TV review: Nina G: Stutterer Interrupted

Image

The U.S. stand-up comedian Nina G has landed her own TV special on Amazon Prime, covering everything from stammering to body image. Rob Coe from the Cambridge Stammering Self-help Group gives us his review.

*Note: as it's one for the adults, expect a bit of fruity language…

"I often get told that stuttering isn't a real disability," explains the boisterous comedian in a leopard-print dress. "I tell them if you look at the definition of what a disability is, it's a physical and emotional impairment that substantially results in having to deal with assholes". 

Cue whoops and applause in recognition of San Francisco's irreplaceable stand-up performer and stammering activist Nina G in the new documentary-cum-biography that premiered worldwide on Amazon Prime on 2nd September.

Nina first came to attention with her 2019 book Stutterer Interrupted and, in a co-operation with fellow stammerer and filmmaker Gina Chin-Davis, she has released a TV special of the same name revolving around one of her trademark comedy routines.

Cutting edge and risqué, Nina doesn't hold back in her opinions of people who judge her because of her stammer, but also analyses her own life: an Italian-American Catholic background, sexual exploration, body image and the silliness she encounters loosely based around her stammer, but definitely not as the main theme. "The main challenge isn't stuttering," she says. "It's to be funny".

I found myself nodding in agreement at times, clapping my hands at the absurdities of society's attitudes to stammering and laughing out loud at the jokes.

Between the live stand -up sections, interviews focus on Nina's personal journey and reveal that she had wanted to do comedy since the age of 12 but didn't think it was possible to be a comedian with a stammer. "People like me weren't on TV," which is still essentially true, but her dream was re-ignited by her support worker at high school.

During a child development class, Nina read a story to first graders and spontaneously started using comedy voices and making hand puppet gestures, captivating her young audience. Wandering into the classroom, her support worker couldn't believe how animated Nina had become and told her she had just performed an unscripted stand-up routine. The penny dropped and Nina was soon appearing on stages across the Bay Area, which led to daytime TV appearances, TED talks and podcasts.

On the collaboration with Chin-Davis, Nina says, "This has to the first special by a stutterer and directed by a stutterer, and that helps with the authenticity". And it does. I found myself nodding in agreement at times, clapping my hands at the absurdities of society's attitudes to stammering and laughing out loud at the jokes.

Nina addresses the origins of stuttering: stammerers talk with a different part of the brain and that's why when you speak with an accent or a funny voice, you don't stammer. "That's why I could prank phone call my friends in the '80s and they would never know it was me," she confessed.

The stigma that people with disabilities often face is also addressed. "As soon as someone meets you, they suddenly have a PhD in whatever disability you have," she jokes (yes, this writer has been told to slow down and breathe many times too!). 

Nina has also been told about some wacky 'cures' by members of the audience, including one lady who said her friend had found true love and so doesn't stammer any more. 

This TV special is more than just a stand-up show. It highlights the shared experiences of the stammering star and the director. Nina and Chin-Davis show the viewer a fresh and often unseen perspective, blending powerful insights with wit and candid humour. 

And a final one for the adults: "Stuttering and orgasms do have a lot in common; because if the other person would just shut up and stop interrupting me, I'd finish a lot faster".

Nina G: Stutterer Interrupted is free to watch with an Amazon Prime subscription. Watch the trailer below. Visit her website ninagcomedian.com for more details.

You can also read the article Nina wrote for our Your Voice section.

Read more Reviews.