Hannah Gadsby's Nanette comedy special calls out stand-up comedy's most pervasive bad habit

Mashable

Many comedians excel because they are self-deprecating. "But when you are regularly treated as less than because of your societal status, self-deprecation can turn from an easy punchline into a toxic soup of identity politics and degradation," says Alison Foreman. She adds: "What makes Nanette a transformative work is not Gadsby's comedic chops, though they glisten throughout. Instead, the beauty of this piece is found in its verbalization of what so many of us self-deprecators, professional and amateur alike, feel on a daily basis—a need to excuse our own existence."

ALSO:

• Nanette essentially dismantles the standard narrative of genius and art in Western civilization
• Here's a guide to Gadsby's pre-Nanette work