Hannah Gadsby: Nanette

Last updated

Hannah Gadsby: Nanette
Nanette - Hannah Gatsby poster.jpeg
Directed byMadeleine Parry
John Olb
Written by Hannah Gadsby
StarringHannah Gadsby
Distributed by Netflix
Release date
2018
Running time
69 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish

Hannah Gadsby: Nanette is a live comedy performance written and performed by Australian comedian Hannah Gadsby, which debuted in 2017. The work includes social commentary (especially about LGBTQ and women's perspectives and neurodivergence), evocative[ citation needed ] speech punctuated by comedy and emotive narration of Gadsby's life, lessons and what their story offers to the world. In June 2018, Netflix released a video of Gadsby's performance of the work at the Sydney Opera House, directed by Madeleine Parry and John Olb. [1] The special was well received by critics, winning a Peabody Award as well as Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special at the 2019 Primetime Emmy Awards.

Contents

Development

Gadsby created the stand-up show Nanette partly as a response to the public debate which took place in Australia before the law was changed to allow same-sex marriage, and soon after their diagnosis of ADHD and autism. [2]

The show was originally named after a woman Gadsby had met, [2] who they thought could be turned into an hour's worth of material. During the writing process, they realized this wasn't the case, but the name had already been chosen. They ended up ignoring this inconsistency and wrote an hour of material unrelated to Nanette. [3] The initial shows were more combative with the audience, and made Gadsby feel victimised, so to get the audience more on their side, they added more jokes and relieved more tension throughout the show's run. [4]

Synopsis

Gadsby uses Nanette to deconstruct the nature of comedy and its conventions by having the audience undergo the same tension in which marginalised people suffer on a daily basis. They share personal anecdotes related to their experiences as a lesbian and gender-nonconforming person, explaining how their comedic style is influenced by their identity. Due to Gadsby's upbringing in conservative Tasmania, they were raised surrounded by people who believed they had licence to hate others, which induced them at a young age to accept prejudiced views towards LGBTQ people. To deal with the social inequality they faced, Gadsby says that they turned to self-deprecating humour. They realised the self-deprecating humour common to standup comedy is doubly painful for marginalised people because it adds another voice to the chorus of people who already insult and belittle them. This led them to conclude that they can no longer do standup comedy and so they structured the piece around claiming that they are giving up comedy. [4] [5]

In addition to the stories shared about their lesbian and gender-nonconforming experiences, Gadsby relates personal stories about their comedy career, family, and university experiences among other things. Gadsby expresses the need to use stories in their comedy because they are frustrated with the form of standup comedy. They do not feel as if their story, because their identity and victimisation do not fit comfortably into society's narrative, is being listened to properly. The representation of their story through Nanette affords Gadsby hope that their experiences will be "felt and understood by individuals with minds of their own," and that their story will finally be heard.

Gadsby discusses the mental health of Vincent van Gogh. Later, they talk about Pablo Picasso's contributions to Cubism and how they regard him as a misogynist artist.

Performances

Gadsby has performed Nanette throughout Australia, at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and in the United States. Their 2018 performances in New York City received positive reviews. [6] [7] The show was performed for the final time on 27 July 2018, in Montreal. On 20 June 2018, Netflix released a film of Gadsby's performance of the work at the Sydney Opera House under the title Hannah Gadsby: Nanette.

Reception

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating from critics of 100% based on 49 reviews, with an average rating of 9.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Hannah Gadsby: Nanette brilliantly moves modern comedy into nakedly honest new territory, pivoting from dry humor to raw, powerful storytelling." [8] The performance has been described as a "game changer" for what comedy can achieve and has been called a form of "post comedy." [9]

Daniel Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter stated "Hannah Gadsby's Nanette stands alone...It's a detailed summation of joke construction that could be a textbook on its own. It's an art history lesson. It's hilarious, because Gadsby's timing and perspective fuel every sentence. It's painful, because Gadsby's emotions and perspective fuel every sentence." [10] Ashley Hoffman in Time listed Nanette as the Best Stand Up Comedy Special of 2018, and added "Nanette kickstarted a global conversation, ensuring that [their] underrepresented perspective was finally seen and heard—and when Gadsby wrenches out [their] pain on stage, [they] reveals [their] strength, rage, and yes, winning humor." [11]

