Hannah Gadsby as Philosopher: Is Comedy Really Such a Good Thing?

Abstract

Hannah Gadsby announces in Nanette that she must quit comedy because it has been unhealthy for her and her audiences. She provides four reasons for thinking this, which include criticisms of self-deprecation, jokes in general, comic relief, and anger. She argues that self-deprecation is humiliating and unhealthy for marginalized people like her; she suggests that jokes cannot provide the comic relief we hope for because of their logical structure; she says that comic relief is not good for us when we look for relief from challenging subjects; and she argues that comedy is bad for everyone when it is based in anger because anger only spreads blind hatred. This chapter makes a case for and against each of Gadsby’s arguments, and it concludes that she can be wrong on any or all these points while nevertheless being one of the most philosophical comedians in the world.