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- [00:01]
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- [00:38]
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- [01:17]
Jesse David Fox
Hello and welcome to Good One, a podcast about jokes. I'm your host Jesse David Fox. Each episode, the guest plays a clip of one of their jokes and discusses how and why they came up with it. This week's guest is Tig Notaro, one of the great standoff ups, period, like, of all time. Every special, including this year's hello Again, available now on Prime Video, just has something ambitious and unique in it like few people really trying with their specials. Tig is also an actor, co writer and co director of the new film Am I okay with her wife, Stephanie Allen, and co host of the Handsome podcast with May Martin and Fortune Feimster, both of which have been past guests on this very podcast. Tig has also been on this podcast twice. In fact, as a result, we're going to try something different this time around, something we're calling a joke superlatives. Instead of one joke and the story behind it, we're going to go through a whole bunch that fit into fun categories like the joke that bombed the most before working and silliest joke. Look, it's fun and rules and I think you're really going to like it. So here is Tig Notaro.
- [02:29]
Tig Notaro
I am here with Tic Notaro. Thank you for joining me.
- [02:31]
Thanks for having me.
- [02:32]
So the first one is the first joke that you felt like this is a Tig Notaro joke.
- [02:39]
I feel like probably on my Good One album there's a joke about an infant like me being mature for my age and I'm like, oh, you know, in fact, I used to Take showers as an infant. I don't know. It took a while for that to work out, but it felt like.
- [03:11]
Nothing makes me happier than an infant taking a shower. Unless there were twins or like a group shower at like an orphanage. Just like 50 filthy orphans trying to balance with their fat, fat thighs and stupid little 1 inch feet. That's such a poor design to have fat, fat thighs and stupid little 1 inch feet.
- [03:38]
Yeah, I don't know if I was doing anything terribly. Yeah, maybe it was a little more observational, whereas this is a version of observational, but it's also absolutely ridiculous. And so maybe that's where it crosses over to something else. But this is just so dumb because I remember acting out and the awkward, wobbly unstableness of an infant trying to take a shower, which is something I would love still to this day to walk in on. I have two boys that will be eight in a couple of weeks and neither took a shower as an infant. So I missed my chance.
- [04:25]
Is there a joke that you regret?
- [04:35]
I don't know if there's a joke I regret, but there are certainly jokes that are. It's that tricky area of comedy where I remember I made a joke, I don't know if it was my Comedy Central special, but where I said, I've been battling sids my whole life. And that was just something that crossed my mind when I was talking about struggling through my entire childhood, just, just struggling to be alive as people go through just trauma, trauma, life, life, life. And it was just something I said off the cuff. And I got, you know, some pushback from people that like, oh, I lost my child and this isn't funny. And. And that's where you can't defend yourself or explain like, of course, God, I cannot. Even before I had my own children, nothing about a child dying is funny to me. It wasn't even having kids. It was like having the immediate compassion of like, oh, right, I was just in my 20s writing jokes and not thinking beyond my nose. So, yeah, it didn't take me anything longer than having feedback from people that. That's. That's rough.
- [06:10]
What is a joke that eventually worked but bombed the most on its journey to working?
- [06:16]
My Taylor Dane.
- [06:20]
I love Taylor Dane. So I went back into the party and I went up to her and I said, excuse me, I'm sorry to bother you, but I just have to tell you, I love your voice. And she just turned and said, yeah, I don't do that anymore. Then I looked over and this other friend of mine was doubled over laughing at me. She was like, yeah, you just got dissed by Taylor dane. Didn't feel great. So I left the party. Then like nine months passed and I happened to be out to eat with that same friend of mine, pam. There was a party of 10 seated right behind us. You guys are not going to believe who is sitting there. Any guesses? Just think about.
- [07:30]
What's that?
- [07:32]
That's correct. It was Taylor dane. Pam said, oh my gosh, you have to say something to her. And I said, no question, because I still love Taylor dane. But I didn't know what to say to her. And then I realized the best thing that I could say to Taylor dane would be the exact same sentence that I said the first time. So I turned around and I interrupted her entire dinner and I said, excuse me, sorry to bother you but I just have to tell you, I love your voice. And she said, my speaking voice? And I said yes.
- [08:53]
I mean, that used to be over 20 minutes long. And I remember being at the moore theater in seattle and just it wasn't fully fleshed out. It wasn't. I hadn't found the beats of any of it. The setup was so long. I was fumbling through a long setup of no jokes and there's this setting.
- [09:21]
Up who she was or setting up just how you.
