Something Special

Hannah Gadsby begins this set with an explicit promise: it is going to be a happy show. After the heavy, trauma-focused territory of Nanette and the self-referential autism advocacy of Douglas, this hour is framed as a peace offering to an audience they admit to putting ‘through a lot of shit.’ The focal point of this newfound peace is Gadsby’s marriage to their producer and director, Jenney Shamash. Instead of dismantled structures and direct confrontations, the hour delivers a surprisingly conventional romantic comedy narrative about how the couple got together, the logistics of a pandemic wedding, and the mechanics of a deeply unromantic marriage proposal.\n\nFilmed at the Sydney Opera House and released on Netflix in May 2023, the special trades the tension of Gadsby’s earlier work for low-stakes domesticity and lighter, character-driven storytelling. Memorable bits include a convoluted scheme involving a Christian bakery and a wedding cake designed as a great white shark swallowing two otters, alongside awkward celebrity encounters with Jodie Foster and romantic comedy writer Richard Curtis. Gadsby also details how autism continues to shape their daily life, whether it is failing to read facial expressions during games of Guess Who? or explaining why they hate rom-coms because of the wet noises characters make when they kiss. Critics generally received the hour as a refreshing palate cleanser, even if some felt the cozy, self-satisfied tone occasionally bordered on twee.