Anna Leszkiewicz in the New Statesman voiced praise for Nanette: "Gadsby's show is a tricksy, self-conscious beast, full of sleight of hand... It is a strange, rare thing: a comedy show that hopes you don't leave laughing." [12] Brian Logan of The Guardian helps to explain the significance and allure of Nanette by reporting Gadsby's "show is about the power of stories and how, if the stories we tell ourselves are simplified or smoothed over, we leave unchallenged the wider stories society tells itself (in this case, about gender, sexuality and power)." [13]

Helen Razer, writing in The Saturday Paper , wrote that Nanette "is very good...It is a worthy and well-paced specimen of a long-established form." However, Razer also added that she believed some American reviewers of Nanette had overpraised the show, saying "We cannot say that Gadsby’s Nanette definitively prescribes a style or ethics of remembering trauma. We can say that it's pretty good." [14]

By contrast, in The Outline magazine, P.E. Moskowitz gave Nanette a negative review, arguing that the special "makes for boring, trite, and even dangerous art: in order to convey [their] trauma, Gadsby dismisses all of comedy, the uses of queer anger, and the entire premise of self-deprecation as inadequate". [15] In The Baffler , Soraya Roberts writes, "In terms of overall quality, Nanette is mediocre," and "While other high profile comedians take a break from standup to give TED Talks, Gadsby's special erodes the separation between the two, down to the oversized, antiseptic set and the comic's persistently neutral affect, physically restrained, with a voice that often sounds like a soothingly patronizing life coach." [16]

Accolades

The show received widespread acclaim, including a 2018 Peabody Award. [17] [18] [19] [20]

Award CeremonyDate of ceremonyCategoryResultRef.
Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award 22 April 2017 Barry Award (for comedy) Won [21]
Helpmann Awards 24 July 2017Best Comedy PerformerWon [22]
Edinburgh Comedy Awards July 2017Best Comedy ShowWon [23]
Adelaide Fringe 28 August 2017Best Comedy AwardWon [24] [25]
7th AACTA International Awards 5 January 2018 Best Comedy Program Nominated [26]
Best Performance in a Television Comedy Won [27]
Peabody Award 18 May 2019Peabody 30Won [17] [18]
MTV Movie & TV Awards June 2019Best Real-Life HeroNominated [28]
Primetime Emmy Awards September 2019 Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special Won [29]
Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) Nominated

Related Research Articles

Brian Joseph Regan is an American stand-up comedian who uses observational, sarcastic, and self-deprecating humor. He is known for incorporating body language and facial expressions into his act. His performances are often described as clean as he refrains from profanity as well as taboo subject matter. Regan's material typically covers everyday events, such as shipping a package with UPS, mortgages, and visits to the optometrist. While he does not define himself as youth-oriented, Regan makes frequent references to childhood, including little league baseball, grade school spelling bees, and science projects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edinburgh Festival Fringe</span> Arts festival

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 different shows in 322 venues. Established in 1947 as an alternative to the Edinburgh International Festival, it takes place in Edinburgh every August. The Edinburgh Festival Fringe has become a world-leading celebration of arts and culture, surpassed only by the Olympics and the World Cup in terms of global ticketed events. As an event it "has done more to place Edinburgh in the forefront of world cities than anything else" according to historian and former chairman of the board, Michael Dale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kitty Flanagan</span> Australian comedian

Kitty Flanagan is an Australian comedian, writer and actress who works in Australia and the United Kingdom. She has also performed in France, Germany, the Netherlands, South Africa, and Japan and at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Montreal Just For Laughs festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aziz Ansari</span> American actor and comedian

Aziz Ismail Ansari is an American actor, filmmaker and stand-up comedian. He is known for his role as Tom Haverford on the NBC series Parks and Recreation (2009–2015) and as creator and star of the Netflix series Master of None (2015–2021) for which he won several acting and writing awards, including two Emmys and a Golden Globe, which was the first award received by an Asian American actor for acting on television.

The Edinburgh Comedy Awards are presented to the comedy shows deemed to have been the best at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. Established in 1981, they are the most prestigious comedy prize in the United Kingdom. The awards have been directed and produced by Nica Burns since 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Mulaney</span> American comedian and actor (born 1982)

John Edmund Mulaney is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Mulaney first rose to prominence for his work as a writer for the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 2008 to 2013, where he contributed to numerous sketches and characters, including Stefon, a recurring character that he and Bill Hader co-created. Since his departure from SNL, Mulaney has hosted it several times, becoming a member of the SNL Five Timers Club in 2022.

