美国国家公共电台 NPR The 'Nanette' Phenomenon

 

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

Have you seen "Nanette"? That is the question I kept hearing in the hallways, reading all over social media. And then when I saw "Nanette," I couldn't stop asking that question myself. "Nanette" is Hannah Gadsby's stand-up comedy special on Netflix now, except it's not totally comedy. And I can't explain what I mean by that without giving it all away. So suffice it to say that this Australian comedian¹ tackles some really intense subjects with unflinching candor². One of those subjects is comedy itself.

(SOUNDBITE OF COMEDY SPECIAL, "NANETTE")

HANNAH GADSBY: That's my job. I make you all feel tense, and then I make you laugh, and you're like, oh, thanks for that.

(LAUGHTER)

GADSBY: I was feeling a bit tense.

(LAUGHTER)

GADSBY: I made you tense. This is an abusive relationship.

(LAUGHTER)

CHANG: And because I need now very badly to talk to someone else who's also seen "Nanette," I'm joined by NPR's pop culture correspondent Linda Holmes. Hey, Linda.

LINDA HOLMES, BYLINE³: Hey, Ailsa.

CHANG: So how did you first hear about "Nanette"?

HOLMES: So I heard about "Nanette" the same way that I think a lot of other people did, which is on social media and on Twitter. It was all word of mouth. I had never heard of her before. And within a couple of days of the special dropping, it just was everywhere.

CHANG: And did you go through like the same thing I did, like first time laughing really hard? And then, what? I'm crying. Oh, and then I'm laughing again. I mean, I was all over the place in one hour.

HOLMES: Yeah, it is a little bit of an all-over-the-place experience. And I think that's very much intentional⁴. She really treats her own experiences as a source of humor. And then she really moves into a section that's more about examining that process a little bit more and then it gets more serious.

CHANG: OK, so there are a few things that we can say. Hannah Gadsby is lesbian. And she's long used being a lesbian as fodder⁵ for her jokes. But in "Nanette" she kind of turns it on its head. She talks about what punchlines can do to the story a person keeps telling about herself.

HOLMES: Right. And a lot of what she's doing is trying to get at how we tell stories about creation and creative people. She talks about Vincent Van Gogh and Picasso and the mythology⁶ around mental illness being tied up with creativity. So she's trying to say, how do we tell stories about what it means to be creative? And in comedy, what does it mean to want to make a joke about something about yourself to diffuse⁷ tension around it? What does that do to you?

CHANG: Right. And the thing is I've always found that comedians⁸ reach for self-deprecating humor. It is like the go-to place. But what Hannah Gadsby points out is there's something kind of disturbing about that.

HOLMES: Yeah. And I think if you watch the way that she tells some of the early jokes about, for example, growing up in Tasmania where she says that when she was young the message was, really we don't want you here if you're gay or lesbian, she is struggling with, that's funny, right? Is it really funny to be in a place where you don't feel welcome or wanted?

CHANG: Why do you think this performance has captured so much attention?

HOLMES: Well, I think part of it is that Hannah Gadsby was new to a lot of American audiences. That always kind of piques⁹ people's interest. And another thing I think is that the structure is so unusual. And when you see something that's so compelling and personal but also different, it makes you want to go talk to people about it and say, I just saw this, and I have to talk to people about it because it's so unusual.

CHANG: Do you think Gadsby will change the way a lot of people think of stand-up comedy, perform stand-up comedy? Do you think it's been that powerful?

HOLMES: Well, there's been a growth in stand-up performances that are more integrated with a theater idea or a one-person show idea. People like Mike Birbiglia have done that, Hasan Minhaj as well. But I do think this is the farthest I've seen anybody push limitations of what stand-up is. So it might very well be. And I think once one person experiments and is really successful, it emboldens¹⁰ other people, and it emboldens outlets¹¹ like Netflix.

CHANG: Yeah. NPR's Linda Holmes, thank you so much again.

HOLMES: Thank you.

1 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。

2 candor   

n.坦白，率真

参考例句：

• He covered a wide range of topics with unusual candor.他极其坦率地谈了许多问题。
• He and his wife had avoided candor,and they had drained their marriage.他们夫妻间不坦率，已使婚姻奄奄一息。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 intentional   

adj.故意的，有意（识）的

参考例句：

• Let me assure you that it was not intentional.我向你保证那不是故意的。
• His insult was intentional.他的侮辱是有意的。

5 fodder   

n.草料；炮灰

参考例句：

• Grass mowed and cured for use as fodder.割下来晒干用作饲料的草。
• Guaranteed salt intake, no matter which normal fodder.不管是那一种正常的草料，保证盐的摄取。

6 mythology   

n.神话，神话学，神话集

参考例句：

• In Greek mythology,Zeus was the ruler of Gods and men.在希腊神话中，宙斯是众神和人类的统治者。
• He is the hero of Greek mythology.他是希腊民间传说中的英雄。

7 diffuse   

v.扩散；传播；adj.冗长的；四散的，弥漫的

参考例句：

• Direct light is better for reading than diffuse light.直射光比漫射光更有利于阅读。
• His talk was so diffuse that I missed his point.他的谈话漫无边际，我抓不住他的要点。

8 comedians   

n.喜剧演员，丑角( comedian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The voice was rich, lordly, Harvardish, like all the boring radio comedians'imitations. 声音浑厚、威严，俨然是哈佛出身的气派，就跟无线电里所有的滑稽演员叫人已经听腻的模仿完全一样。 来自辞典例句
• He distracted them by joking and imitating movie and radio comedians. 他用开玩笑的方法或者模仿电影及广播中的滑稽演员来对付他们。 来自辞典例句

9 piques   

v.伤害…的自尊心( pique的第三人称单数 )；激起（好奇心）

参考例句：

• I understand practically everything, except one thing that piques my curiosity. 实际上，我什么都了解，只有一点除外，而且引起了我的好奇心。 来自飘（部分）
• He piques himself on having a good memory. 他常夸耀自己记性好。 来自辞典例句

10 emboldens   

v.鼓励，使有胆量( embolden的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• This condition emboldens employers and brokers to exploit more the migrant workers. 这样的情形使得雇主及仲介业者得以大胆地剥削移民劳工。 来自互联网
• In turn, Kobe's growing confidence emboldens his teammates to play even better. 反过来，科比增加了对他们的信任也促使队友们打得更好。 来自互联网

11 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》