WOOF! invites you to meet Hannah Gadsby all over again

Hannah Gadsby. Photo by Mia Mala McDonald.

Hannah Gadsby’s WOOF! is a show about big questions.

So they declare in the first moments of their new solo show at the Abrons Arts Center. The comedian, best known for their groundbreaking special Nanette, is switching things up in their latest on-stage venture, which expands their signature mixture of humor and self-reflective storytelling into a more traditional comedy special structure.

Gadsby jokingly (or not so jokingly?) asks audiences to keep some of the show’s main topics a secret, so they could break the news to each new crowd passing through the theater. They’re not lying when they say WOOF! is a show about big questions: that’s the only true running theme you could apply, as Gadsby meanders through disparate topics like Taylor Swift, hotel customer service, Cabbage Patch Kids, Barbie, CPAP machines, and — most compellingly, as it turns out — whales.

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WOOF! is a far cry from Nanette, and Gadsby is well aware. They name-drop the Emmy-winning special and call out its differences from WOOF! repeatedly throughout the show, from caring less about political correctness to being much lighter in tone (though rest assured, there’s still plenty of darkness). 

Instead, WOOF! is rife with the seeds of thought-provoking questions: How does one sustain a career in comedy with a brand built on trauma that they’d rather leave in the past? Once you’ve achieved your goals, how do you know if you’ve reached true contentment? How does grief act as a time capsule, keeping you frozen in a moment of tragedy? Each new inquiry earns a chorus of solemn “mm”s from the audience, but Gadsby doesn’t linger in any one question for very long, instead shuffling the crowd along to the next with a new anecdote about glasses, soccer players, or Tim Tam biscuits (if you know, you know).

A lot is changing for Gadsby these days. There have been a few major shifts in the people around them and how they view themselves (which we’ll keep tight-lipped about at Gadsby’s request), but beyond that, they’ve also achieved a new level of fame and wealth post-Nanette. Their observations on being a celebrity are neither gut-bustlingly hilarious nor especially relatable. On the whole, the show feels more like reading a magazine profile of Gadsby than seeing their latest comedy special.

But maybe the show’s ungrounded structure is a commentary on the themes at hand. Gadsby makes one thing very clear throughout WOOF! — who they are now is not who they were. They are in flux, discovering new sides of their identity and the world around them. WOOF! may not be narratively satisfying, but Gadsby isn’t interested in giving the audience closure — at least, not until they find some for themself.

So yes, WOOF! is a show about big questions. It’s a show about grief, and gender, and rediscovering yourself. Above all, WOOF! is a show about Hannah Gadsby, now.

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WOOF! runs through October 27 at the Abrons Arts Center. Tickets are available here.

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