- [09:24]
I don't even remember. It's so long ago. But I just remember being up there in front of whatever a thousand, two thousand people and feeling like, oh, right, this has not worked out. And I have a long way to go still. A long way. That was the longest, to this day, the longest story I've ever told on stage. And it's now whittled down, I think to 13 or 14 minutes. I almost ditched it because I thought this must be a you had to be there kind of story.
- [09:58]
You had to be there each time.
- [09:59]
You had to always keep coming back to keep being there.
- [10:03]
What made you stick with it?
- [10:05]
I just didn't lose faith in it. I kept going back to this is funny. When I do share it with people casually, it does get such a great response. But I just. I mean, there are plenty of things I've ditched and it's interesting to think where it could have gone.
- [10:26]
Do you have like the one that got away of jokes?
- [10:29]
I try it every now and then. There's. There's a story that I go back to here and there and it's about a very, very well known legendary person in the comedy world who I paid for so long ago. And it was a pilot for hbo. And there was a green screen in the background. My job was to. He was in one of those kind of green screen suits that captures your movement. And there was this heavy cord that was attached to his helmet. And my job was to jump around like a little elf behind him. And I had to kind of guess where he was going to go. So it didn't tug on him at all. And who has that expertise? You know, I certainly didn't at 26 or 27, but I was doing it. And he would turn and scream at me. Any slight tug, he would just berate me in front of everybody. It was so humiliating. First of all, the job I was doing, and second of all, to be yell at. And I was, you know, 20, 30 year. I don't even almost 30 years ago. And then years later, he reached out to my manager saying he was a fan, so he clearly didn't know I was the pa. And he was like, I bought tickets to Tig's show. I would love to say hello after. And I told my manager, I was like, do not let him. I was like, I'm just gonna leave. And then it kept happening. He kept reaching out, saying, my wife and I have bought tickets. We would love to meet Tig. We are big fans. And I was like, oh, my God, I don't want to. There's no way I could just bite my lip and be like, oh, so nice to meet you. I know I would be. I would say, hi. I have to say we do have a history. Here is what happened. I don't want to fight or anything, but this did happen. And I just want to say something about it, but I didn't want to get into that because I was like, I just want to move on. And then I was talking to a director that I was working with in New Orleans and she said, I was invited to, and this is a very well known woman, to her house for a dinner party and do you want to join me? And I was like, sure. And I had just been telling the director about what do I do? This guy keeps reaching out to meet me because I said, I think I want to write him an email just to clear the air. She said, write the email, but don't send it until I can read it. I was like, I write the email. We go to this dinner party. It's maybe 10 people at a big table. There's one empty seat. It's across from me. This is in New Orleans. Okay. I've been performing in la. And that's where he Was nobody sits in this seat the entire dinner. At the very end of the night, he walks into the house, sits in the chair across from me, and I'm thinking, okay, now I have to have this awkward exchange of looks. He didn't look at me. And I was like, whoa, curve ball. He is not looking at. He's right across from me. Everyone gets up, hangs out at the party at the very end of the night, Stephanie and I and the director, and we're all like, oh, my God, he is. We were all nudging each other under the table. Oh, my God. And completely avoided each other. Ten people didn't talk, look at each other the whole night. She's sitting in her office behind a desk, just hanging out in her office while people are kind of mingling here and there.
- [14:44]
This is the famous person, the other.
- [14:46]
Famous person who owns the house in New Orleans, and. And Stephanie, the director and myself, we walk in to say we're like, hey, thank you so much for having us, and, you know, we're gonna take off. He walks into the office, not rudely interrupts us, but he just kind of says, oh, I'm leaving. We're all kind of simultaneously saying that. And he turns to me, and he just says, good night, Tig, and he walks out. I have not ever worked that out on stage, but it is a crazy thing.
- [15:31]
Question one. Has that person come to another one of your shows?
- [15:34]
No.
- [15:35]
And that person is not gonna say, do you say it when you do the bit?
- [15:40]
No, I open it up for guesses, and it becomes a little fun moment.
- [15:47]
What do you think is the funniest joke or part of Liv, to preface this, I feel like that set. Set, obviously, has been talked about almost more than almost any set in the history of comedy. But, like, I feel like people talk about all the things you did, but they didn't talk about, like, you were being funny the entire time.
- [16:04]
I think. I think the funniest, which is, of course, makes sense and as crazy is the survey, my mother's survey, because it was a gut punch to get that survey when I was in the depths of my grief losing my mother. You know, her death was very unexpected. And to lose your mother and then two days later get a survey asking how your stay in the hospital went. I was so mad. I was so hurt. I was just deeply, deeply upset. I wanted to talk to everybody at this hospital and every other person at every other hospital. This cannot ever happen. I never imagined that that would ever become any part of my comedy, much less have my Brother and stepfather commend me on how funny that was. I just. I couldn't even believe that something like that would land where it did.
