Hannah Gadsby: Something Special

I watched both Nanette and Douglas (Hannah's previous Netflix specials), and I enjoyed parts of each show. I found myself laughing at the Art jokes quite a lot. Even some of the lesbian jokes were fun, but they also get tired fast.

But this special, was like watching paint dry! It was more like a chore.

There was a joke that got a chuckle out, but I forgot which one it was.

I don't get why she is repeating how good she is as a storyteller and how bad her wife is at telling stories. I got it the first time, it doesn't become funnier if you say if a bunch of times.

The jokes are very mild and boring, definitely not worthy of such a large audience. But maybe I just didn't get it?

This is now the third special from Hannah Gadsby, and one I love as much as the two earlier ones. While Nanette broke my heart, Douglas was just pure joy of connecting with a fellow autistic mind, and no we have Something Special, which, indeed, is something special.

Hannah has the ability to build her comedy on laughing at her own peculiarities all the while being just the charming witty person she is. She tells the story of proposing her now wife, Jenno, and turns the story into a heart-warming comedy show without insulting anyone, without laughing at less-fortunare people, and without being problematic. And, this is pure perfection.

Also very relatable for someone like me, autistic and queer.

I always found Gadsby super witty and edgy, but this one is so put on it fails to be counted as comedy. Gadsby definitely lost her edge here, telling "normal" jokes something she really doesn't have an advantage in. And all the name dropping is so tedious. I couldn't even follow the storyline of her meeting with Jody Foster, among others. She sounded as if she is not convinced of her own jokes, which makes sense. The tone is flat and monotonous, it's as if she is banking on her fans liking her that she is not bothered to put in the effort. It really doesn't work when the comedy is entirely 100% about you! You're interesting but not THAT interesting. Sorry Hannah thumbs down for me for this one.

Call me old fashioned; but I generally like some comedy in my comedy specials. I honestly don't know what this even was, but it wasn't comedy.

I've seen a lot of criticism thrown Hannah's way, and I've never bothered to confirm whether or not it's justified, so I decided to watch Something Special.

The criticism is justified.

This wasn't so much much a comedy special as it was a long whinge; about how hard Hannah - and women in general.- have had it in life. At no point does she explain how or why she's oppressed. She just throws it out there and uses the victimhood as a way to solicit laughs - a task at which she fails massively. I didn't even manage a smile during this show. I just sat scratching my head, wondering why it is this woman's shows get such high ratings.

It's truly a mystery to me.

From the outset I'll make it clear that I'm not a big stand up fan but my wife really likes Hannah Gadsby's offerings so I agreed to give it a try. It was far from 'Something Special', literally didn't even grin once but I guess I'm not her target audience. My wife wasn't laughing either for most of it, she did have the odd snigger here and there and I asked her if she thought ti was good, her reply was 'it's okay, not her best work'.

I think some comics miss the boat a little by appealing to a very narrow fan base, super narrow in Gadsby's case, she pretty much had me thinking 'I don't think she likes me even though we've never met' within 10 minutes.