Hannah Gadsby presenting an award at the Emmys.

newscomauHQ/Twitter lkherman/Twitter Remix by Samantha Grasso

Hannah Gadsby’s minute-long bit was the best part of the Emmys

The internet would like her to host all things moving forward.

Photo of Samantha Grasso 

Samantha Grasso

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Posted on Sep 18, 2018   Updated on Feb 28, 2020, 3:19 pm CST

Opinion

Australian comedian Hannah Gadsby’s short Emmys bit was so compelling, she should have just taken over Colin Jost’s and Michael Che’s hosting duties and sent the boys home.

At least, that seemed to be the internet’s mutually agreed upon decision after the Nanette powerhouse brought down the auditorium with a few jokes straight from her “Hashtag Not All Men, But a Lot of Them” playbook.

Presenting the award for Outstanding Director of a Drama Series, Gadsby’s shy charm shined in the spotlight as she spoke about the world going a bit crazy, allowing her, a “nobody from nowhere,” to present at the Emmys in a new suit and boots, just because she doesn’t like men.

“That’s a joke of course. Just a joke, fellas, calm down,” Gadsby fastly quips. “It is just jokes, but what are jokes these days? We don’t know. Nobody knows what jokes are, especially not men. Am I right, fellas? That’s why I’m presenting alone…”

It was a short but smart segment that showcased Gadsby’s ability to actually joke about this difficult reckoning we’re having with abusers in positions of power being exposed, and the discrimination women and minorities have long faced across multiple industries. For Emmys viewers who hadn’t seen Nanette, Gadsby’s comedy special released on Netflix this June, her short bit gave audiences a taste of her biting humor lodged between awkward acknowledgment and brutal honesty.

Her presentation touched on just a fraction of the trauma that she explores in the special, but just enough, and just subtly enough, to deliver that same script-flipping tone in a much tighter punch.

Audiences, unsurprisingly, were blown away at Gadsby’s short delivery, tweeting her praises and applause from home while the award show’s attendees ate her “Me, too”-adjacent jokes up.

https://twitter.com/giantpandabears/status/1041893933922562048

https://twitter.com/kpfallon/status/1041870179892903936

Many demanded that Gadsby be given the opportunity to host next year, and at every other award show, too.

https://twitter.com/DanaSchwartzzz/status/1041870717753516032

Or hell, they should have just let her take over hosting duties at that very moment. Did no one have a comically large push broom, or a gigantic hooked cane, to pull SNL‘s Che and Jost off the stage with?

https://twitter.com/e_alexjung/status/1041870195285999616

https://twitter.com/lkherman/status/1041870494662905856

https://twitter.com/TheFienPrint/status/1041870233214967808

Read the Daily Dot’s review of Nanette here.

H/T Twitter

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*First Published: Sep 18, 2018, 9:26 am CDT

Samantha Grasso

Samantha Grasso is a former IRL staff writer for the Daily Dot with a reporting emphasis on immigration. Her work has appeared on AJ+, Vox, Splinter, Los Angeles Magazine, and Austin Monthly.

Samantha Grasso