Filmed in London, this Hannah Gadsby-hosted showcase has brought together genderqueer comedians from around the world (well, mainly the United States, Britain and Canada) to showcase the best of promising stand-up oomedy made by and for the community. LGBTQ+. . Featured here are ALOK, Chloe Petts, DeAnne Smith, Ashley Ward, Jes Tom, Mx. Dahlia Belle and Krishna Istha.
HANNAH GADSBY’S GENDER AGENDA: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
The essence: Gadsby is upfront about why he had this exhibit in the first place.
“The last time Netflix brought this many trans people together was for a protest, so… progress,” Gadsby begins jokingly. “That’s why we are here. Tonight there is a fundamental myth.”
In October 2021, following the release of Dave Chappelle The closerThe LGBTQ+ community both inside and outside of Netflix rebelled against the streaming giant for presenting their transphobic ideas under the guise of comedy.
As Gadsby explained on stage in the here and now of 2024: “A few years ago, Netflix released an incredibly transphobic comedy special from one of their favorites, and there was a bit of an uproar that followed. A big, big, big, big fuss, haha. And look, to be honest, I didn’t get involved in the first place and I’m not proud of it, but I’m a bit of a cultural idiot, you know? But since Gadsby was also big at Netflix, Gadsby got caught up in the debate.
“Look, what I did was I wrote a very worded letter and I addressed it to Netflix. I think it’s called biting the hand that feeds you. Or knock with your teeth, something you don’t normally do twice, but I have a good dentist, so here we go. “Here we are,” Gadsby said. “I won’t lie. I came out a little strong from the beginning. I addressed it directly to my Netflix dad. I call him my Netflix dad because Netflix is like a family. Once you’re in the fold, it really is. It feels like a family, a very big family. And like most families, they don’t like their gay children.”
“And I said, ‘Fuck you, Ted (Sarandos).’ It’s a bit harsh, isn’t it? But in my defense, I’m a Capricorn with a Pisces moon and Cancer rising, which directly translates to autistic. So I don’t always find the right tone. In that letter, I made several points. One of them is that I called Netflix a cult of amoral algorithms, and I stand by that. And then I mentioned in passing, it was just a throwaway mention, that I did things with more guts than Ted.”
At the time, Gadsby thought it was funny and didn’t think to post the letter on Instagram. “I didn’t even post it on Twitter,” Gadsby joked, repeating Twitter’s name for the service now known as X since Elon Musk bought it. “Yeah, I’ll give that fool a dead name.”
But social media generated real media coverage and some embarrassment for Gadsby. And yet: “The other thing that came out of this uproar was tonight.”
Memorable jokes: Still, this is first and foremost a comedy special, so what about the comedians who performed on the bill?
Jes Tom joked about how transitioning to testosterone not only left the comedian with “the mustache of a school bully,” but also an unexpected side effect of no longer identifying as a lesbian but now as a gay man. All of which gave Tom a new definition of the slang acronym DTF. Can we print it here? Even Tom later joked about the live audience: “People take a second to decide which part is okay to laugh at.”
Chloe Petts identifies as “a butch lesbian,” which in some ways gives her access to aspects of male privilege, such as being called “boss” by chicken shop employees. But perhaps the most awkward fun Petts has is wearing a suit at a heterosexual wedding and noticing the effect she has on the men, women and children attending the reception.
Asha Ward, a young writer from Saturday night live, jokingly admitted: “I’m not going to lie, I got too high before this.” Ward joked about some of the other jobs he had in his youth, such as pediatric dentistry and teaching improv at a Jewish summer camp.
DeAnne Smith underwent major surgery but does not plan to transition further. “Calm down lesbians,” Smith joked. “Little weirdo is my gender identity and you should respect that. I’ve been receiving them against my will since 2005, okay? But did you know that nipples do not need to be reattached or replaced after such top surgery? Smith has a lot of fun explaining that, and she’ll even email you to ask this little stranger about the very real, very siiick (sic) rack.
Max. Dahlia Belle mocked straight people who think cisgender is an insult, joking that “people are just complaining about an adjective.” As for Bella? Sure, one day archaeologists might dig up her bones and note that she was born a man and lived as a woman, but who cares by then and it’s kind of a moot point in Bella’s game plan.
Gadsby introduced Krishna Istha as someone new and different to bring even more variety to the industry, and Istha, a non-binary transmasculine writer on Sex education, joked that it’s the testosterone’s fault that they now do stand-up too. “Did you know that the confidence you gain when you walk through the world as a man is directly proportional to the confidence you need to try stand-up comedy?” Istha joked. “That’s probably why so many mediocre white men think they can do it.”
ALOK, with a million followers on Instagram, closed the showcase with a set challenging straight people or anyone who feels a little intolerant. “I see you and your discomfort is valid.” And yet, ALOK wondered how someone staring uncomfortably at her set would decide how to respond. If you laugh, are you supporting the transgender agenda? If you don’t, are you somehow affirming ALOK’s femininity within the limited conventional wisdom that women aren’t supposed to be funny anyway?
Our opinion: What’s the agenda here, anyway?
And is all this worth it? Gadsby lashed out at Sarandos for allowing Netflix to platform hate and only seemed to capitulate when given the opportunity to platform genderqueer comedians into that same “amoral algorithm cult.” A 75-minute showcase for seven comedians (plus Gadsby) for pennies on the dollar compared to the huge funds Sarandos and Netflix keep giving Chappelle and Ricky Gervais to make those eight comedians feel less? Is that a fair compensation? Is it better than nothing at all?
That was the math Gadsby had to calculate and came to the conclusion that yes, it was worth it.
“It won’t solve it. Is not sufficient. Just one night. You know, come on, you don’t raze the Amazon and plant a tree. This is the carbon offset program, you know what I mean? Gadsby explained during the inauguration.
And a solitary shoot needs care in the arid landscape.
As Gadsby said when introducing one of the comics: “Because when you’re gender queer in the comedy world, stage time isn’t always a safe time.”
But they are safe here, at least in this space.
Our call: I wonder if we’re at such a pisive point not just in the world but in comedy, where it matters little if I tell you to STREAM IT, because you’ll look at your Netflix home page and instinctively react one way or another. upon seeing Dave Chappelle or Hannah Gadsby’s name in the title. I am of the opinion that it is necessary to listen to them before deciding for themselves. But I’d rather see Gadsby’s familiar Netflix metaphor brought to the real world, where all these comedians of different viewpoints and identities came together to listen to each other. I know if you will pass it on. But I wish other comedians would do it too, just to try to understand each other a little better.
Sean L. McCarthy works the comedy rhythm. He also airs half-hour episodes with comedians revealing origin stories:The comic book features the latest first..
