Nanette was obviously a huge deal when it came out- I remember the hype and a family member eventually convincing me to watch it, but to go in knowing as little as possible. I'm glad I followed that advice, because it was a very surprising stand-up performance; in a good way, of course. The people who criticise it for not being consistently funny are technically right, but it had a whole lot more to offer, and its power came from the fact that it wasn't obviously heading in the direction that it did go in.
Following up one of the best Netflix standup specials (I'd say if not for Bo Burnham's Make Happy and What, Nanette would be the best standup special produced by the platform) wouldn't have been easy, but I really liked Gadsby's approach here. She gets quite meta right off the bat, and the direct delivery makes sense when it becomes apparent quite early on that the show is going to be at least partly about her experiences with autism. It's interesting and eye-opening without being as heavy as the themes touched upon in Nanette.
That last point is both a strength and maybe a weakness, which is acknowledged as much by Gadsby in her opening breakdown of the proceeding routine, stating that she "used up" most of her trauma in Nanette, in a way. As a result, Douglas contains more laughs but probably won't stick with viewers quite as much as her first special.
I'd ultimately say they're both very strong though, just in their own ways. If anything, this proves Gadsby is far from a one-trick pony, and doesn't need to rely on pulling the same genius move she did in Nanette by going from standup comedy to borderline standup tragedy, which would be a whole lot less genius if repeated. The reliance on humour shouldn't suggest that the show is too much weaker though, because Gadsby has a unique and genuinely funny way of talking about things, which really makes her stand out from the crowd of comedians using Netflix as their primary platform.
(It's also cool to see someone from Australia make it big in the standup world, but that's just a person bias on my end due to also being Australian.)
Following up one of the best Netflix standup specials (I'd say if not for Bo Burnham's Make Happy and What, Nanette would be the best standup special produced by the platform) wouldn't have been easy, but I really liked Gadsby's approach here. She gets quite meta right off the bat, and the direct delivery makes sense when it becomes apparent quite early on that the show is going to be at least partly about her experiences with autism. It's interesting and eye-opening without being as heavy as the themes touched upon in Nanette.
That last point is both a strength and maybe a weakness, which is acknowledged as much by Gadsby in her opening breakdown of the proceeding routine, stating that she "used up" most of her trauma in Nanette, in a way. As a result, Douglas contains more laughs but probably won't stick with viewers quite as much as her first special.
I'd ultimately say they're both very strong though, just in their own ways. If anything, this proves Gadsby is far from a one-trick pony, and doesn't need to rely on pulling the same genius move she did in Nanette by going from standup comedy to borderline standup tragedy, which would be a whole lot less genius if repeated. The reliance on humour shouldn't suggest that the show is too much weaker though, because Gadsby has a unique and genuinely funny way of talking about things, which really makes her stand out from the crowd of comedians using Netflix as their primary platform.
(It's also cool to see someone from Australia make it big in the standup world, but that's just a person bias on my end due to also being Australian.)