- [17:15]
What happened was, after we buried her in our hometown in Mississippi, we drove back to Texas, and I was checking the mail, and the hospital sent my mother a questionnaire to see how her stay at the hospital went. Not.
- [17:54]
Not great.
- [17:57]
Did not go great. But, yeah, that seems reasonable.
- [18:02]
That goes back to that thing of time and space from the tragedy. And then you look at it through a different lens, and all of a sudden you're like, oh, my God. It kind of that same feeling of when you're so heartbroken over something and somebody just rips your heart out, and then years later, the feeling towards that person is, oh, my God, I can't believe they wrecked. You know, no offense to them, but I really. I cannot believe I was leveled. And that's, I guess, not a perfect example because obviously it's my mother.
- [18:46]
Yeah.
- [18:46]
But it's still that distance that you have, and you look back and you're like, oh, my God, this is insane.
- [18:54]
Well, also, that it was a survey.
- [18:56]
Yeah.
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That what leveled you? That what got you so angry was a survey.
- [19:01]
Yeah.
- [19:02]
Can you still remember doing it or, like, you're like, time to do that. And, like, do you have any memory of the reaction? I feel like, you know, you say you don't listen back to that set and no, I don't remember when you did it and what it was like to get laughs from it.
- [19:16]
I mean, that whole night was a shock that I was getting laughs because I was truly so down and out, and I didn't have a lot of faith in my ability to make any of that funny or faith in anything truly. Which I always think about how, you know, people try to prepare for events or shows or life, and it's like, gotta be in a good headspace. Eat a healthy meal. I exercise. I got a lot of sleep. Meanwhile, I went on stage. My pants were falling off, and that's no exaggeration, my underwear was falling off. I was so malnourished. I was so sick. I was struggling. I was devastated and had no faith in myself. And it still went off. And that's where you go, what? Like, why? Why did that tee up okay? Yeah, I didn't have a good night's sleep. I didn't have. I couldn't eat food. Hadn't eaten food in a long time.
- [20:24]
You know, and it was like. I guess it's a fight or flight thing of, like, I'm on stage, I guess like funny is what I do when I'm here.
- [20:33]
Yeah. And. And we'll see. But I. I think I was shocked that that went well. I think I was shocked that any part of it went well.
- [20:43]
Yeah.
- [20:44]
Number four, suggestions for improvements. Such as should we stop sending questionnaires to dead people?
- [20:59]
You know, I don't listen. I mean, maybe people do sit around and listen to their albums or watch their specials. I can't think of anything worse. And it's not because I am self loathing. It's just not interesting to me. I've done it the material enough. And when I. I really don't listen to that one and people think it's that I don't live listen to Liv because it was such a hard period of time for me. But it's more so, you know, it just was. I always say it was like a 20 or 30. I don't remember how long the show is, but it's like an open mic and so I really don't want to listen to.
- [21:43]
Yeah, I imagine the disconnect between how far it reached and how fresh it was is hard to process.
- [21:50]
Yeah. And then it becomes an album. And when I do interview, when I was doing interviews, especially during that time period of promoting the album, they would do lead ins with material and I would take my headphones off and they'd be like, oh, I'm sorry, it must be hard. And I'm like, no, it's just that like it's such like it's not polished at all. And I'm glad people enjoy it. But I don't want to hear this.
- [22:18]
I want to ask you about the broad question is joke. The joke which meaning changed the most. But I want to ask you about the B joke, which is a joke you just had. And it's like the joke you're doing. And then it becomes this joke in this different context.
- [22:36]
I was driving here and there's a lot of traffic. My car hadn't moved in several minutes. I was just sitting there and my window was down and a bee flew past me. Do you have any idea how frustrating it is when a bee passes you in 5:00 traffic? And PS, what was the Bee doing taking the 405?
- [23:39]
Well, it's funny because that joke is one that always amused me but didn't really ever do well. And I think at that point in my career that was a joke that I wished would amuse people more because I thought it was so funny to have a bee pass me on the freeway when I was like, do I just do a regular joke? Like, what? And then that one was at the front of my mind because I loved it so much. Whether it's a good joke or not, it was such a fun moment to be sitting in barely moving traffic and see a bee pass me and be like, wow, I'm really gonna be late.
- [24:21]
That's so funny. It kills. I mean, it really. It kills on the setup. You go driving here today and people.
- [24:27]
Are like, oh, right, right, right. I go back into, like, stand up mode. Yeah, yeah, I forgot about that. But, yeah, it just. When I would try and stick it into a regular set, it just was like, okay.
- [24:43]
It just needed a longer setup.
