After bearing personal trauma in the 2018 breakout, Gadsby proves to still be funny, with crack timing.

| Jun 2, 2023

Something Special is just a good night in on the couch. Just the way Gadsby likes it.

| May 24, 2023

It's a bit of a departure, but one that in no way takes away from the analytical skill and storytelling prowess they're known for.

| May 17, 2023

The comic is perkier and more physical in performance than we've previously seen, while the show itself is less meta than previous hours -- but it nonetheless delivers a powerful comedic punch.

| Original Score: 4/5 | May 16, 2023

The basis for Something Special is Gadsby’s 2021 marriage to their producer Jenney Shamash, who they affectionately call Jenno throughout the show.

| May 12, 2023

Something Special looks, sounds, and feels nothing like Nanette and Douglas and yet that proves to be Gadsby’s calling card -- simply because it isn’t just a case of the comedian’s growth. Instead, it makes a case for the comedian’s regrowth.

| May 12, 2023

Gadsby is moving the conversation forward on LGBTQ rights without ever having to directly address Chappelle or Gervais by name.

| May 12, 2023

Things are very different to when we saw them last, but Gadsby remains the comedic raconteur of the moment.

| May 10, 2023

The new special charms as an affecting queer love story and slice of life on the spectrum, but what it’s best at is threading a long, involved yarn where tiny, offhand details turn out to be seeds for a plot twist soon to sprout.

| May 9, 2023

No one can expect Gadsby to suffer for their art in perpetuity... But pretty soon I found myself wondering ... if the opposite of Nannette’s room-silencing truth bombs necessarily needs to be a pretty stock-standard, if amiably enjoyable, stand-up hour?

| May 9, 2023

The result is a special that’s frothy, almost to a fault. The frequent twee-ness can be grating, but the jokes are funny enough to counteract the overly cutesy bits.

| Original Score: 7.9/10 | May 8, 2023

Gadsby's shows, including the newest production, "Something Special," feel like a separate class of comedy -- almost literary.

| May 5, 2023

The problems seem rooted in distrust of the material: Where Gadsby should be deadpan, the performer is anything but; an appreciative grin accompanies each gag line, not waiting for the expected laugh and thus extorting the audience into giving one up.

| May 5, 2023

It may be a less revolutionary kind of vulnerability than we saw in Nanette. But it’s nice to see Gadsby reveling in something of a happy ending. Or, if not a happy ending, a happy middle of the story.

| May 4, 2023