an idiot, now. Like, if the show had gone as badly as I'd planned, it would have worked. But now I'm left with a choice: I'll either be an idiot or a hypocrite. I'll be a hypocrite."
Gadsby also shared the story of an embarrassing encounter with Emma Thompson in which Gadsby accidentally texted the British actress a photo of Chuck Norris.
"She sent me a text going, 'That was an amazing show. You know it took me all night to process it. It changed my future of the world,' and I'm like, Chuck Norris," Gadsby said, explaining that she had just texted a friend the same photo .