- [24:44]
It just needed me to have cancer.
- [24:46]
Yeah, we've talked about it before, which is the time period directly after Liv was destabilizing in a lot of ways. Obviously, both personally and physically. You're going through a lot of things, but also artistically, because parts of you were losing control of how you're being defined as an artist. Do you remember the piece of material or the joke that you did that you felt like you were found, you refound who you were as a comedian. Like, it cleared up and you're like, oh, yeah, this is. This is what I'm following. Not this sort of idea of who I am.
- [25:22]
I don't remember a particular joke. I remember it was a show where I made a decision because I was. I was very scared when I was going to open mics and getting on shows and clubs, trying to do new material and struggling. Do I give the audience what they want, which is more dark material, or do I just talk about what I want? I just was so confused. And my first time out on the road, after everything, I was in Iowa, Iowa City, and I was backstage and I just made this decision of, like, I cannot get caught up in what people want from me, which is what Liv was, was. I have to do what feels right. And doing that material at Largo that night felt right. Just like in Iowa City, my audience had grown, and I was now in a theater. And I knew what they knew me from, but I knew what I was about to walk out and do was not going to be that. And I thought, I just have to trust that if they're a fan now, hopefully they'll stick with me. And I. You know, Iowa has remained a very special place to me because of that. Iowa City.
- [26:57]
Do you have a joke? This might be a hard one, but hopefully you have an answer, a joke that reminds you the Most of your mother, in terms of its humor.
- [27:07]
I mean, I guess things like the Adele. Adele was there. And. Yeah, no matter how famous anybody at this party was, all anybody cared about was Adele. And you would just hear the whole night like, there's Adele. Here she comes. I think Adele is going to sing next. She's going, oh, she's going over by the. She's by the stage. I think she's going on, here she comes. It's Adele. Adele, Adele. Adele. Adele. Adele out. And then she never sang. And I turned to Stephanie and I just said, I'll do it. I mean, my mother pranked me and my brother and my stepfather all the time, and her friends and my friends that would come over. There was always something, you know, a little weird or off. She wanted to see if people would notice or make people uncomfortable and have to say and call out what's there. And she really, I think, inspired my comfort in awkward situations. And. Yeah, so it's stuff like being like, I don't care. I'll go do that. I'll go sing an Adele song with the worst voice in the world. Hell up from the other side.
- [28:48]
At.
- [28:48]
Least I can see that. I try tell you I'm so. I mean, it's interesting because the ending bit about Adele's hello. It was a real struggle because when I was doing this live, I was actually performing with her singing, but we didn't have the rights to the song. So it's a very different ending than it normally was on tour. And I feel like there was an even sillier vibe to it when I was actually playing along with her, which is how it really went, but it's still pretty silly.
- [29:35]
Did you try to get the rights and should give it, or is it too expensive?
- [29:37]
We tried to get the rights. Yeah. Yeah, we tried.
- [29:41]
Did she. And she said, no.
- [29:42]
There were so many different avenues that we went down, because I was even. What happened was I was in. I was performing at Largo, and the guy. And he writes and produces all of her stuff, he truly, after the show, busts in the green room door and is like, oh, my God, did you know I was here? And I'm like, who are you? And he said, oh. He said, I'm Adele's collaborator. I write her stuff and produce it. And he said, I thought you were doing that because you knew I was here. And I was like, no, I'm so confused right now. And he said, well, just so you know, if you ever want to use that song for anything, you know, I'm all good with it. And so he was my in. And it just. Everybody was trying to get in there to get the okay, but, you know, maybe she's not a fan.
- [30:43]
How did that go from a thing that happened to you to, like, this is. This is a thing I'm going to tell on stage, and this is the thing I'm going to close with.
- [30:51]
Well, I don't think I really planned ever. You know, when I really did that at that party, I wasn't thinking, oh, this is new material. I think that it just became something where I was running into. I think Olivia Munn talked about it when she hosted Ellen. People were talking about it, and I would have to kind of regularly repeat the story, and somehow it ended up on stage one night, and I was at Largo, and there was a piano there, and I just reenacted it, and it went so well, and it was so fun to sing along to her incredible voice. And so I just was like, oh, I'll just start doing this. And it just felt like something I couldn't really open with or put in the middle. So if I'm going to do this, I'm going to close.
- [31:48]
Also. All of your Putting Liv aside, your albums and your specials all end with music, I guess.
- [31:57]
Yeah, it's the tortured, wannabe musician in me.
- [32:05]
What was the. So taking into account licensing fees, but also, let's say, the cost of a piano or the cost of flying in. Dana. Go, girls. What was the most expensive closer?
- [32:20]
The most expensive closer was paying for the Rolling Stones.
