It wasn't good.
Well, that's not completely true, when Gadsby referenced her autism, it was interesting, but if you were a fan of "Nanette" and "Douglas" you will be sorely disappointed.
In case you never watched "Nanette"...
Do so immediately.
Most comedy is just jokes. Sure, Chappelle might go further, certainly Richard Pryor did, and of course Chris Rock tests limits, but Gadsby made it by evidencing her personality, what it was like to be her.
What is it like to be you? I can't imagine it's that easy, it's not that easy for me.
In life we are alone. You can be desperate, like Jerry Maguire, but most people can smell it on you, they can read it, and they keep you at arm's length.
Or you can try and be the life of the party, or suck it up and be conciliatory.
Life is about negotiation, can't anyone accept you for who you are, do you always have to be on guard?
So Hannah Gadsby is an Australian lesbian who was just about to give up the comedy game and then decided to lay it all on the table. Furthermore, she employed her area of expertise, art history, to do so. "Nanette" was more than a comedy special. It touched your heart more than all the dramas that try to do so. Because it was honest.
Not that you could identify. But you could relate, because you too have an identity, you too dream, you too are confounded and confused, how do you navigate?
"Douglas" deals with Gadsby's autism disorder.
Now one of the hottest comedians out there is Taylor Tomlinson, and in her latest Netflix special she talks about being diagnosed as bipolar.
In other words, these comedians are not like you and me. That's the way our star musicians used to be too. They had to work hard, but in truth they never fit in, they needed to do this to express their anxiety, to be accepted, to be loved.
As for paying dues... Tomlinson started in church, after her mother died. She's been in the game for a long time. Tomlinson is a step above the riff-raff, there's something honest at the core of her act too. As the other, as a single woman trying to navigate romance, as...
So Hannah Gadsby's new Netflix special is about happiness...
WHO WANTS TO HEAR ABOUT THAT?
I don't know Gadsby, but I think she has dealt with a lot of blowback about the viewpoint/material of her last two specials, and therefore she reacted thereto. Don't listen to the critics, never. Because they don't come from the same place. An artist and a critic are radically different. A critic might be able to tell people whether something is good and why, whether you should experience it or not, but that's got nothing to do with the process of the creator.
To create...
You've got to clear your head, you've got to channel your identity, the other. Oh, don't tell me about the hacks that work really damn hard to make B level work, even B+, we're looking for the transcendent. Actually, that's Rick Rubin's secret sauce, he removes the pressure, the feedback from acts, and tries to get them back to the garden, their essence.
But those are usually acts that have wandered from their peak.
Do I believe Gadsby is overwhelmingly happy?
No. First and foremost that's not the human condition, never mind her background/experience/identity.
Do I believe she is happier now that she's married?
Yes. But marriage can't solve all your problems, and the high wears off.
So Hannah is a lesbian icon, the other. But she's crossed over, she appeals to all people. Actually, one of the good parts of "Something Special" is when she talks about interfacing with Jodie Foster, a famous person, she doesn't know how to act. But what I'm trying to say here is sometimes your audience, especially when you're the other, embraces you based on who you are more than the work, and you don't get the feedback you need, just having the identity is enough. Gadsby toured "Something Special" for a year, no one told her it was barely funny and not that insightful?
I laughed out loud twice. I wanted to turn it off but Felice wanted to continue to watch. And I'm glad I did, but I'm sore I have to wait at least another year for the next Hannah Gadsby production, where I hope she is true to her identity and viewpoint.
Doing universal comedy... Her parents, how they act... We've seen that a bazillion times. And Gadsby isn't that good at it.
You're allowed to talk about love, but Gadsby could have portrayed more of the dark side, the insecurities, the worry, like we all have.
This happens all the time. Someone off the radar screen, to the side of the mainstream, digs down and does what they want to, everything else having failed, and voila! Success!
Think about David Gray, losing his major label deal and then cutting "White Ladder" in his house.
Because all bets were off. Or as Bob Dylan said, "when you ain't got nothing, you got nothing to lose."
And in truth you think you're accepted by society, but you're just flavor of the moment, you're one of many, you get the attention and then what...people move on. Which is why you have to stay true to yourself.
But what you are looking for is acceptance.
But in truth our great artists are never going to be accepted. They have to accept that. That this is their burden, to do it alone, to hopefully have a small core who they can understand and relate to. Actually, that's all of us, we only have a small core who we can understand and relate to. But life is so hard, we're looking for answers, and we look to the iconoclastic artists to deliver this. But when they try to be just like us, it doesn't work. Because they're not.
The personal is universal. The things you're most ashamed of you're dying to share, and if you did, you'd find that others would relate and understand, but maybe not the people you've surrounded yourself with.
Hannah Gadsby had her finger on the pulse, she delivered as an artist.
And then she pulled back, punted, thinking this is what we want.
We don't.
--
Visit the archive: lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1
If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, Unsubscribe
To change your email address this link
No comments:
Post a Comment