'Woof!' review — Hannah Gadsby grapples with fame in a changing world

Read our review of Woof!, a new solo comedy show by award-winning comedian Hannah Gadsby, in performances at the Abrons Arts Center through October 27 only.

It has been six years since the comedy special Nanette introduced Hannah Gadsby to a global audience, and thus also publicized a style of standup that blurs the boundaries between a simple hourlong set of jokes and a theatre-style monologue with the potential to investigate substantial ideas. Nanette deconstructs and plays with the form of a traditional special, and even if you haven’t seen that show (which led to a contract with Netflix), it serves as undergirding to Gadsby's new Off-Broadway special, Woof!

Nanette caused a rumble that has reverberated in Gadsby's subsequent shows, Douglas and Something Special, both of which are also on Netflix. Woof! continues to develop the push-and-pull relationship Gadsby has to their fame-making hour and to fame itself. Having also produced a Netflix special with an all-gender-nonconforming lineup and appeared on the Netflix show Sex Education, Gadsby has developed a level of celebrity where their droll, genial discomfort — paired with their thick-rimmed glasses alone — conjure excitement.

In Woof!, they express their trademark social-misfit observations (like the silliness of expensive hotels) and an adoration for animals (lots of material about whales), which take up more time than the actual fame stuff does. Which is to say that in Gadsby’s sharp construction, the jokes gradually reveal the show's theme: examining what’s valuable to Gadsby as their life changes and what’s valuable to share with audiences, if anything.

The backdrop to all of this is a devolving sense of sanity about the world, perhaps acutely felt by autistic (as Gadsby is) and neurodivergent people. The Australian comic has experienced intense peaks and valleys following Nanette’s success, and whether any or all of it is enough to make up an entire show, enough to constitute work in and of itself, is what Woof! attempts to grapple with.

And Gadsby is a master of the form, delicately stacking jokes and callbacks atop one another. Woof! is not the most dramatic show of theirs, nor is it meant to be. Rather, Woof! is an excellent, engaging example of a comedian using their tools to reflect on what they owe audiences, and what audiences owe to each other, in a more complex world.

Woof! summary

Hannah Gadsby returns to comedy with another special after last year’s Something Special. Gadsby has, with their continued success, continued to produce more specials and reached a more than comfortable level of notoriety. In Woof!, they unpack what that success has done to their everyday life and what it means for the future of their work, while also taking detours to discuss social media, social anxiety, and Taylor Swift.

What to expect at Woof!

Gadsby has worked as a comedian for nearly two decades, and in that relatively short time, they’ve shaped themselves into an excellent one who can notice the ordinary and situate it within their experiences as a genderqueer autistic person. Tapping into the deficiency of labels to describe their life and feelings as well as the absurdity of online life, their naturally bewildered state is an appealing and amusing persona.

What audiences are saying about Woof!

• “Ah yes I loved it!!” - X user @AlliCinema
• “Hannah Gadsby’s “Woof!” is burst-out-laughing funny and impeccably structured. It’s also contemplative, profound and extraordinarily kind: a public pondering on change and grief and fame. But mostly change, and how to keep moving through it without losing oneself and one another.” - New York Times theatre critic Laura Collins-Hughes via X
• “That was the hardest I've laughed in years. They were brilliant and thoughtful as always. What I think I am most thankful for though, is for showing people what the inside of an #actuallyautistic and #neurodivergent brain sounds like.” - X user @mjburkmd

Who should see Woof!

• Hannah Gadsby fans should come to witness the comic’s assuredness and rock-solid joke writing.
• Fans of Nanette should take the opportunity to see how the legacy of that show continues to influence Gadsby as an artist.
• Anyone feeling the weight of the chaotic modern world will feel kinship in Gadsby’s own clownish confusion by contemporary social expectations.

Learn more about Woof! off Broadway

Gadsby has reached a point in their career where, in a bizarre way, they no longer just belong to themselves. Being that famous comes with advantages and disadvantages. But Woof! mines that instability to share with audiences that their lack of change would be the strangest thing of all.

Learn more and get Woof! tickets on New York Theatre Guide. Woof! is at the Abrons Arts Center through October 27.

Photo credit: Hannah Gadsby in Woof! (Photos by Ian Laidlaw)