Hannah Gadsby’s new Netflix special illustrates a different side of the comedian that fans might not expect — a happier one.
“It’s a lighter show,” Gadsby said ahead of the airing yesterday of Something Special. “It’s more positive. It’s expressing a happiness I don’t think I had done in earlier Netflix specials.”
The comedian starts with good news — “I got married. I know! It’s nice” — and then promises viewers a change of pace from previous sets: “This is going to be a feel-good show, because I believe I owe you one.”
Photo: AP
Gadsby, who uses the pronoun they, is in many ways going back to the style of comedy they employed before exploding to fame with the special Nanette in 2018, which had deeply affecting stories of violence, homophobia, misogyny and shame.
“It’s much more difficult to do comedy around a positive theme. Nobody is really that pleased watching someone be happy,” they said. “It’s a real risky show. I’d say this is riskier than Nanette.”
The new hourlong stand-up special recorded at the Sydney Opera house in Australia explores marriage, sudden fame, parenting styles, cultural differences and life with autism.
“In every one of my shows, I’m always talking about where I am a particular moment in my life,” they said in the interview. “I really want people to not know what I will do next, because therefore I am not under the pressure of delivering something.”
Asked it they are a little like Adele albums, in that they preserve a moment in time, Gadsby laughs. “Yeah, I’m much better at being happier than she is. That’s a little joke,” Gadsby said.
It is still a typically Gadsby set, with personal observances and sudden quick-thrust political critiques, culminating in a climax at the end in which they draw together many of the jokes that have been talked about.
If there is a motif this time, it is rabbits. The critters are part of two tent-pole stories, one involving an ex-girlfriend and another their wife. Paper bunnies decorate the stage.
Gadsby calls it a “love letter” to their wife, Jenney Shamash, an American producer. Their relationship deepened during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Shamash now lives in Australia with Gadsby and their two dogs, Douglas and Jasper.
“Part of what I like to do on stage is I want other people to love what I love. For someone on the spectrum, it can be really lonely,” Gadsby said. “It’s only been in recent years that I’ve learned how to make lasting connections through the diagnosis and confidence and things like that. So I thought that was worth sharing.”
In one section, Gadsby admits they were ill-prepared for fame, illustrated by a story of giving a very non-diplomatic reaction to getting a birthday gift from Jodie Foster.
Of fame onstage, Gadsby said: “Don’t expect it, that’s gross. But just on the off chance you find yourself famous, you’d better be prepared. Because I wasn’t and I made a dog’s breakfast of it.”
Gadsby is one of those people who does not believe suffering is needed to make good art and notes they do not need to generate any more since there is plenty to mine from their past.
“If I need to suffer in order to be a world-class comic, I don’t care much to be a world-class comic. That seems like too high a price,” they said.
Something Special builds from Douglas, where Gadsby revealed their diagnosis of high-functioning autism. The new show gives viewers a glimpse of how Gadsby sometimes misunderstands social cues and intentions.
Asked in the interview, they said the diagnosis has been freeing, in a way. It means Gadsby does not worry about understanding everything, conserves more energy and offers a bit more control.
“Understanding it has helped. It has given me the confidence to understand my framing of things, which I think has made writing easier,” they said. “Now I feel like I have a lot more control. I’m not scrambling to be normal anymore, whatever that means.”
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
Hundreds of people in rainbow colors gathered on Saturday in South Africa’s tourist magnet Cape Town to honor the world’s first openly gay imam, who was killed last month. Muhsin Hendricks, who ran a mosque for marginalized Muslims, was shot dead last month near the southern city of Gqeberha. “I was heartbroken. I think it’s sad especially how far we’ve come, considering how progressive South Africa has been,” attendee Keisha Jensen said. Led by motorcycle riders, the mostly young crowd walked through the streets of the coastal city, some waving placards emblazoned with Hendricks’s image and reading: “#JUSTICEFORMUHSIN.” No arrest
RSS