A long time coming
I first interviewed Tig Notaro back in 2009 before her first Bentzen Ball, a comedy festival she curated with Brightest Young Things in D.C.
But we didn’t actually talk then. Merely exchanged emails. I sent questions. She sent back answers. When I saw her again six years later, at SXSW 2015 in Austin, I anxiously approached her outside after a screening of her documentary road movie, Knock Knock, It’s Tig Notaro. Word had gotten out that Tig was releasing her own record label that March, with Aparna Nancherla the first to set her stand-up to tape for Tig’s Bentzen Ball Records. I wanted to talk to Tig. Everyone did that year. She politely declined my interview request. It wouldn’t be until last Tuesday that I’d finally connect with Tig, over Zoom, to talk. Even then, the fine folks at HBO said Tig only had 15 minutes to spare as part of her promotional duties for Drawn, her animated stand-up special which premiered July 24. So I had to take six years of questions and figure out which ones to ask without wasting my time, Tig’s time, or yours. I ended up getting 20 minutes with Tig, and the results were about as great as I could’ve expected.
She opened up about what it was like performing for years as a favorite for Sarah Silverman, yet remaining a “comic’s comic,” as it were, until August 2012, when at 41 years old, her LIVE set at Largo suddenly let everyone into her world. And without naming names once more, Tig talked with me about trying to deal with the bad actors in comedy, show business and life, and what lessons from her life we might be able to learn from. I hope you enjoy our chat as much as I did.
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Sean L. McCarthy: So, Tig, first off, congratulations. I know today it was just announced, you’re also going to be in a new film for Netflix. So congrats on that.
Tig Notaro: Thank you.
Me: But we’re here to talk about Drawn, which is your new animated special for HBO. And I counted at least 11 different animated renditions of you in the special.
Tig: Oh, wow.
Me: Which of them do you think captures you the best? Are there ones that you identify more with when you when you watch it?
Tig: I mean, I, you know, I think I fall into those segments of the special and just connect with each one as they’re playing where I can kind of feel and see myself as it’s, you know, in front of my eyes, but probably, you know, the version of me that’s onstage at Largo. Because there’s so many of my face expressions and body movements, and I really was kind of shocked that that they were there. They are.
Me: You also get to have the fun thing of having your facial expressions and voice sometimes thrown into the audience.
Tig: Yes. Yeah. I mean, it’s really. I think I just can, because I’ve been on this project for so long I do genuinely connect with so all the different pieces.
Me: It’s also funny, that for you in 2021, like, you became a huge, like, viral meme, thanks to your participation in Army of the Dead. And then Drawn is like a reverse of that whole process. Because Army of the Dead, they put you all in post production, and then Drawn, they did it all the other way around.
Tig: Exactly. Yeah. It’s like when will When will I just be me?
Me: Well, that’s something if we want to turn this into a therapy session, we can. But when did you decide that you wanted to do drawn as an animated project instead of just a straight special from Largo?
Tig: Well, it’s material that I had considered releasing as an album. And it’s material that I did about four years ago. In fact, the Jenny Slate story came up onstage because, and this how I know it was four years ago, because I was talking about being officially in remission from cancer, which is why I started talking about that Jenny Slate story, and I was reminiscing about everything that she went through, while I was going through that, and the annoyance of just checking in on me or wanting to follow up to have tea, and then she got sucked into this hell. So anyway, you know, five years is when you’re officially in remission from cancer, which is what was the case four years ago. And, and so, the material, again, I considered releasing as an album, but over the years on different TV shows or websites, my material has been animated. And it’s been so fun to see and, and Greg Franklin, who directed this, he and I were going to work together well over a decade ago at this point, and he was going to animate my comedy back then. But I didn’t have a network or studio behind me at the time. So I couldn’t make sense out of paying that much money, just to put something online that I thought was cool or interesting. Because it’s expensive to do animation. So we parted ways. And then we reconnected for this special, and he directed it, and I think did a phenomenal job. And so it just seemed like a cool thing to do, rather than just to put it out as an album, whereas I could animate it AND put it out as an album. And then I could be still on track to potentially deliver another stand-up special that I’ve been working on that has more recent material in it.
