Hannah Gadsby takes the stage at the Abrons Arts Center in their newest solo comedy show, Woof! Photograph by David Urbanke. (Banner photograph by Ian Laidlaw.)
At first glance, Hannah Gadsby’s Woof! feels like a show strung together with seemingly disparate threads, starting with the performer’s entrance on to the stage at the Abrons Arts Center’s Henry Street Settlement Playhouse, where Gadsby, who uses they as a pronoun of choice, opens the show with a statement about whales, of all things. The topics Gadsby covers range from popular culture to sociopolitical commentary to gender-identity politics. A newcomer to the comedian’s work might wonder how Gadsby would eventually tie these thoughts together, but their stand-ups often veer more toward TED Talk territory than a traditional stand-up structure. Still, as Gadsby promises the audience of Woof! at one point, there is a theme to all this.
The TED Talk description isn’t too much of an exaggeration—since their rise to fame in the 2018 Netflix special Nanette, which parsed through the comedian’s past traumas with a surprising combination of humor and pathos, Gadsby’s brand of comedy has become a singular experience. Indeed, to attend a Hannah Gadsby show is to walk step-by-step along with them in their own shoes.
Gadsby parses through a mix of pop culture and social commentary in Woof! Photo by David Urbanke.
With Nanette, Gadsby opened the floodgates of their experience as an openly gay woman coming of age in conservative Tasmania, Australia, culminating in some truly horrific revelations of violence being perpetrated. In the years since, Gadsby has had a few more specials—including Douglas, Something Special, and Gender Agenda—each reflective of the way they move in the world and their keen observations on it.
Gadsby manages to strike the same emotional resonance in Woof! Here the comedian tries to meet the world at an interesting cultural moment: one wherein women rule the box office and pop charts, as in the case of Barbie and Beyoncé last summer, but don’t seem to have a say when their reproductive rights are at stake (“We’re getting rid of shows that are not viable. I am not Alabama”).
It’s a moment when cancel culture still reigns supreme—on the topic of Taylor Swift, Gadsby makes the admission that they are, gasp, not actually a fan of the mega pop star. At this, they imagine a billion Swifties hurling their pitchforks of online vitriol their way (“Because when the Swifties cancel me, they will have succeeded where many a man have failed. I don’t think there’s anything more feminist than getting canceled by other feminists”) and every one of your faves is suddenly problematic. One particularly huge disruption for Gadsby was their father’s death last year, an event that was almost comically incomprehensible. The world has certainly changed in the seven years since Nanette, and Gadsby once again attempts to make sense of it all.
What hasn’t changed, however, is Gadsby’s onstage presence, which remains as compelling as ever. Here, Gadsby vacillates between drollery, dread, and (self-) deprecation all with a signature ease—after all, this is the same woman who has said, “comedy is trauma plus time.” And in the time since their breakthrough, it only feels that Gadsby has become more comfortable with the storytelling, onstage and off. Throughout the show, Gadsby makes the most of their quirky delivery and mannerisms to accompany each of their witticisms, even tapping into a bit of physical comedy along the way.
Amid the laughs and perhaps despite their self-described ADHD tendencies, Gadsby deftly weaves each of the aforementioned threads of thought into one ultimate realization: that the world is vastly different than the one they grew up in, for better or worse. And whether or not the impending apocalypse comes, at least Gadsby’s next show will be a doozy.
Hannah Gadsby’s Woof! runs through Oct. 27 at the Abrons Arts Center (466 Grand Street, at Pitt Street). Evening performances are at 7 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and at 8 p.m. Saturdays; matinees are at 2 p.m. Saturday and at 2 and 5 p.m. Sunday. For tickets and more information, visit hannahgadsby.com.au.
Writer: Hannah Gadsby
Director: Jenney Shamash
Production Design: Oona Curley (based on an original design by Jenney Shamash)
Lighting: Romo Hallahan
