A new Netflix special calls out standup comedy’s most pervasive bad habit

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BY ALISON FOREMAN
9 HOURS AGO
Nanette seems more like the name of an elderly Shih Tzu than a groundbreaking comedy special. But Hannah Gadsby's Netflix hour is indeed called Nanette — and it is a radical tour de force that calls out some of standup comedy's worst shortcomings.
SEE ALSO: This Netflix hidden gem is the must-watch comedy for our dark times
Stand-up has always been a dog-eat-dog world. From set stealers to hecklers, the obstacles facing the most privileged of comedians is substantial, and the underrepresented have it even worse.
Gadsby's hour is a profound breakdown of the disadvantages she has faced as a gay woman—not just in comedy, but in life. During the course of her special, she concludes that for her own well-being, she ought to quit comedy. At the center of her argument is a fundamental flaw in the "rules" of self-deprecation.
b:Nanetteseems more like the name of an elderly Shih Tzu than a groundbreaking comedy special. But Hannah Gadsby's Netflix hour is indeed calledNanette— and it is a radical tour de force that calls out some of standup comedy's worst shortcomings.SEE ALSO:This Netflix hidden gem is the must-