From Nanette to Nanettflix – Hannah Gadsby’s challenge to existing comedy convention

Abstract

Released in June 2018 across most of Netflix’s worldwide outlets, Hannah Gadsby’s comedy special Nanette has gained intense attention. Widely described as a ‘game changer’ for challenging what stand-up comedy can achieve, the special has been called ‘post comedy’ by commentators and other comedians – although this is not always used as a complimentary review. The Netflix version of the live show, which Gadsby has nicknamed “Nanettflix”, was filmed live at the Sydney Opera House in January 2018 after the show had already won many international awards including in Melbourne, Edinburgh, London and New York. This article considers Gadbsy’s live show Nanette and the subsequent Netflix special as an innovative combination of comedy content and (post television) form, exploring how the combination of the artists’ distinct and masterful voice was delivered to an international audience via the internet distributor Netflix. To build this argument, segments of the special itself are analysed, as is commentary about the show’s reach, testimony from live audience members, an interview with producer Madeline Parry and related press. Importantly, the comedian’s articulation of how comedy works in terms of identity will be explored in terms of existing comedy scholarship, with her challenges to key ideas around ‘tension’ and ‘release’ considered as fundamental the final screen special’s effectiveness.

Keywords:

• Netflix
• comedy
• LGBTQI + identity
• live comedy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 John Farnham famously staged a large “Farewell tour” of Australia in the early 2000s, including releasing a live concert called “The Last Time”. However since then he has continued to give various large scale solo and specialist appearances, resulting in the Australian version of the Oxford English Dictionary declaring his name as a noun in December 2017 to be used “used allusively of a comeback or reappearance, especially after a final performance or retirement.” (Oxford Australia 2017: online).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Liz Giuffre

Dr Liz Giuffre is a Senior Lecturer in Communication for the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. As the editor of Music in Comedy Television (Routledge, 2017), she also works regularly in the national independent arts press as a journalist and commentator, including contributing editor for Metro Magazine, a regular contributor to Critical Studies in Television, reviewer and interview for The Music and occasional contributor for The Conversation. She is an associate member of the Centre for Media History, Australian Centre for Public History and the former publication/web officer for IASPM Australia/New Zealand. With Dr Sarah Attfield, she is also the co-founding editor of the Journal of Working-Class Studies.