Synopsis
Behind every joke there is a story
The Australian comedian Hannah Gadsby is taking an anti-comedy stance in her newest special.
2018 Directed by Jon Olb, Madeleine Parry
The Australian comedian Hannah Gadsby is taking an anti-comedy stance in her newest special.
A powerful special that approaches jokes on a meta level for a greater purpose, before tearing it all down to embrace the most important and necessary parts of any comedy special– vulnerability in storytelling.
This is a special about tension, and about not letting you feel the release of a punchline, so you can come just a little bit closer to knowing how people like Hannah live. And it really is only a little bit closer. Because some of us will never truly know it firsthand. But for 60 minutes, Hannah makes damn sure that you're gonna sit with the feelings she's had to live with her entire life.
Hannah Gadsby has sold out theatres with Nanette.
The first time I saw her perform this show, I was front row at a trial run held before she took the show on tour. It was very small, very intimate.
She talks about jokes on a basic level: 1) build up the tension 2) diffuse it with a punchline. She talks a lot about tension and you feel it because it's true. She talks about how she feels about men, not hating them but fearing them, and again you feel it because it is true. Just like that, the tension sits with you and you're craving for a punchline.
You don't get one because this isn't a comedy show on a…
self hatred is only ever a seed planted from outside in. but when you do that to a child, it becomes a weed so thick, and it grows so fast, the child doesn't know any different. it becomes as natural as gravity.
what the fuck this is a comedy why am i crying
listen im a lesbian and we all know how much we love Feedback but. this really made me feel heard. it has Lesbian Content. it has a whole bit on the colour blue. it has an entire monologue on art history. it has That Last Part. and it really resonated with me.
only connect! that was the whole of her sermon. only connect the prose and the passion, and both will be exalted, and human love will be seen at its height. live in fragments no longer.
if this was healing for you, i’m glad, intensely glad. but i grew up in an australian megachurch (no not that one), so every microphone echo and high rising terminal and ripple of laughter or applause in this special wove together one impression in my mind: oh. right. this is church. another megachurch in my life was once advertised as ‘a gig followed by a ted talk’; the wonderful avery edison had similar feelings about this special. i don’t know how to express but—there’s a…
“blue is a reliable color, you can trust blue” well yeah that’s why simon spier fell in love with him
as a lesbian who grew up in Australia this made me cry so much but I am so grateful for this story. mad respect to Hannah gadsby for giving this to us
So many people are recommending this "comedy" special, and I just can't get with it. Me too, gay rights, equal rights, treating everyone as a complete human person are things that are extremely important to me, I don't really want to watch someone break down and scream at people about them for a "comedy" special. This is the unhingedness the worse parts of the right yell at us about in full effect. This is not someone searching for an equal world, this is someone who wants revenge for most of this thing, and tries to turn it into a self righteous message in the end. I don't think things like this are a positive step forward, they are more in…
I laughed maybe one time but this was probably the most important thing I've seen all year.
Seen as a deconstruction of standup comedy (and it’s a brilliant one), but it’s also ultimately a return to what standup and performance in general should ideally be about. Telling a story that really, truly means something to the performer. Telling a story that’s both universal and personal. Being able to tell that story because of humanity, not despite it. This is art with its most essential ingredients: passion and humanity, in all their many forms. Listen to her.
Let me enroll in comedy classes real quick, I needed one last proof to finally admit that my major is useless.
Now that that's out of the way, this was great, funny, emotional and I came out with the conclusion that homophobes (97% cis-men, yes I am a trusted source) should simply cease to exist.
Le estaba hablando a mi amiga sobre lo bien estructurado que está este especial y lo tuve que ver de nuevo con ella wtf subia de puntuación cada q hacía un rewatch
Gadsby's self-awareness is what makes this stand-up so impactful. It starts light hearted and she mocks herself with her own intentionally awkward mannerisms. As the show continues, she adds in more and more serious stories to get a point across. Her point? Don't be angry, but be aware. This is a fantastic take in a world of "if you're not outraged you're not paying attention." We are well past the awareness portion of human rights. Being emotional has gotten us nowhere. Even protests haven't done much to change our inherently broken system. This left me pondering what we can truly do to see inclusive progress.
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