I first got to know Hannah Gadsby’s work on a trip to the Hobart Comedy Festival in 2007, it was only a year after winning Raw and she was on almost every night, with her dry, deadpan, jokes about palindromes, her lesbian haircut and coming out to her family. Audiences loved her and I never tired of her act, which was enhanced enormously the night her mum was in the audience and loudly heckled. Hannah’s current show, Kiss Me Quick I’m Full of Jubes mentions that night, because this show is about her mum.
I wonder how many kids grow up with crazy parents, accepting it as normal and then look back at it as adults thinking, how did I survive that? Scary mums have always been a great topic for drama (Long Days Journey into Night) and comedy (Mother & Son) and many comedians have tickled our funny bones with their wacky mum stories, but I can’t remember anything so jawdroppingly disturbing yet hilarious as some of Hannah’s experiences. Children being too terrified to tell their mum about life threatening injuries, risking death rather than their mum’s attempts at first aid (rubbing Vaporub onto open wounds) is fairly extreme, though I’m sure it didn’t seem so at the time. Hannah’s mum had a pathological hatred of doctors, a leaning to hypocrisy, a penchant for making hideously unflattering clothes for her daughter to wear and the sort of homophobia that is more common of her era but added no doubt to Hannah’s need to run screaming from the little town (or shithole) of Smithton in Tasmania to the bright lights of Canberra and then Melbourne.
Doing an impression of her mum’s voice, Hannah tries desperately to ‘read between the lines’ of her mum’s outrageously rude remarks looking for the words she wants to hear, the sort of thing a sitcom type mum might say, but the reality is always far more hilarious and original than any sitcom. For my part, looking between the lines of Hannah’s story, though they were no doubt difficult, her parents were naturally funny and passed this gift onto her. Her dad has a very dry, country town dad sort of humour, whereas her mother is more acidic and sarcastic, all of which is evident in her own style. She also manages to find evidence of their love and support for her which is encouraging.
The thing that really stood out for me was how Hannah owned the stage. Gone was her nervous shyness, replaced by a more relaxed confidence with a playful edge. She handled surprise incidents, such as a loud audience member and another audience member turning out to be a spy for her mother effortlessly. The former she encouraged to contribute her experience which gained a huge laugh and made Hannah fall about and the latter turned out to be Smithton’s ex hairdresser and Hannah had great fun working her into her act with some hilarious pointed side glances.
I couldn’t get in to see Hannah at the Comedy Festival this year, because she was selling out all her performances of this show. She really did put together a brilliant show, but more importantly she is a stunning performer, quickly gaining an army of fans. So I really recommend you go see her, only make sure you get your tickets early.
For more info and booking details go to the Melbourne Fringe Festival website