Do we like Hannah Gadsby?
Our score: 9 out of 10. Years of using a big platform to lift genderqueer comics, no harmful words found, and one sharp-tongued tweet that cost nothing but a few trolls.
Gadsby grew up in Tasmania when male homosexuality was still criminalised there, and that background runs through everything. Nanette, the 2018 Netflix special that took apart the idea of the self-deprecating gay comic, made Gadsby an international name and picked up an Emmy and a Peabody. Variety Australia counts nearly two decades in comedy, with sold-out tours since.
The big stoush came in 2021, when Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos named Gadsby in a memo defending Dave Chappelle's special. Gadsby went public on Instagram, asking him not to drag her name into his mess. She said Chappelle's fans aim their hate at her whenever he gets paid, and that Netflix hadn't paid her enough to wear it. Chappelle fans did pile on, and Gadsby later said she was still dealing with the fallout.
On the harm check, the record is clean, and then some. We found no anti-trans, anti-migrant or anti-science words from her; on vaccines she is on the pro side, and we found nothing from her on climate. After the Netflix row she took the deal and made Gender Agenda, a special hosting seven genderqueer comics, saying she wanted to humanise them on the platform where they're being dehumanised. The earlier deal also promised a mentorship initiative for those performers.
Her one real blemish is a 2018 tweet calling Barry Humphries an irrelevant, inhumane d**k biscuit. It resurfaced after Humphries died in April 2023, when a journalist shared it and critics accused her of hating men. Others defended her, and she hadn't commented. It's rude and it's a bit much, but it's a comedian's insult, not a pattern of mistreating people.
The latest work is a bit of a change of pace. The Evening Muse is part stand-up, part crowd work, part late-night talk show, with guests on the couch. Chortle's reviewer called the results rather fun but said the balance between chaos and focus isn't quite right yet. Nothing nasty there, just a comic road-testing something new.
On the good stuff, the Australian National University named her its 2019 Alumna of the Year for social commentary on gender equity and LGBTIQ issues. She told Chortle she lived a life before comedy that was a lot harder than people not liking her jokes. She's not a charity-gala type we could find, so the good is mostly in what she does with her stage.