Over the past two years, Tig Notaro has gone from well-respected but slightly under the radar comic to one of the most celebrated stand-ups in the country. The comedian’s swell in popularity follows an August 2012 set at Largo in Los Angeles during which she described—with humor and poignancy—the traumatic events that surrounded that moment of her life. Her mother had died suddenly, she had ended a long term relationship and, to top it all off, she had just been diagnosed with breast cancer.
The set was celebrated as one of the best in history by comedic heavyweights like Bill Burr and Louis C.K. Louis would go on to help Tig release it as an album, appropriately titled Live. But just as Tig’s comedy didn’t begin during that fateful set at Largo, it also didn’t end there. Her health now improved, Tig has continued to work tirelessly and brilliantly and Knock Knock, It’s Tig Notaro—a Showtime comedy special that follows her as she does a nationwide comedy tour of her fans’ homes—debuts Friday, April 19.
A few weeks ago, I spoke to Tig about her upcoming project, her last two years and how she keeps comedy so fresh and exciting. Yes, I’m a huge Tig Notaro fan and yes, this was a very big deal for me.
Jezebel: So one thing that was very cool and interesting about your Showtime special Knock Knock, It’s Tig Notaro is that you’re at a point in your career when you can definitely sell out very large venues, but instead you decided to go in the opposite direction and do what is basically a tour of your fans’ living rooms. Why did you choose to do something more intimate instead of something bigger and flashier?
Tig Notaro: I’ve done these living room tours several times over the years and it was something that I’ve really wanted to release for a long time. I’ve talked to different production companies and networks that were interested in doing it, but it never came to fruition. I pitched it to Showtime as a TV series and they bought it as a special. I feel really excited to finally see this passion project come to fruition. So, yeah.
I watch a lot of comedy specials and their format gets pretty repetitive so it was fun to see that get broken up a little bit.
Oh, well, good. Yeah, like I said, it’s something I wanted to do for a long time and I guess to me it seems like I could do big venues anytime, if I wanted to.
This is reaching back a ways, but I remember listening to a Marc Maron interview you did several years ago and in it you were talking about how, as a female comic, you really reject the idea of a “safe room” because comedians should always be challenging themselves. You express a similar sentiment in your special and I’m wondering how performing in these so-called unsafe spaces has informed your style as a stand-up.
I think that it’s no mistake that a set—a comedy set—is called a routine. Because it really does become routine. And so it’s always good, as a stand-up, to be writing new material, but it’s not just that. There’s something so routine about going into a club and doing the one hour show you’ve done for the past year or two. It’s just mind-numbing, and that’s why I feel like you have to keep yourself electrified as a performer. I’m sure there’s ways of doing that without going into people’s living rooms—I’m really drawn to different uncomfortable experiences.
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