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award, is an annual prize presented to the most outstanding comedy act at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hannah Gadsby</span> Australian comedian, writer, and actor

Hannah Gadsby is an Australian comedian, writer, and actor. They began their career in Australia after winning the national final of the Raw Comedy competition for new comedians in 2006. In 2018, their show Nanette on Netflix won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special and a Peabody Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seann Walsh</span> English comedian and actor

Sean Christopher Walsh, known professionally as Seann Walsh, is an English stand-up comedian.

DeAnne Smith 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's Time Out Best Newcomer Award and a nomination for Best Newcomer in the 2008 Canadian Comedy Awards. 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's prestigious Barry Award in 2011 and being consistently rated amongst Montreal'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 on the Channel 10 network and HBO series Funny As Hell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aisling Bea</span> Irish comedian, actress, and screenwriter

Aisling Clíodhnadh O'Sullivan, known professionally as Aisling Bea, is an Irish comedian, actress and screenwriter. She created, wrote and starred in the comedy series This Way Up on Channel 4. As a stand-up comedian, she won the So You Think You're Funny award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2012, being only the second woman to win the award in its then-25-year history. She also appears regularly on light entertainment comedy panel shows such as QI and 8 Out of 10 Cats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ali Wong</span> American comedian and actress (born 1982)

Alexandra Dawn Wong is an American stand-up comedian, actress, writer, producer, and director. She is best known for her Netflix stand-up specials Baby Cobra (2016), Hard Knock Wife (2018), and Don Wong (2022). She has also starred in the romantic comedy film Always Be My Maybe (2019), on which she also served as a writer and producer. In 2023, she starred in the Netflix dark comedy series Beef, for which she won a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award, becoming the only Asian woman to win a lead acting Emmy. She was included in Time's 100 Most Influential People of 2020 and 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Robins (comedian)</span> English stand-up comedian and presenter

John Michael David Robins is an English stand-up comedian and radio presenter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spencer Jones (comedian)</span> English actor, comedian and writer

Spencer Jones is an English actor, comedian and writer. He has performed regularly at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and in 2017 and 2019 was nominated for the main prize in the Edinburgh Comedy Awards. He was co-creator and co-star of the BAFTA-nominated CBBC comedy Big Babies, and had a regular role in the sitcom Upstart Crow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natasia Demetriou</span> British actress

Natasia Charlotte Demetriou is a British actress, comedian and screenwriter. She is best known for her roles as Nadja in the FX horror comedy series What We Do in the Shadows (2019–present) and Sophie in the Channel 4 sitcom Stath Lets Flats (2018–2021).

<i>The Letdown</i> Australian TV series or program

The Letdown is an Australian television comedy series first screened on the ABC in 2016. It follows the adventures of Audrey, including her struggles as a new mum in an oddball mothers' group. It ran for two seasons between 4 May 2016 and 3 July 2019.

Jamie Demetriou is an English comedian, actor and screenwriter. He is best known for his role as Bus Rodent in Fleabag and for creating, co-writing, and starring in Stath Lets Flats. For the latter, he won Best Male Actor in a Comedy, Best Writer of a Comedy, and Best Scripted Comedy at the 2020 BAFTA Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NextUp Comedy</span> British Media Company

NextUp Comedy Ltd is a UK video-on-demand and streaming service based in London, England, specialising in stand-up comedy shows. Founded in November 2016 by Daniel Berg, Sarah Henley and Kenny Cavey, the platform provides users access to a 200+ library of on-demand comedy specials and short sets and weekly livestreams direct from comedy clubs and festivals. Comedians with shows on the platform are supported through a 50/50 revenue share model and NextUp provides rehearsal space for comedians in its London office.

<i>Hannah Gadsby: Douglas</i> Comedy show by Hannah Gadsby

Hannah Gadsby: Douglas is a live comedy performance written and performed by Australian comedian Hannah Gadsby, which debuted in 2019. The show follows on the success of their previous show Nanette, which helped Gadsby expand their international audience. The show toured internationally, and a video of their Los Angeles performance of this show was released as a Netflix comedy special in May 2020.

<i>London Hughes: To Catch a D*ck</i> Stand-up routine

London Hughes: To Catch a D*ck is a stand-up routine by the British comedian London Hughes. Largely about sex, Hughes recounts stories about her mother and grandmother having children at a young age, her career as an adult chat host and then a children's presenter, and her sexual experiences.

