Hannah Gadsby is done with being sad.
For now, at least.
Following the roaring success of 2018's Nanette and 2020's Douglas, they're back with a new Netflix stand-up special; Something Special.
This time around, Gadsby chooses to focus on positivity through tales of love, happiness, and their wedding – joking that viewers are in for a "yucky" romantic comedy.
"I could have talked about all the different wonderful ways the world is ending. That would have been a rich tapestry to weave. But I feel like the world is always going to be about to end," the comedian told ABC News Breakfast.
The show's tone marks a stark change from Nanette, where they interrogated self-deprecation, urged viewers to question why they were laughing at trauma, and publicly quit stand-up – unaware of the international acclaim soon to follow.
Here, Gadsby is turning a new leaf – insisting it's a "feel-good show".
"There's always going to be terrible things to talk about. But I may not always be happy."
Breaking the trauma pattern
Something Special sees a return to the Sydney Opera House, where the critically acclaimed Nanette was also recorded.
Five years after its release, Gadsby is in a fresh stage of their comedy career – incisive as ever, but ready to celebrate the wins.
A core element of the happiness in the show is the love story between Gadsby and their wife – also the show's director – Jenney 'Jenno' Shamash.
"I think expressing queer joy at this moment, particularly in the US, where I am, is kind of a subversive political act," Gadsby said.
When it comes to queer love stories specifically, Gadsby says there's a tendency for them to often be told with trauma at the core – because that's a crucial part in so many people's experiences – but in telling this story, they hope to "break that pattern a little bit."
"I was happy to do that, to put a more positive foot forward … we really don't want to do harm to the world. We just want what everyone else wants, which is the ability to grab happiness when it comes."
The couple worked together on Douglas, and Gadsby credits her with most of the show's quality – "she actually knows the show better than I do! She's seen it, I haven't … we both trust each other enormously," they said.
"I'm sure if I'd have gone a problematic route, she would have let me know and edited it out."
Choosing who we celebrate
Gadsby is no stranger to speaking out on their beliefs, and enduring the at-times abusive response that comes as a result.
In recent years, Gadsby has publicly called out the likes of fellow comedians Dave Chappelle and the late Barry Humphries — but their comments on Humphries, made back in 2018, recently came back to the fore in the wake of the performer's death last month.
They won a Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award (then called a Barry Award, named after Humphries) for Nanette back in 2017, and was also one of the comedians who came out in support of changing the award's name following Humphries' anti-trans comments.
When it comes to reconciling conflicting views in the arts and comedy community, Gadsby says there's still an incredibly important conversation to be had about who we choose to celebrate.
"This is a very big conversation that's way bigger than me, and any individual that I call out." They said.
"You can't change the past. But I think this conversation is incredibly important, because it's going to inform how we move forward.
"How do we celebrate so-called genius? Do we have to be Machiavellian about it? Do the ends justify the means? I think it's an incredibly important conversation to have. And I think it's going to continue to be had. It feels like a real backlash moment, though."
But now that the show is out there, Gadsby isn't about to rest on their laurels and casually enjoy married life.
"I've had a little rest with this show — it's time to start ruffling feathers again!"