- [32:25]
The next day, JD Brought in his.
- [32:28]
Dad'S Rolling Stones album, Let It Bleed.
- [32:31]
And I looked it over.
- [32:35]
And I picked this song and said, this is the coolest song on the album.
- [32:39]
And it was.
- [32:40]
You can't always get what you want.
- [32:42]
And he said, are you positive that.
- [32:44]
This is the best song, the coolest.
- [32:47]
Song on the album? I was like, man, I couldn't be more positive. Then the teacher asked if anyone had.
- [32:56]
Brought in their favorite song to play, and JD Raised his hand and she called on him.
- [33:03]
And that's when everybody in sixth grade.
- [33:08]
Heard the coolest kid in the entire school play this.
- [33:21]
JD Was like, what the hell is this? I was like, no, no, it gets better.
- [33:28]
Will you say how much it cost or a ballpark?
- [33:31]
I think it was like. I think it was a couple hundred thousand dollars. That's. Yeah.
- [33:40]
And Adele said no to the opportunity.
- [33:46]
I don't remember exactly how much it was. It was. It was definitely pricey, and it was something where I just thought this is worth it to me to do.
- [33:57]
Why can you walk me through the day where they said, here's the number, and then you going to yourself, okay, is this worth it?
- [34:05]
I just love that story. Even before I got into stand up, I just used to love telling that story of J.D. and he. He was just like all the girls liked him. He was so tough and cool. And it just really fills out the picture to play that music at the end of you can't always get what you want. Or at the beginning of you can't always get what you want. And just teeing up the cool, cool vibe of JD and it's like you have to hear, yeah, that music.
- [34:52]
I feel like there's an added bonus. Knowing how much it cost.
- [34:55]
I should have. You should have told the audience.
- [34:58]
So, you know, we're right back.
- [35:00]
Jesse David Fox
More Tignataro.
- [35:05]
Podcast Host
It's a new year. Maybe you're taking a month off from drinking, you know, dry January, and maybe you're replacing it with something else.
- [35:13]
Tig Notaro
Puff, puff, pass.
- [35:14]
Podcast Host
Something like one in five people who do dry January say they're smoking weed instead. And more Americans are now smoking weed daily than drinking daily. Current president is into it.
- [35:27]
Tig Notaro
No one should be in jail merely for using or possessing marijuana.
- [35:30]
Period.
- [35:31]
Podcast Host
Future president is into it.
- [35:32]
Tig Notaro
I've had friends and I've had others and doctors telling me that it's been absolutely amazing. The medical marijuana failed.
- [35:41]
Podcast Host
President and former prosecutor was down to clown.
- [35:44]
Tig Notaro
People shouldn't have to go to jail for smoking weed.
- [35:46]
Podcast Host
Even health conscious brain worm guy likes it.
- [35:49]
Tig Notaro
My position on marijuana is that it should be federally legalized.
- [35:54]
Podcast Host
Everyone's getting down with pot, but legislatively, we're still stuck with a hot mess in the United States today. Explained. Wherever you listen, come find us.
- [36:10]
Jesse David Fox
And we're back with Tig Notaro.
- [36:12]
Tig Notaro
I know your kids have seen Drawn and I know they saw you presented some.
- [36:18]
A vegan benefit.
- [36:19]
Vegan benefit.
- [36:20]
Well, I performed. I did a matinee show.
- [36:23]
Is there material of yours you're most excited to show them one day when they might actually appreciate it?
- [36:29]
I guess I'm very curious what they're gonna think about when I take my shirt off on hbo because in Boyish Girl Interrupted.
- [36:43]
Oh, my gosh, you guys are so nice.
- [36:47]
I have really been. Do not tempt me.
- [36:58]
I will do it. I will, I will. Guys, guys. No, of course I'm not gonna take my shirt off. On my special.
- [37:19]
People will say to me and me and Stephanie, my wife, they'll be like, oh, it's so Max and Finn. Are so lucky they have, you know, cool or funny parents or. Oh. Whenever people say that, I always think I'm the biggest hack in my house. Like, having kids, I. I am the hackiest comedian trying to make them laugh, you know, and a failure. Like, I do the most embarrassingly dumb thing to nothing. My son Max is drier than me. He is. Mark my words, he is a comedian. And they only. Only from watching drawn did they find out that I even had cancer. They had no clue. You know, they would see my body, and they had no questions about my scars. And it was just, that's my body. And I remember lying in bed the morning after they had watched drawn and they had a lot of questions about what cancer was and that I had it. And I remember them standing at my bedside, and I had been sleeping without a shirt on, and they were pointing at my scars, and they were like, and that is from cancer. And I was like, yeah. Because they now repeat my joke of me of the doctor throwing my boobs out into a dumpster and rats fighting over them and, you know, cars driving over. They think that's so funny. But they didn't know that I did have boobs ever. And so I guess I'm curious what they'll think, because they don't know I've taken my shirt off on stage. And my son Max is so modest that I wonder if he'll be like, oh, my God, who knows? I'm just. I'm curious.
