Introduction
For a long time, laughter has been perceived as the best medicine. However, in the 21st century, some challenge the conventional limitations of humor, showing how it is necessary to focus on reality, too. Hannah Gadsby is a well-known Australian comedian who, in 2018, released her Netflix special, Nanette.
What seems to be a friendly comedy at first glance gradually transforms into a first-hand account of growing up homosexual on the Tasmanian island. As a result, toward the end, the audience sees the real Gadsby, who delivers her impactful message despite having a traumatic experience. Gadsby’s performance challenges the conventions of stand-up comedy by simultaneously including jokes and reflecting on her traumas of sexual assault and verbal abuse, and emphasizing the need to change the culture that praises conformity and silence.
Ethos
When analyzing Hannah’s performance, it is first vital to see how, through ethos, the speaker establishes credibility. On the one hand, the audience is used to finding comedians trustworthy. What makes the audience laugh is the perception that every situation shared by the comedian is real, and the audience’s expectation to connect with the speaker and bond with them. However, on the other hand, the author allows the audience to see her background and become acquainted with her authentic side.
Hannah Gadsby introduces herself as a member of the LGBT community who grew up on a Tasmanian island. Later, in her speech, the audience learns that she “had to leave as soon as [she] found out [she] was a little bit lesbian” (Hannah Gadsby: Nanette 3:13). The presence of facts adds to the credibility of the performance. For instance, while focusing on her sexual identity, the speaker emphasizes that “homosexuality was a crime in Tasmania ’til 1997” (Hannah Gadsby: Nanette 4:16). Yet, there are other reasons why the audience can find the speaker reliable.
Another aspect that makes the reader trust the comedian and her experience is the fact that she is a sexual assault survivor. While focusing on how minorities are different, Hannah demonstrated that their fear are not without reason. As the speaker delves deeper into the lives of the LGBT community, she shared her experiences of being sexually abused as a child, physically abused at the age of seventeen, and then sexually assaulted by two men in her twenties (Hannah Gadsby: Nanette 1:02:04). As a result, the audience sees the exposed persona of the speaker and her vulnerabilities, which is the real evidence to the dangers of the world and fear in which some have to live.
Pathos
In terms of pathos, the audience can see the collapse between the comic persona and the self. While in the beginning, the viewers saw the entertaining side of Hannah, toward the end, the speaker focused on the acute issues of manpower, obsession with reputation, and oppression of minorities. The gradual transition makes this especially effective, which helps establish the bond between Hannah and the viewers and slowly prepares them for tension and genuine emotions. Overall, the emotions experienced by the audience are frustration and anger.
On the one hand, viewers feel frustration and sadness for Hannah, who admits to being ashamed of her true self. As she recalls, in one conversation, her mother told her, “The thing I regret is that I raised you as if you were straight. I didn’t know any different. I’m so sorry.” (Hannah Gadsby: Nanette 39:01). On the other hand, the viewers feel anger when she shares the moments of her sexual and physical abuse. These are intimate moments, and the fact that the speaker began to share these memories shows how she steps outside of her comic persona and expresses her authentic self.
Hannah Gadsby challenges the conventional approaches to stand-up performances throughout her entire piece. Often, comedians use their trauma as a coping mechanism to invoke laughter. However, Hannah goes beyond this approach and uses her challenges to laugh with others and to deliver a message of how complicated it is to be different from everybody.
In one part, the comedian says that a person should “learn to, sort of, move beyond [their] defensiveness” and “try and develop a sense of humor about it” (Hannah Gadsby: Nanette 28:12). However, she jokes that one should be careful since an excessive laugh can be a sign of mental illness. Through this entertaining approach, Hannah intends to convey deeper meaning to her words while not trying to lecture and bore her viewers.
Logos
The final part of her performance is dedicated to a serious discussion of her place in the world and the meaning of her career. In the end, Gadsby admits that she considered leaving the field of comedy because “comedy has suspended [her] in a perpetuated state of adolescence” (Hannah Gadsby: Nanette 39:52). What she means by that is that she did not work on her traumas but only relived them whenever laughing at them.
This leads the audience to another message: laughter is not the best treatment. As Hannah emphasized, sometimes jokes are not “enough to help […] undo the damage done to [her] in reality” (Hannah Gadsby: Nanette 40:34). This is why it is essential to face the problem and tackle it with the strength one has.
With such an attitude, the comedian gradually moves toward the end of the performance, where she decides to end the speech not with a joke but with a profound message. Hannah Gadsby admits that “it is dangerous to be different,” especially while being the only woman in a room full of men (1:00:32). Hannah demonstrates that despite being a lesbian, traumatized by men, she remains strong, saying that “you destroy the woman when you destroy the past she represents” (Hannah Gadsby: Nanette 1:03:27). As a result, she presents a call for action, making the world a safer place. However, simultaneously, she shows everybody that nobody can break anyone unless they can.
Conclusion
Hannah Gadsby underlines how difficult it is to be different and how there is a need to reform the culture that rewards conformity and silence by reflecting on her experiences of sexual assault, verbal abuse, and fear. Hannah’s speech was effective since it was something more than simple comedy. Usually, stand-up performances are light and do not require the audience to think much about the messages delivered by the speaker.
However, in this instance, the audience is left with many emotions, ranging from happiness to frustration to anger. Through her jokes, Gadsby focuses on systemic issues of discrimination and abuse that go unnoticed. In the end, the audience can see how, through her jokes, the author could show her vulnerability and traumas, and her desire to change the notion that one should conform and let others dictate how they should live their lives.
Work Cited
Hannah Gadsby: Nanette. Directed by Madeleine Parry and Jon Olb, Netflix, 2018.