Hannah Gadsby : Nanette, Assembly George Square Studios, Edinburgh Fringe

Conventional wisdom says that nothing should be off limits when it comes to comedy, that there's always a laugh in there somewhere.  Gadsby's show challenges that aphorism, suggesting that some stuff just isn't funny any more.  To the point where this will be her final show and an end to her stand up career.  I can only hope that was part of the joke, because she has so much of value still to say.

Nanette is a real person, but she exists here only as a symptom of the truths Gadsby wants to open up to us.  The initial pace is slow, almost faltering, and you wonder if her heart isn't in it.  She starts to deconstruct her own job, explaining the relationship of the build up of tension, and delivering the punchline that provides the release of laughter.  And that she is, as she tells us, still a "funny fucker" - when she wants to be.  The laughs are certainly there, but as the show goes on it's the tension that dominates, and the lessons it carries.

Growing up as a lesbian in straight laced, bible bashing, small town Tasmania gives her plenty of examples of the abuse people receive when they are seen as "different" and not just "people" when faiths or ideologies or, most insidiously, social conditioning allows them to be treated as such.  Gadsby is angry, most deservedly so, and her fury is clear to see.  Bigotry, conscious and unconscious, damages people, damages children.  She uses her Fine Art background to show how the stories we're told about the world have been shaped by the powerful, notably the Straight White Male.  Gadsby has her power to create tension bring a brief taste to her audience of what it's like to be "other" in a society which doesn't value you.

It might not always be funny, it can often be uncomfortable viewing, but it is important, and it will stay with you long after any conventional stand up has faded.  This has to be one of the best offerings of the 2017 Fringe.

Hannah Gadsby : Nanette is on in Assembly George Square Studios at 17.30 until 27 August.

My review should end there, but I have a confession to make.  As the strength of her arguments unfolded I found myself thinking that this show would probably never be seen by those who probably need it most.  Then realised that I am one of those people.  We all are.