- [39:25]
But to get back to the. When you took your shirt off, when you did it, what were you hoping for that. What did you feel like it achieved? And then. And then now, like, what would you hope your kids think about it?
- [39:36]
Well, when I first was told that I had to have a double mastectomy, I was so scared of what that was going to do to my body. Just, like, on a very surfacey level, what was I going to look like? And I googled all these images of double mastectomy scars, and I was like, oh, my God. Oh, my God. I was so freaked out. And it was really the moment that I realized that I actually liked my body and didn't want it to change. But. And I've talked about this. Like, after my surgery, it took me, I think, a week or so to even look down at my body. I was so. I was so upset. And then I got this feeling of, oh, my scars mean that I healed, and so I don't need to be scared of this. And this is actually great. I've healed and I don't have to be scared of this. And I think that also translated on stage, where I just wanted to show people that I'm okay, and if somebody's going through this, it's okay. But I also wanted to not lose touch with being a comedian. I wanted it to be funny. So that's why I went into what is typically considered hacky airplane humor.
- [41:07]
I'll tell you, I am afraid to.
- [41:10]
Fly, and I am sure, laugh all you want, but I. I thought, oh, this will be perfect. I'll just marry those two. And I just had faith in the audience that they would maybe be shocked, but also hope that they could just move on. And they did. I did it three times. I did it once at Largo. I did it once at Town Hall. I think I took my shirt off there. And then I did it in Boston for Boyish Girl Interrupted. So I did it three times.
- [41:50]
What sort of response did you get?
- [41:53]
Yeah, well, I remember when I did it at Largo, I had to catch up to where I. I knew. I really felt deep down when I took my shirt off, I felt a little insecure because I'm. I like Max, I'm also modest, so I'm not somebody that's going to just be taking off clothes. And, yeah, I was. I was definitely uncomfortable, but I did it. But it was also helpful. I remember Bo Burnham was there at my show performing, and he was like. He was like, whoa, my mind is blown. He was like, this is not just, like, about women or cancer. He was like, this is like, body image. He was like, this is about being comfortable with the human body. And I remember that really gave me more strength and power behind what I was doing. I was like, right, yeah. This goes everywhere. It doesn't matter who you are or what is going on. This is about just bodies. Yeah. And Town Hall. I walked out. I truly owe it to Beau. But I walked out with complete confidence then. And then I think the audience. I think. I think they stood up when I did that. And that gave me this feeling of, like, yeah, this is. This could go into my next special.
- [43:37]
Do you think of any of your material as, like, sneakily or secretly political?
- [43:43]
I mean, I guess it's not that sneaky, but in my latest special, hello again. I talk about when I'm getting adjusted at a chiropractor and she. When she's telling me that I might have to have back surgery and that I, you know, that I need to explain to my doctor all of my different accidents. And I talked about with her how my Kids are heavy and it hurts my back to pick them up. And she said, you know, tell the doctor about your accidents and that you're a mother. And then she paused and flaps her hand and says, or whatever. But it goes, the bit goes into the process that I went through of trying to understand what she meant by whatever. And she says, okay, well, if you do go meet with surgeons, just make sure that you mention your accidents and that you're a mother or whatever. And she kept talking and telling me the important information to tell the surgeon, but I was lying there thinking, a mother or flap, flap, whatever. I was, what does that mean? And so I didn't hear anything she said. And my brain just started going in all of these different directions and I was thinking, does she think I'm a man? And then I thought, oh, maybe she thinks I identify differently. Which just so you know, I just identify as a run of the mill, old fashioned lesbian.
- [45:24]
And I, I don't need a standing ovation.
- [45:28]
I, we're all something, and that's just what I am. And it's, it's essentially about she didn't. She, I know she did that because she didn't know how I identified. And there's so much around that discussion, and I'm coming from it from two different places. And one is in support of people being called what they want to be called. And then the other side is also. I knew she had good intentions and I knew she just froze. And I'm giving her grace there and I feel like people deserve and need a little grace. And then people also need and deserve what they want to be called. And one of my favorite things that my stepfather said, Stephanie's mother was dating this man who had a child that was transitioning. And, and my stepfather at the time, you know, he was like 70, living in a small town in Texas and certainly not running around with trans or non binary people. And so I was like, I just want to let you know that Jim's kid is coming and they're transitioning from female to male and will look and present like a lesbian, but goes by he and him. And this was before Transparent was on tv. And my stepfather just said, well, I'll call anybody whatever they want to be called. He had no follow up questions, he had nothing. He was just like, okay, yeah, that was the end of the story.
