Hannah Gadsby reveals May release date for new Netflix comedy special Douglas
Two years after releasing the genre-breaking Nanette on Netflix, Hannah Gadsby is set to premiere Douglas, her followup comedy special, globally on May 26.
"I'm excited for you to see it. It's going to be good, unless you don't like it. Then it's still going to be good, and you'll be wrong," the Australian comic said in an announcement video.
With Nanette, Gadsby took the romanticization of oppressors to task, while dissecting topics like homophobia, mental illness, and comedy itself. The special was critically acclaimed and earned Gadsby a Peabody Award in 2018 and an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special in 2019.
Ali Goldstein/ NETFLIX
"Having given herself her very own tough act to follow, she named her difficult second album after her eldest dog and took it for a walk across the planet, finishing up in Los Angeles and recording her second stand up special," Netflix said in a press release. "You can expect your expectations to be set and met by Douglas: a tour from the dog park to the renaissance and back guided by one of comedy’s most sparkling and surprising minds."
Last summer, when Douglas ran for five weeks at New York City's Daryl Roth Theater, EW's Leah Greenblatt called it "a natural extension of Nanette and a gentle buffering of it." While Gadsby did hit on personal, "at times heartbreaking anecdotes" like her autism diagnosis, the new special seems decidedly lighter with riffs on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Where's Waldo, the challenges of picking the right pet name, and more.
"It's a pleasure just to watch Gadsby’s brain work; the way she chews a thought and doubles and triples back; the on-the-spot flashes of inspiration, dad-pun wordplay, and discomfiting honesty," Greenblatt wrote.
Related content:
Solve the daily Crossword
