Burning Down the Patriarchy, But Funny

As we are all simultaneously somehow incredibly stressed and and yet also somehow incredibly bored (I mean, if you’re lucky enough to like me have been working in your home for the last 3+ months every.single.day.), I cannot recommend a brain shaker like “Douglas” highly enough. It is the perfect way to end this Pride Month.

Tasmanian comic Hannah Gadsby took the formidable task of following up her surprise hit Netflix special “Nanette” – which was all about reclaiming one’s trauma and not allowing it be used as a commodity – and turned it into another both funny, pointed, uncompromising and entirely not here for patriarchy’s bullshit special called “Douglas.”

The show is almost too clever for its own good, especially in its story structure and expectation setting. But it further proves how simple it can be to surprise people when you just tell them the truth.

You should know going in that Gadsby tells you everything she’s going to joke about right away. I am not kidding, she offers a full syllabus before she even actually starts the special. It’s an outline which at first you think there’s no way she can pull off, yet she does in such a smart way you feel like you’re being given insight into one of the more fascinating and entertaining brains around.

What I think I find most enjoyable about Gadsby’s comedy is how she is so good at pointing out things that are patently absurd about society yet we somehow accept without thinking. “Douglas” will make you think. I watched it twice, and both internally and (loudly) externally yelled, “Yes!” at my screen numerous times each time.

Plus, as a closet art history lover, her knowledge on the subject always delights - as does her insistence that common sense should dictate that misogyny and the patriarchy are ridiculous, beyond harmful and must be dismantled at all costs.