- [47:21]
It's interesting because when he put it that way, like the fireman joke, and.
- [47:26]
He said, that is not a problem. And he scooped me up in his arms and right then I was like, ho, ho. I could get used to this. Bada bing, bada boom. Right then I was like, oh, I get it now.
- [47:53]
If you think you're shocked, how do.
- [47:55]
You think I felt?
- [47:59]
It is not directly addressing anything, but it's all part of a sort of similar perspective on these things of, like, it's almost like a different version of, like, we can joke about this, but not from the perspective. We can joke about this in a way that hurts one group's feelings, but we can joke about it as, like, let's relieve the pressure of this, not by just hurting one people's feelings.
- [48:19]
Well, yeah, I think when. When I talk about the fireman story, I really want people to understand. I'm not kidding. I basically melted in this man's arms. Okay. And I was stunned to find that it felt so good to be held by a large, muscular man with a mustache. And. And. And I think it's important for people to understand that. You know, I feel like sometimes in the gay community, people are like, yeah, and accepting if somebody moves over to that quote, unquote side. And it's not that I've moved to another quote unquote side, but it's. It go. As I say in the special, it goes every which away every way. It's like, it can happen, and it does happen. And, you know, I'm staying with Stephanie, but, my gosh, was I attracted to that man while internally bleeding?
- [49:25]
Yeah.
- [49:25]
Yeah. I don't think I was his type.
- [49:29]
What is the longest time you pushed the stool for when you were working on that?
- [49:33]
So I was just curious what you.
- [49:35]
Guys would think if I pushed the stool here.
- [50:10]
Oh, my gosh. I pushed that real far in St. Paul, Minnesota. I started out on stage, and it was very up and down, as it always is, with the awkwardness of, oh, this is funny. And then it's, oh, it's not funny anymore, Tig. And, oh, my God, we're laughing again. And I pushed it off stage through, like, down the aisle, through the seating. And then I pushed it out the door of the venue, and everybody in the venue got up and followed me. And then I pushed it across the crosswalk, and there was traffic waiting, and people were on the side on the sidewalk cheering me on. Like, the venue was out there, like. And I'm sure the people in the cars were like, what in the hell is going on? And so there I was across the street from the venue where I was supposed to be performing with my stool, and the audience was on the other side of the sidewalk. So I don't know if you're talking about how far distance wise, like, distance wise or time, but it was. When I just do it on stage, it's too far and too long for most people.
- [51:34]
And did it start a medium length?
- [51:37]
Well, the way it started was I just moved the stool. Like, really? I moved the stool on stage in Seattle. That was where it was. The bit was born was I moved the stool to actually get it out of my way, and it made a funny noise, and I had been having a terrible set. And that was what they finally laughed at was the noise that the stool made. And I was like, oh, that's what you want? Okay, I'll push a stool around. And so I just kept pushing it. I think I was also frustrated because of the show I was having. And it was like, if you guys are laughing at this, I'll do this all night, and then I'm going to collect my money and get the hell out of town. Yeah. I think similarly to hello. When I was doing Adele's hello, it's like I kind of wanted to recreate that and see if I could, and then it. It just continued.
- [52:29]
Did you have doubters along the way?
- [52:31]
Yeah, I'm sure. I think they are still there. I mean, you shouldn't doubt it because it is so annoying, and it intermittently bombs. So, yeah, there's doubters.
- [52:45]
I feel like you've said that on the Conan. Producers weren't sure.
- [52:49]
No, it was just. It wasn't even. Well, maybe it was that they weren't sure, but it was JP Buck who. The producer that was booking comedians. And. And he was like, okay, so what do you want to do? And I was like, oh, I want to do this joke and this joke. And then I want to push a stool around the stage. And he was like, okay. He said, I. I trust you. He said, can I just. Do you have a set coming up where I can just come watch? I was like, yeah, sure. And so he came and watched me push his stool around the stage and then did it on the show. And then after that set was when I was driving home, my manager called and said, conan's office called, saying he wants you back as a regular. He loves you. And I think they had me back two nights later or a week later or something very quickly. And I was like, wow, that really did okay.
- [53:52]
What was the longest amount of time you spent introducing the Indigo Girls?
- [53:57]
Who here is like, I actually kind of think they might be here. Wait a minute. So you think.
- [54:14]
That I'm Going to.
- [54:15]
Do an entire set. I'm going to do my show, and.
- [54:20]
Then.
