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Hannah Gadsby

From small-town Tasmania, Hannah Gadsby began her stand-up career in 2006 when she was discovered at the Hobart Comedy Festival.

But in 2017 she announced her retirement from comedy with the show Nanette, which won both the Edinburgh Comedy Award (which she shared with John Robins), and the Barry award at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

Hannah Gadsby releases an audio-only special to ‘subvert the male gaze’

Woof! available for free

Australian comedian Hannah Gadsby has released their latest show Woof! as an audio-only album rather than a traditional filmed special to ‘subvert the male gaze’.

The show, which dropped on yesterday – Gadsby's birthday – represents a break from the comedian’s last three solo shows, which were recorded for Netflix. Gadsby says Woof! will never be available as a conventional stand-up special.

‘Seven years after Nanette changed my whole life and exposed me to an incredible, if inconceivable, audience around the world, it's time to have another direct conversation with my – new – audience,’ they said. ‘I'm not the same person I was when we met. Allow me to reintroduce myself, on my terms.’

Available for free, Woof! is about Gadsby's experiences in 2023, and previously toured in 2024. The comic recorded every performance during a five-week run at Abrons Arts Center in New York last October to edit into the new special.

‘[Gadsby has] long believed that the only way to truly subvert the male gaze is not to have a gaze at all,' the release notes explain. They are now putting that philosophy into practice by leaving their image 'on stage in the theatre’.

‘I am so proud of this show, and so excited about this new format. Please, get in my head, while I get in your ear…not in a weird way.’

However, the project isn't entirely audio-based. Gadsby has created an animated, 20-minute version of te show, offering what is described as 'a glimpse inside Hannah's head'.

The album is available to stream for free on all major platforms (stream here), with limited-edition viny coming out in March, priced AU$64.99 (£32.50, order). The accompanying animations can be viewed on Gadsby's YouTube channel.

Produced by Jenney Shamash and edited by Tomas Strode, the audio has been distributed under exclusive licence by 800 Pound Gorilla Media.

» Read our review of Woof! from the 2024 Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

Published: 13 Jan 2026