Me: Not that that ever matters to you, as you joke about in Drawn there’s a moment where you go, you readily confess, I don’t care if my material is relevant.
Tig: Exactly. Which is, you know, it’s the, the Kool-Aid man, yes. Commercials from my childhood. And then even my, my wisdom tooth story is from probably 25 years ago. But it’s a story that I tell people. And then I thought, why don’t I just start telling this onstage? And then it ended up becoming one of people’s favorite stories of mine that I told onstage. And so yeah, I just, I’m all about putting out there, whatever, whatever I want or whatever feels right. And so there you go.
Me: Well, that also kind of ties in neatly with the web series you’ve been doing called “Under A Rock.” Because you’re not tied to what the kids are talking about. You’re in your own world.
Tig: Yes, yeah, I come out of the world every now and then. But I am stunned how people keep up with everything. I’ve wanted to pitch a show where I spend a day in the life with somebody who is always connected to what’s going on in social media, just to see what that feels like. And then make them spend a day in the life with me, and not connected to TV shows and social media constantly. And see what it feels like for them.
Me: One of the other pluses about turning Drawn into an animated special is that you actually do get to use Dolly Parton in it, which is nice. It’s not quite like having the Indigo Girls, but it’s got to be close. Right?
Tig: Well, the fact that either Dolly or her manager, or whoever it was, I know her manager was dealing with us about this special. And it’s my understanding that Dolly OK’d this to be in the special, the song and her likeness. And her manager seemed really into it. So I like to pretend like she really does have an awareness and, and that makes me very happy because she makes me very happy.
Me: And in the pandemic, we realize how much she makes all of us happy.
Tig: Yes.
Me: So that’s one nice thing we still have about America.
Tig: Yeah.
Me: If I can get back to 2015 for just a second. I’m still amazed that in that year alone, you had projects on HBO, Showtime, Netflix, and Amazon. I don’t know that. It’s like the Grand Slam of Comedy.
Tig: (laughs) Yeah, it was a busy time. It was a very good time.
Me: And they were all different. You know? You had Knock Knock, It’s Tig Notaro, the road movie with with Jon Dore. Which I loved. I love that so much. Even when I first saw it at South by Southwest. And then you have you know, the the straightahead HBO special, Boyish Girl Interrupted. Then Netflix did their documentary on you (Tig). And then that’s when you also were starting One Mississippi. So is there one project out of those four that you can go back to and really like, find that this captures what that period was for you more than the other three?
Tig: Um, I would say…
Me: You don’t have to say HBO just because HBO is on the call!
Tig: (laughs) Um, well, yeah, I would say Knock Knock would not be it because I feel like that was just me trying to have fun and find my voice and my footing onstage again. You’re saying which project really kind of solidifies that time period?
Me: Yeah. If you were to go back and watch any of the four now.
Tig: I mean, probably the documentary on Netflix. Yeah. Stephanie and I watched that together recently for my documentary podcast with Cheryl Hines. And we hadn’t watched that documentary since it came out. And it was real. I mean, why would we? But it was so…it was really jarring and crazy to watch.
Me: You know, the story you tell with Jenny Slate in Drawn gives you a chance to kind of recap for people who haven’t been obsessively following your life and career all of the all of the the trials and tribulations you went through in your 40s. But as a fellow member of the class of 1971, like, I just I think about, like the idea of, of achieving success once you hit your 40s or later, and I wonder, you know, now that you can look back on that part of your life, like, what was it like, when you were in your 20s and 30s trying to make it in comedy? And, you know, you had Sarah Silverman, every time she was on late-night TV, she would sing your praises, but what was it like in those kind of leaner years?
