DELRAY BEACH – Before they achieve stardom, most comedians have a daytime job to help pay the bills.
One of Andrew Hamilton’s former day jobs wasn’t exactly legal.
Before trying stand-up, Hamilton spent time in jail for dealing drugs. Upon his release, Hamilton decided to give stand-up comedy – something he always wanted to try – a shot.
Hamilton’s found success. Basing much of his routine on his time spent in the joint, Hamilton earned a nomination for the Best Newcomer Award at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
Jumping from behind bars into the spotlight isn’t unheard of. Locally Brian Sobolewski incorporates his experiences as a jewel thief, which ultimately led to his incarceration, into his sets. Some other South Florida comedians might also benefit from such experiences.
Today’s Stand-Up Spotlight includes reviews of Hannah Gadsby’s streaming special, and a feature with stuttering comedian Nina G, who appeared in the Spotlight not too long ago, as part of Stuttering Awareness Week.
It’s gets the new week off to a funny start.
STAND-UP SPOTLIGHT – May 8, 2023
Just two years ago, Andrew Hamilton had an excellent reason not to crack jokes – he was in a high-security jail for selling magic mushrooms and LSD.
“In a lot of prison wings, you don’t want to draw attention to yourself,” he explains. “You’re trying to make yourself as invisible as possible. It can go wrong very quickly if you’re a smart arse to the wrong person.”
Now, he’s hitting comedy stages with his show Jokes About the Time I Went to Prison, which saw him nominated for the Best Newcomer Award at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
Hannah Gadsby: Something Special Review – a “feel-good” show
Hannah Gadsby: Something Special is a stand-up comedy special from Hannah Gadsby where they tackle a traumatic encounter with a bunny, their wedding, and much more while the special was filmed at the famous Sydney Opera House.
They hit the stage by saying, “I got Married,” and Gadsby follows with, it’s going to be a feel-good show cause they owe us one. According to everyone around them, Gadsby mentions they did the wedding day all wrong.
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Hannah Gadsby’s Latest Is a Very Different Kind of Stand-Up Special
“Do you understand what self-deprecation means when it comes from somebody who already exists in the margins? It’s not humility, it’s humiliation.” This was the first line in Hannah Gadsby’s smash-hit 2018 stand-up special Nanette that made people shift in their seats. It’s not a joke, and it’s the first of many not-a-jokes that Gadsby made the audience sit with in their hourlong show about their journey to coming out as a lesbian and living in the world as a queer person, a show that many comedians credit with changing the genre altogether. Where most stand-up sets rely on the repeated build and release of tension through setup and punchline, Gadsby refused. “This tension? It’s yours. I am not helping you anymore. You need to learn what this feels like,” they said, anger and hurt simmering in their voice.
It’s Stuttering Awareness Week. Nina G’s comedy album provides 12 tracks of education
People can be real dicks to folks who stutter, but Nina G saves her comebacks for the stage. The entertainer and author, who was likely the sole stuttering woman comic when she first stepped onto a stage in 2010, can’t waste her time on, say, the guy at her favorite sandwich shop who tried to come for her for stuttering on her first name. (Through no one stutters alike, Nina finds the bilabial sounds of n’s and m’s particularly pesky.) But she will sure as hell channel the annoyance he caused in her act—to the delight of her audience.
