The Washington Post - USA (2022-04-03)

E 4 EZ EE the washington post.sunday, april 3 , 2022

Book World

BY THOMAS FLOYD

H

annah Gadsby repeatedly

points out that she’s zig-

ging when a ghostwriter

would’ve zagged in “Ten

Steps to Nanette,” the enthralling

and occasionally vexing book she

bills as “A Memoir Situation.” Case

in point: The Emmy-winning

stand-up comic opens with an

epilogue, concludes with the pro-

logue and drops in an intermis-

sion to encourage mid-reading de-

compression.

Should we have expected any-

thing less? The Australian rocket-

ed to global prominence in 2018

with the Netflix release of “Na-

nette,” which challenged notions

of what a comedy special could be

through its unapologetic interro-

gation of sexual violence, ho-

mophobia and patriarchal struc-

tures. She remained in a form-

breaking mood with her charm-

ing 2020 follow-up, “Douglas,” a

lighter but more methodically

crafted exercise in comedy decon-

struction. Although “Ten Steps to

Nanette” has the trappings of a

memoir, as Gadsby embeds her

memories with wit, reflection

and self-deprecation, she es-

chews convention by meticulous-

ly framing her life through her

defining work.

As Gadsby explains, the book

“has two stories to tell — one is

about my rather odd start to life,

and the other is about my rather

odd decision to end my life in

comedy.” While a viewing of “Na-

nette” is highly recommended —

generally speaking, but also to

contextualize “Ten Steps” — Gad-

sby does set up her memoir with

excerpts from the show and anec-

dotes from its aftermath. In one

fish-out-of-water tale, she recalls

rubbing elbows at Netflix’s Em-

mys party with the likes of John

Stamos, Norman Lear and, most

entertainingly, Jennifer Aniston.

Gadsby also shrewdly confronts

the cultural discourse around

“Nanette,” and whether it’s a

stand-up special, a solo show or

something else altogether.

It’s when “Ten Steps” veers into

more straightforward autobio-

graphical territory that it loses

steam. Much of the first half is

dedicated to a year-by-year recol-

lection of Gadsby’s youth that’s

exhaustive and, at times, a tad

exhausting. At one point, Gadsby

acknowledges the perils of overly

indulgent storytelling, writing

that “just because you can re-

member a detail of a story it

doesn’t mean that it should be

part of the retelling.” But she still

packs her road to “Nanette” with

too many detours and traverses

them too leisurely.

That’s not to say the first half

doesn’t provide insight. The

youngest of five children, Gadsby

paints a vivid portrait of her

humble hometown, in the Aus-

tralian island state of Tasmania,

and depicts her larger-than-life

mother and sweetly unassuming

father with affection and com-

plexity. Even though the “steps”

that stand in for traditional chap-

ters can be quite long — Step 3

clocks in at over 100 pages —

they’re broken into subsections,

including potent interstitials that

juxtapose Gadsby’s sexual awak-

ening with Tasmania’s infuriating

history of systemic homophobia.

But in the second half, when

Gadsby fast-forwards to her late

20s and 30s and the birth of her

comedy career, “Ten Steps” picks

up the pace. While sharing the

life experiences, artistic tech-

niques and underlying anxieties

that accompanied “Nanette’s”

creation, Gadsby gets to the bot-

tom of the show’s much-debated

dearth of traditional jokes. “If I

wanted to tell the truth, and

create a cohesive narrative for

myself, one that was not dysphor-

ic, if I wanted to share the literal,

visceral pain of my trauma, I

knew I had to invent something

new,” she writes. “And, so, I began

to write a comedy show that was

not funny.”

As Gadsby revealed in “Na-

nette,” she was sexually abused as

a child, raped as a young woman

and attacked in a case of horrify-

ing anti-gay violence. In “Ten

Steps,” she is understandably

vague but remarkably vulnerable,

writing: “I want the world to stop

demanding gratuitous details in

exchange for empathy. Entertain-

ment in exchange for under-

standing.” She also intimately

opens up on her struggles with

body image, sexual identity and

mental health, and her adulthood

autism diagnosis.

For a memoir where pain is a

through line — Gadsby recalls a

host of health issues, including a

broken arm, several knee injuries

and a gall bladder removal — it

shouldn’t surprise that “Ten

Steps,” like “Nanette,” can be light

on laughs. But they’re certainly

there, especially in pithy foot-

notes that Gadsby wields to great

effect. (After asserting that she

can’t navigate small talk with her

best friend, let alone strangers,

Gadsby directs readers to one

such annotation: “In my defence,

my best friend, Douglas, is a

Dog.”)

Although “Ten Steps” is being

presented as Gadsby’s debut

book, she clarifies in the introduc-

tion that this is technically her

second literary endeavor — if you

count the fantasy epic she wrote

at age 7. When Gadsby amusingly

circles back to that childhood

diversion hundreds of pages later,

she reminds the reader that she

knows her way around a setup

and punchline. For a comic cri-

tiqued by some misguided souls

as not being funny enough, Gads-

by sure understands how to get

the last laugh.

Thomas Floyd is an editor and

writer for The Washington Post.

Hannah Gadsby tells it her way in ‘Ten Steps to Nanette’

Chris Pizzello/Invision/Associated press

Ten Steps to

Nanette

A Memoir

Situation

By Hannah

Gadsby

Ballantine

Books. 400 pp.

$28

In Hannah

Gadsby’s

memoir, the

Australian

comedian

explains how

she “ began to

write a

comedy show

that was not

funny.”

2021/22 SEASONWelcome

Back!

Eden

JOYCE DIDONATO,

mezzo-soprano

IL POMO D’ORO

chamber orchestra

SUN, APR 24, 7pm • STRATHMORE

As on their acclaimed new recording, DiDonato and

Il Pomo d’Oro explore four centuries of repertoire in

a hope-filled program drawing inspiration from (in

DiDonato’s words) “the perfect balance, astonishing

mystery, and guiding force of the natural world around

us.” (Note: See website for repertoire.)

#1 on Billboard “Traditional Classical Albums” chart

“The mezzo’s bold new musical mission to help

us reconnect with nature - and with ourselves”

• Gramophone (FEB 2022 cover story)
  Special thanks: Northern Trust, Philip R. West and Barbara Yellen;
  I Anne and Burton Fishman

l (^) Pomo d’Oro
TICKETS & INFO:
WashingtonPerformingArts.org • (202) 785-9727
Tickets
start at
$30