References

  1. ↑ Nanette. Netflix . 19 June 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  2. 1 2 "Hannah Gadsby BA '03". Australian National University. 29 March 2019. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  3. ↑ Hannah Gadsby Got Into Comedy Because of a Broken Wrist. Late Night with Seth Meyers . Note: This video is not available to the public. YouTube. 15 June 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2018.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  4. 1 2 Hannah Gadsby Chats About Her Netflix Special, 'Hannah Gadsby: Nanette'. YouTube . 19 June 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  5. ↑ "Hannah Gadsby: If Political Correctness Can Kill Comedy, It's Already Dead". NPR.org. 27 June 2019. it was always a theatrical conceit ... when I was writing the show, I'm like, "People are not going to like this." So a way around that, intellectually, I'm like, "Well, if I quit comedy at the beginning, people can't say that I did it wrong."
  6. ↑ Zinoman, Jason (19 March 2018). "Introducing a Major New Voice in Comedy (Who Also Attacks Comedy)". The New York Times . Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  7. ↑ Da Costa, Cassie (2 May 2018). "The Funny, Furious Anti-Comedy of Hannah Gadsby". The New Yorker . Condé Nast . Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  8. ↑ "Hannah Gadsby: Nanette (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango. Archived from the original on 14 April 2019. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  9. ↑ Giuffre, Liz (26 November 2020). "From Nanette to Nanettflix – Hannah Gadsby's challenge to existing comedy convention". Comedy Studies. 12 (1): 29–39. doi:10.1080/2040610x.2020.1850102. ISSN   2040-610X. S2CID   229403967.
  10. ↑ Fienberg, Daniel."Critic's Notebook: 'Nanette,' 'Set It Up' and Netflix Discovery Syndrome" The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  11. ↑ Hoffman, Ashley,"The Top 10 Stand Up Comedy Specials of 2018". Time . 20 November 2018.
  12. ↑ Leszkiewicz, Anna, "Hannah Gadsby's Nanette". New Statesman. 19 July 2018. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  13. ↑ Logan, Brian (16 August 2017). "Standups on why they quit comedy: I have nightmares about having to do it again". The Guardian . Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  14. ↑ Razer, Helen,"Hannah Gadsby’s ‘Nanette’", The Saturday Paper, 28 July – 3 August 2018. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  15. ↑ Moskowitz, P.E., "The 'Nanette' Problem". P.E. Moskowitz, The Outline. 20 August 2018. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  16. ↑ Roberts, Soraya, "Tokens of Appreciation". Soraya Roberts, The Baffler. October 2018. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  17. 1 2 "The Best Stories of 2018". 24 June 2019. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  18. 1 2 Ganajan, Mahita (18 June 2018). "How Hannah Gadsby Channeled Her Own Trauma, Bill Cosby and Monica Lewinsky in the New Netflix Comedy Special 'Nanette'". Time. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  19. ↑ Husband, Andrew (18 June 2018). "Hannah Gadsby Wants 'Nanette' To Give You 'A Shock'". Forbes . Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  20. ↑ von Busack, Richard (18 July 2018). "Tasmanian Tigress". North Bay Bohemian. Metro Newspapers. p. 22. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  21. ↑ Francis, Hannah (23 April 2017). "Hannah Gadsby wins Barry Award at 2017 Melbourne International Comedy Festival". Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  22. ↑ Francis, Hannah (25 July 2017). "Helpmann Awards 2017 winners: Kosky's Saul and Belvoir's The Drover's Wife dominate". Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  23. ↑ Thorpe, Vanessa (26 August 2017). "Edinburgh festival fringe comedy award shared for first time". The Guardian . Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  24. ↑ "Edinburgh Fringe Festival: Hannah Gadsby named joint winner of Comedy Award". ABC News. AAP. 27 August 2017. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  25. ↑ "Banksa Overall Fringe Award Winners - Best Comedy". adelaidefringe.com.au. 19 March 2017. Archived from the original on 27 July 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  26. ↑ "Past Awards - 2018 AACTA Awards - Television - AACTA Award for Best Comedy Program". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  27. ↑ Sayer, Luke (6 December 2018). "Hannah Gadsby wins major AACTA award for Nanette". The Advocate. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  28. ↑ Nordyke, Kimberly (17 June 2019). "MTV Movie & TV Awards: Avengers: Endgame, Game of Thrones Among Winners". The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on 18 June 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  29. ↑ "Hannah Gadsby beats Beyoncé to Emmy for comedy special Nanette". The Guardian . 15 September 2019. Retrieved 12 August 2020.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.