Hannah Gadsby: Something Special

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.

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?

I enjoyed Nanette and Douglas, so I was quite easy to win over. However I can find (understandably) that comedians with one or two strong specials can struggle to live up to their previous work, or delivery more of the same. With all of Gadsby's specials I have found they have their own unique tone and message.

I enjoyed the celebration of a relationship from start to present. I write about love in my own work and worry I come off as overly sentimental and boring so I found something special to be a lesson in how to talk about your partner in a way that people can relate to.

I also always get a lot from Gadsby's observations about being autistic, and that they explain their experiences in a way anyone can relate to.

Is it funny? Yes, I laughed a lot and find the special has re-watch value. Will you find it funny? I don't know but you will enjoy the performance and story.

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.

I "got" Nanette and I really enjoyed "Douglas" but I don't know what the hell this was suppose to be. Yay, she got married, completely happy for her on that. I'm happy for her wife as well. That's wonderful. But the rest of it didn't land anywhere near humorous for me. I found it repetitive, morbid, and banal at best. She sounds liked she was trying way too hard for this special; the previous two felt quite organic and true to herself. This felt like a pop star was making an album to meet a record company contract and the only important thing was to fulfill that contract. I maybe snickered once. Ok, it was a chuckle but the rest of it was dismal. So disappointing.