Lesbian comedian Hannah Gadsby shows comedy can be tension-inducing & relievin

A still from Gadsby's show Nanette that has shown the world the subtle art of being savage

If comedy is supposed to be funny, Australian artiste Hannah Gadsby's stand-up special Nanette, aired on Netflix recently, would make you think otherwise. Moving and thought-provoking, Gadsby's radical commentary, which was recorded live at the Sydney Opera House, has been gaining traction world over for its not-so-comedic take on gender politics, religion, discrimination, misogyny, rape and most importantly, homophobia. And yet, Gadsby, who identifies as lesbian, manages to make us laugh at critical points in her 75-minute-long stand-up, showing how comedy can be both tension-inducing and relieving at the same time.

But if Gadsby has done the world a favour in voicing the anguish of the marginalised, she has also motivated her contemporaries from the LGBTQI community, who do comedy, to upend their repertoire. Closer home, where only a handful of stand-up artistes have come out of the closet and have had the courage to speak out about the struggles with their identities, this conversation becomes more pertinent.

Drag queen Randy Scarhol faced backlash while studying architecture in Belgaum

The fringe voice
Navin Noronha is a Mumbai-based standup comedian, only 26 years old. Four years ago he came out as gay on the standup stage, and it took him another year before he could tell his parents. But that's what's amusing about comedy, he says. "Nobody in the audience believed me. In fact, they cheered on, when I said, 'Hey, I am gay'," Noronha recalls. This indifference was a reflection of the sad reality - there was a vacuum in Mumbai's comedy menu. The city did not have a gay comedian. "I decided to fill the gap," Noronha says. His solo show, Coming Out Soon, has been the hotbed of discussions on everything from religion to homophobia and stereotypes that suppress identities. Noronha, who was raised a Roman Catholic, says Gadsby's recollection of her own upbringing in the conservative and god-fearing Tasmania, hit home.

"When I was growing up, I was told that God was the ultimate saviour, and that he would take care of me, no matter who I was. And then, when I was trying to make sense of my queer identity, I thought that if God hates alternate lifestyle so much - and that's what the Bible-thumpers claim - then why would he create us?" Noronha remembers asking himself. Today, an atheist, Noronha's stand-up often questions the not-so-liberal views of the church, at the cost of hurting the sentiments of people. He once recalls how during a show, a group of 20 people, who were uncomfortable with his material, just walked out. "The purpose of my comedy is to make a point. I do get sick and tired of breaking down false notions repeatedly, but it's a battle I have picked," he says.

Vasu Primlani

Beyond self-deprecation
Among the issues that Gadsby raised, what moved Bengaluru-based drag queen Randy Scarhol most, was the artiste's comment on the nature of self-deprecating humour. Gadsby said that self-deprecation from someone who already existed in the margins is not humility, "it's humiliation". Scarhol, who recently performed a comical narrative on transgender politics at Performers' Consortium's What A Pride Night in Delhi, says, growing up queer, she often found herself indulging in self-deprecating banter. "We have all joked about ourselves, and it's very common. But, it's not always healthy, especially, when you are a performer, and someone younger who identifies with your queerness and is struggling with it, is in the audience. How are you teaching this person to fight their battles?" says Scarhol.

Speaking about transgender sex workers, who had little or no agency at the Delhi event, even in a comical vein, helped 23-year-old Scarhol look at her work in another light. Noronha says he felt so embarrassed after listening to Gadsby's observations on self-deprecation, that for a moment, he felt the need to drop his next show. "Sometimes, you have to play to stereotypes, to get your point across. For instance, in an opening joke in one of my shows, I ask, 'should I fart rainbows, or fly a unicorn for you to know how gay I am?' And, it has usually worked," says Noronha, reflecting on the need to have more responsible conversations.

Navin Noronha

Talking harsh truths
There's a point in Nanette, where Gadsby also directly addresses the straight men in the audience. Delhi-based stand-up comedian and environmentalist Vasu Primlani says that misogyny runs deep, and this is why Gadsby has managed to strike a chord with both women and queer. "As a female gay comedian, I have always been treated like an outsider. There is a very strong boys' club within the comedy circle even in India, and we women, are not in it. In fact, these men often laugh at me, and one even called me a half man. But, because people like us are pushed outside the realm of men, we can objectively watch their realm, and call it for what it is," says Primlani, adding that Gadsby's "cutting edge, honest and iconoclastic comedy" helped achieve that.

Noronha says that like Gadsby, who spoke about being beaten to pulp by a man at a bus-stop, he too, has tried to push the boundaries of his shows, by discussing the traumatising experiences of being gay. He has used the comedy platform, to talk about an unfortunate incident, when he was slapped by two constables who saw him kissing his first boyfriend inside a car. "I have mentioned it twice in my show, and I have still not come around to make it sound funny. May be, someday I will. But, in your darkest despair, you find that hope to talk about it and make it funny, and that's what comedy is about," he says. Primlani says that there is a thin line between comedy and a one-man show. "In a comedy show, you expect to laugh like you're on a banana field, but in a one-man show, you expect to be moved," she says. The mark of a great comedian is to accomplish the latter.

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