Tig: I think that, in my leaner years, it was probably… you know, when I had any support from people like Sarah, or Cheryl Hines, or whoever, whoever it was at the time that that I knew back then that supported me, it was such a curveball bonus that I got, because I have had such an odd entry to this industry in that I didn’t start doing stand-up to get anything out of it, I really was just doing it because I loved it. I didn’t move to Los Angeles to break into the business and so it was always interesting and surprising when I caught people’s attention. And then I think it was kind of an ignorance is bliss type thing, where I, I was just doing what I was doing. And then it wasn’t until I was probably 30-31, something like that, that I mean, I guess that’s the time period you’re asking about, but I’m just thinking about the earlier days, like, in my mid to late 20s, that I, I just had this just kind of, I almost felt detached from what I was doing. Although I felt very connected to what I was doing, I was detached to what it’s supposed to be or why you’re doing it, or what your end goal is. And then I reached a point where I thought, you know, I might as well take this seriously, I seem to be doing OK in it. And although I started wanting more for myself and my career, and my comedy and growth all-around, I still didn’t feel like I had the pressure on me because I also feel like I was made to believe that being a low-key woman or whatever, wasn’t really what the world was looking for. So, I probably didn’t have very big aspirations. I just wanted to make people laugh and enjoy what I was doing. And so it just has kind of caught up in this time where it’s surprising that, wow, I’m still doing that same thing. And now, people seem to want a special or put me in an action film. And it wasn’t anything I was aiming for. It was, of course, like if I could have a special, great! I just didn’t think it was in the cards for me, but it wasn’t going to stop me from doing comedy or enjoying that.
Me: Right the world came around to your way of thinking instead of you trying to pressure yourself to be something you weren’t.
Tig: Yeah, it did, and I never, I don’t know, I really, for better or worse. I just always enjoyed what I was doing. I never felt like, I’m not getting anything or were, why? Why not me? Or, and I’m not saying I should I probably should have been. But I just wasn’t. I was just like, Ah, you know, I’m a low-key woman or lesbian and that’s not what the world wants, but it’s what I am, and oh, well and I’m just gonna keep doing what I do. And it’s turned out all right.
Me: It has turned out all right. It gives me hope. It gives me joy. Because, you know, there’s so many comedians that I’ve talked to over the years that are THE COMPLETE REVERSE OF THAT, where they get so sucked into comparing themselves with everybody else and feeling like it’s a rat race. And if they get this thing, then that means that I don’t get it. And that can be such an isolating experience.
Tig: Mm hmm. Yeah.
Me: When stand-up is supposed to be all about making people laugh.
Tig: I know, it gets so complicated for different people for different reasons, at different times in their lives or careers. I mean, I’ve certainly fallen into, you know, with things, with becoming more successful, I’ve become more entangled in the sometimes more complicated or negative side of the business, or, you know, comedy, whatever it is. And I’m always trying to redirect my ship and head in the other way, when I run into someone or something where I’m like, this is the worst. Or they’re the worst, give me the hell out of here.
Me: Yeah, I know what I know what you’re saying. And I also know what you’re talking about. But thankfully, I don’t have to ask you any of those questions. Instead. Because we can move past that. And we can, you know, hopefully grow as a society and as a comedy community. I don’t know that we’ve turned a corner just yet. But we’re making strides, don’t you think?
Tig: I think so. For sure. I think that there is there’s a lot of elements, and there’s a lot of people. And it’s not just the obvious people, or the obvious issues. But I think a lot of people need to get in touch with what their true intentions are. And that’s my feeling. And I think that goes across the board, just whether it’s comedy or life or whatever, you just need, if who you’re dealing with, or the people you’re dealing with, don’t have the right intentions or don’t align with yours, you need to redirect your ship. And I feel like I’m on that constant redirecting of my course.
Me: I think that’s a good policy for everyone to have. Both in continuing to adapt and redirect. And also because, you know, as you’re talking, it reminds me that the comedy industry is just a microcosm of what’s happening in our regular business world in our political world.
Tig: Oh, yeah. It’s mimicking it. Like, it’s alarming how much the comedy world mimics the world and the political world. And yes, it’s, it’s alarming.
Me: Well, I’ll leave you and us on a lighter note. If you could only keep one of these two noises in your act, the stool noise or your horn noise? Which noise would you hold on to?
Tig: Um, probably my horn noise just because it’s so right there. Although I do love driving people insane with the stool noise, it’s close to my heart to run people off and lure them back and run them off and lure them back.
Me: Well, I agree the horn noise also because you don’t need the stool for the horn noise.
Tig: No, you can be anywhere. You can be on your deathbed. And I hope that that’s the last thing I say before I die.
Me: Well, thank you for that exclusive Tig. And thank you for doing this once again. I really appreciate it.
Tig: Thank you.
From The Comic's Comic 
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