Hannah Gadsby brings genderqueer voices to the microphone.
The 46-year-old Australian comedian – who uses the pronouns they/them – is the host of a new comedy special Hannah Gadsby’s Gender Agendawhich had its global premiere on Netflix on Tuesday.
Known for their Emmy and Peabody award-winning comedy Hannah Gadsby: Nanette — a social commentary/narrative on classic art history, their gender non-conforming identity, and sexual trauma — Gadsby has performed two solo standup shows around the world and now has four Netflix specials, including Hannah Gadsby: Douglaswhich deals with their diagnosis of autism and how it affects their lives.
In their latest special, Gender agendaGadsby presents a line-up of seven comedians who identify as genderqueer — a person whose gender identity does not conform to binary gender distinctions.
“I really enjoyed everyone,” Gadsby tells PEOPLE of the special’s setup. “We worked [together] a few nights before, and that’s how I got to know everyone’s sets. I just really feel like everyone has something special.”
Selecting the seven genderqueer and trans comedians was a thorough process, says Gadsby.
“We just put our ears to the ground and just found out – we put tentacles all over the world,” Gadsby explains. “I’m autistic and I don’t like to lead when it comes to gathering people. That’s how we built the team.”
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Giving genderqueer comedians a platform was also a cause Gadsby already felt passionate about when he decided to make this special.
“I just asked myself, ‘What can I do positively that I can use my platform for?'” Gadsby recalls. “The little power I have to try to humanize the presence of genderqueer and trans comedians on the Netflix platform.”
They add: “It felt really important to help genderqueer performers get back on their feet. And the fact that I’m a bit divisive means there’s going to be a bit of a fuss – and hopefully it’s going to attract attention.”
In 2021, Gadsby made headlines after writing an open letter to Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, who name-dropped the comedian defending the release of a controversial Dave Chappelle special Closerwhich caused an outcry in the LGBTQ+ community.
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Returning to Netflix with a special promoting LGBTQ+ comedians and the surrounding community is “rewarding” for Gadsby.
“My work exists on that platform, so my open letter is pretty clear about how I felt about being dragged into this as a sort of compensation,” the comedian says of their message to Sarandos in 2021. “But if you’re going to change the conversation, you have to be a part of it. him. You can’t get out of it. So I decided this was my best guess at turning my angry words into something constructive.”
Matt Crossick/Netflix
One thing Gadsby appreciates about comedy is that it’s “one of the most accessible art forms.”
“It is open to people from a disadvantaged position, a lower socioeconomic status, and these are the votes we need,” they explain. “At my level, we just skate around the world – we live in a kind of bubble of success. So it felt really important to have these people up here who are still kind of living in that so-called real world… It’s really hard for genderqueer performers to find a safe space on stage.”
Gadsby says they’re “excited to see the range of voices, the range of experiences, and the sense of playfulness that people will witness,” adding, “I think every comic brings its own kind of face, and this feels like I’m introducing some really cool new voices to a wider audience which is really nice.”
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Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP/Shutterstock ‘Nanette’ Hannah Gadsby reveals she had an abortion after being raped: ‘I would have ended up dead’
Now that the special is out, Gadsby is looking at what’s next.
“I’m working on a new live show as we speak and I’m starting in Sydney this Thursday,” says Gadsby. “It has several echoes on Nanette in this new show, which I think in a weird way, it’s a sequel Nanette six years later. It takes me a really long time to process things, so I had two specials in between just to collect my thoughts. I collected them and it turns out there are a lot of them and I have a new show.”
And while they’re not sure how, Gadsby looks forward to continuing to make a difference through comedy.
“I can’t be sure what he’s doing anymore, but I just think that someone standing in front of a group of people is a powerful act,” they say. “I think the powerful formula is people speaking for themselves, wrapping their own voices around their own words and their own experience and delivering that in a live space.”
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Hannah Gadsby’s Gender Agenda now streaming on Netflix.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education