This isn't comedy.. it's performance art..
The roars from the crowd seemed REALLY odd to me. As if they were some cult following just there to cheer her on completely regardless of what she did or said. As if the audience was filled intentionally with her "tribe" who came to see and support "Hannah" and did not merely buy tickets anticipating a comedy show. There's no real laughter here.
I did not find anything she did, much less said, funny. It's performative art.. which okay.. I can accept, but it wasn't even GOOD performative art.
She's great in Hacks.. where there's a writing staff and a director to tell her what to do... but CLEARLY stand-up isn't her thing. Based upon the crowd reactions in this, she may be in a bubble.. surrounded by those wishing her well and supporting her, but lacking the ability to tell her when things need more work. This "special" REALLY needed much more work if it was supposed to be funny.
This is really just HBO saying "Hey Hannah, Hacks has been a success. Do you want to do a 1 hour comedy special? We think you've gained some notoriety and many would tune in." And she said yes, that was a mistake. Clearly when left to her own devices, absent a writing staff, she has no clue what comedy actually is.
The poor experience is foreshadowed pretty well by the pretentious opening French music... I mean a French song for your US comedy debut? Really?
Blech.