Hannah Gadsby’s comedy ranges from fun to frank to furious.
In 2018 they experienced seismic success with “Nanette,” a Netflix special that was a masterpiece of architecture and social change. Gadsby generated thunderous laughter in the first part of the show for jokes at their expense in every regard. Then turned that all around in the second part of the show, which made the audience reconcile what about someone’s pain and history of marginalization, like homophobia, they’d just found so funny.
Their latest standup tour, “Woof!” is bringing them to the Emerson Colonial Theatre on Sept. 19 for two performances.
“With this show, I’m trying to break out of the brand that I created accidentally with 'Nanette,'” Gadsby said. “Because 'Nanette,' for me, was a show that I wrote at the end of ten other shows over, you know, over the course of a decade or so ... but then it got onto a platform that introduced me to a whole new world of people.”
Gadsby said they fell into standup comedy in their late 20s, then just kept taking opportunities. Now on their third tour, Gadbsy said they continue to explore on stage.
“I’m bringing my audience along with the show, like every tour stop something else gets added,” they said.
The “Woof!” tour had a photo before it ever had a name. But that name brings opportunity, Gadsby said.
“It’s a great word for how I feel, you know? ... It was just, I think, a sound,” they said. “Like ['woof’] gives people a lot of space to have their own. You know, there are many different types of 'woofs’ out there.”
