After watching Hannah Gadsby's farewell show Nanette. It is a shocking work, because it forces people to reflect on the tragic nature of "comedy" when watching a comedy. Nanette is more like a comment on "comedy" itself—about what it hides and how it makes marginalized people share the humiliation of themselves. The problem with the form of stand-up comedy is that the core of its laughter has two parts, a set-up and a punchline; and the story of stand-up comedy also has to go through the origin, middle and end. The ending was originally a place to expand understanding and to learn lessons, as well as a place to vent. To cut off the story with the finishing touch means to put things aside-saving complexity, background and moral hazard. It is a huge sacrifice to cut off these parts in order to make people laugh. Many people omit the most difficult part of the story in order not to break the status quo, or for the comfort of the audience, in pursuit of the effect of each word. Comedians discuss painful experiences to get laughter. All art requires consumers to connect with the artist to some extent, but it is difficult for artists to actively tell consumers that what gets pleasure from it actually comes from trauma. Hannah Gadsby forced the audience to feel the intensity of another person's pain after laughing, and then to question their own position. To be creative, you have to endure. Comedy needs to create tension to make the laughter work, but Hannah Gadsby is tired of tension. As a child, her very existence caused tension, so she learned to use humor to divert attention. After watching Nanette, I was stunned for a while before I felt relieved. Perhaps it was because that was what infected me, not necessarily because of homosexuality or feminism.
View more about Hannah Gadsby: Nanette reviews
