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Theres material about social media (where neurotypical people go to experience the worst of autism).
Its looseness is an asset.
Amid its catch-up-on-the-news opening section,Woof!offers a framing gear for the ideas that come later.
(What do whales think about humans listening to their conversations as relaxing bedtime noise?
Where did all the Cabbage Patch Kids dolls go?)
About 30 minutes into the performance, Gadsby explains that this is not the show theyd originally planned.
So the obvious move, they felt, was to do a trauma show.
And to be fair, they say, Ive got a whole herd ofBaby ReindeerI could slay.
But at the last minute, they say, they decided against doing the dead-dad show.
They are not traumatized by their fathers death.
They do not want to be pegged as a trauma comedian.
Nevertheless, the show thatWoof!develops into does sometimes resemble the thing Gadsby says theyre trying to avoid.
But its not a show where Gadsbys dead father becomes the central organizing premise.
Its about Gadsbys own specific big questions.
Are they traumatized by it?
Should they center that experience in their art because thats what the world expects of them?
Now, they say, I have two mattress toppers!
And that keeps me up at night!
Im a princess with an existential pea.My bed istoocomfortable.
What is wrong with me?!
Gadsby is painfully aware that a lot of this is already beyond the bounds of easy relatability.
I just want you to know that Imstruggling, they say, ironic and sincere at once.
There will be no pat, easy takeaways.
There are a few fun surprises but no astonishing twists that build to one grand conclusion.
There are some downsides to the messiness.
There may be a time, Gadsby says, that they lose the struggle and become a bad apple.
Youll be able to separate later me from my earlier art.
Draw a line, call me a cunt.
you’re free to do it.
There may be a time, but it hasnt happened yet.
Woof!is at the Abrons Arts Center through October 27.
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