Hannah Gadsby. Photo / Getty Images
Hannah Gadsby's welcome return is a lighter but equally powerful set, writes Ethan Sills
It's rare that you see a comedian produce a set that relies so heavily on their previous show to work. Yet few comedians have the sort of success Hannah Gadsby had with Nanette. Her 2017 show
won countless awards and went global after a Netflix deal made her trauma-filled monologue available to millions.
That show, an angry but hopeful deconstruction of the standard comedy hour, more than earned the acclaim and swarm of think-pieces it launched, and delivered Gadsby a legion of new fans right when she had planned to quit the game.
Thankfully, she's returned, and is well aware that Nanette's success is a big reason why her new show, Douglas, is why she nearly sold out The Civic Theatre and is not still performing several metres down the road at Elliot Stables as she did 10 years ago.
It's a phenomenal rise in just a decade, and Gadsby is aware of her newfound fame, something she doesn't let dictate the show. Bringing up Nanette early in her set, she says she would have spread out her trauma had she known it would be so popular – "I could have at least made a trilogy".
