Hannah Gadsby

Hannah Gadsby went from relative obscurity to turning the comedy world on its ear with her fiercely personal monologues. A native of Smithton on the island of Tasmania, off the coast of Australia, she graduated from the Australian National University with a degree in Art History before moving into comedy. She first began to garner attention in her home country when she won the annual Raw Comedy competition for new comedians at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2006. Her comedy frequently played off of her experiences as a lesbian, as well as poking fun at her choice of college major. That led to national television appearances performing stand-up and a small role on the Australian sitcom "The Librarians" (ABC-TV, 2007-10). She became a fixture on the talk show "Adam Hills Tonight" (ABC-TV, 2011-13), playing off of the host and fellow comedian Dave O'Neil. She continued making stand-up appearances, including filming a pair of specials for "Warehouse Comedy Festival" (ABC-TV, 2011-13). She also contributed to the docuseries "Agony" (ABC1, 2012-15), and hosted three specials under the title of "Hannah Gadsby's Oz" (ABC-TV, 2014), focusing on art. After a recurring role on the crime drama "Underbelly" (Nine Network, 2008-13), she became a regular on the dramedy "Please Like Me" (ABC-TV, 2013-16). The show focused on a gay man (Josh Thomas) who had recently come out of the closet, with Gadsby playing a character struggling with depression. She exploded onto the international scene with her comedy special "Nanette" (Netflix, 2018). Starting as a traditional stand-up set, Gadsby turned the show into a raw, emotional look at her personal struggles as a lesbian trying to use comedy as a way of coping with the numerous challenges she had faced in her life. That led to a round of appearances on American late-night television and a memorable turn as a presenter at the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards (2018). She also returned to the art world with the two-part documentary "Hannah Gadsby's Nakedy Nudes" (ABC-TV, 2018) and authored the memoir "Ten Steps to Nanette" (Ballantine, 2019).