Hannah Gadsby returns with stand-up show Douglas on Netflix

Hannah Gadsby became an international sensation with her previous comedy special on Netflix, attracting fans and haters alike. Now she’s back.

Two years ago, Hannah Gadsby had been a moderately successful stand-up comedian.

She’d been touring her shows for a decade, won some prizes, done some TV and had a following and a profile among comedy fans. She wasn’t a mainstream household name, not even in her home country.

Then her stand-up show Nanette came out on Netflix, one of dozens of comedic live shows that end up on the streaming service every year, usually to little fanfare. She blew up.

All of a sudden, people all over the world knew her name. International celebrities were singing her praises, publications the world over gushed about Nanette and Gadsby was invited to present at the Emmys, where she killed.

Australians who had never heard of her rushed to claim her.

There was something different about Nanette. It wasn’t your bog-standard observational quips about supermarket lines or idiot politicians. It was a revolutionary, deeply personal set about trauma, hailed as a deconstruction of stand-up comedy.

Hannah Gadsby is back with some ‘gentle needling’ of the patriarchy

Gadsby didn’t hold back, opening up about coming out as a lesbian, being mercilessly bullied and raped in her Tasmanian hometown.

Watching it feels as if you are being let in on someone’s therapy session, but one that’s been thoughtfully structured for maximum emotional impact.

It was also, as most things are in the 21st century, divisive.

Gadsby’s targets of the oppressive patriarchy and homophobes didn’t like her show – shocker. She wasn’t expecting them to.

Her follow-up, Douglas (named after her dog), drops on Netflix this week, a routine she toured last year. She jokingly called it her second album, even though it’s more like her 12th album.

If you want more soul-eviscerating material, Gadsby says she’s fresh out of trauma.

Douglas is more low-key, a little more fizzy and “easier” to experience though Gadsby still engages in “gentle needling” of the patriarchy.

This is less confessional, more conventional.

It’s bait, don’t touch it!

She cleverly sets up the whole show in the first 14 minutes, detailing exactly what to expect, including a Louis C.K. joke she promises we’ll find hilarious (it is). And she also tells everyone she’s been diagnosed with autism.

The diagnosis is a through-line for her set though Douglas isn’t as focused and thematically cohesive as Nanette. Some of her fury has disappated.

Among those that come in for her insightful jibes are Americans, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, anti-vaxxers and golfers, the latter of whom are deemed to be the worst humans (Gadsby was a former golfer).

What’s curious is how much of her set Gadsby devotes to the haters, something she’s aware of but insists she’s microdosing on the hate to slowly build immunity. She tells her audience that she fully expects the anti-vaxxer brigade to come after her in a co-ordinated effort once Douglas hits streaming (and they will).

So she’s baiting them too – perhaps collecting material for future material?

Douglas is a solid, more traditional stand-up set, but it’s still Hannah Gadsby, so she’s hardly going to be riffing on standing in line at Starbucks.

Hannah Gadsby: Douglas is streaming on Netflix now

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