- [54:22]
The Indigo Girls are going to.
- [54:25]
Show up at the end and perform for you.
- [54:32]
You bet they are. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the Indigo Girl.
- [54:40]
It.
- [55:10]
Okay, who here is like, you know what? I came into this situation thinking they are not here.
- [55:21]
Now I'm like, I think they might be, but I don't know.
- [55:25]
You're on a bit of a roller coaster ride. Well, that's all about to end with no further ado, ladies and gen. No, Mitzi. No, no, no, no, ma'am. No, ma'am. That dog. That dog will do anything.
- [55:59]
Oh, at least a half hour. I mean, when I. For the. I mean, maybe long 45. I don't know. Because sometimes I stay on stage for an hour and a half.
- [56:11]
And so halfway through the set.
- [56:14]
Oh. And I'm like, salivating. I can't wait to get to it. I mean, it is one of the bits that I miss regularly. It brings me so much joy. And I know it annoys a lot of people, too. I remember I was performing in Florida, and while I was doing that bit, this woman in the front row said, I thought you were nicer than this. I thought you were a nice person. I was like, God, that's such an interesting take that this makes me not nice. Like, she was serious. She wasn't being funny. She was very put off. Very put off. And I was like, I don't know what to tell you.
- [56:56]
We got another 10 minutes.
- [56:57]
Yeah. I was like, we're nowhere, nowhere near done with this.
- [57:03]
How did it start?
- [57:05]
The Indigo Girls? Yeah, it actually was originally. Even though I have a bit about Jenny Slate in my Drawn Special, it was originally Jenny Slate I was. That I was going to introduce on stage. I don't know where it came from, but I was having a mediocre set. And I just said, you know what? I feel like you guys probably want somebody else up here, so let's bring out Jenny Slate. And people started clapping. I was like, really? You want. It's like, wow. Okay. I was like, she's not here. Or maybe she is. And so I just started toying with it in that way. And then I think I ended up at a show that was a predominantly lesbian crowd, which I guess you could be like, isn't. Aren't all your shows? But no, this was like some. Something. I can't remember what it was, but I just switched it to the Indigo Girls. And then after I did that, just felt. I don't know, it just Felt perfect.
- [58:16]
Yeah.
- [58:16]
And. Yeah. But. Oh, God, I could do that forever.
- [58:22]
There's. Well, there's a new element when it's Indigo Girls of. Half the audience doesn't know who the Indigo Girls are, and half really knows.
- [58:29]
Yeah. Yeah.
- [58:30]
I think you could still do it. You could be like, I know. I was joking the other time.
- [58:35]
Yeah, but they actually are.
- [58:38]
Did you consider not having them at the special?
- [58:41]
No, no, no. They had to be there. And they had. You know, when I performed it at Carnegie hall, they really put their trust in me because, you know, their manager was like, now, what is this? I think he wanted to make sure I wasn't, like, making fun of them. And I was like, no, I am a Die Hard fan. Die Hard. And I just said that I would love to have them in the show. And they ended up planning their tour to end up in New York City to do Carnegie hall with me. And I was just sitting on stage taking in. They told me to put together the set list that I wanted, and they were gonna do three songs. And I was like, oh, my gosh, this is incredible. Incredible. So I pick out the three songs, and I just sat between them as they played. And it was. I was so glad that I had done that, run through with them, because I realized it didn't feel right for me to just be sitting there, because the bit is fun and ridiculous, but, like, if you're there to see me, my three favorite Indigo Girl songs aren't gonna matter to you. So that's when I was going to do my special. It was like the 11th hour. I was on tour, driving down the east coast, headed towards cutting over to Texas, and I kept thinking, what can I do to include myself in the bit? And that's when I was like, oh, well, I do play a little bit of drums. I wonder if they'd let me play drums with them. And so I reached out and asked, and they were like, yeah, that'd be awesome. And so that was a fun, like, dream come true to play drums. Media, you know, and, like, just. I'm really. I can just play, like, two or three beats, kind of.
- [60:51]
What is your most personal or your most truthful joke as far as honest?
- [60:58]
I mean, obviously saying that, like, my entire set at Largo was so honest. But, like, I think, you know, I might lean towards the tombstone joke or story or whatever it is. So my girlfriend and I pull up to the graveyard. We get out of the car, we walk over. We're standing there, she's looking around. She said, this is really beautiful.
- [61:42]
She said, so is it just this right here?
- [61:47]
And I said, well, I don't know when I'm thinking about the word truth, I'm just thinking how I was really so truly in love with Stephanie, and it was the beginning of our relationship, and I was wanting to connect with her. And we had gone to my hometown in Mississippi, and it was just so pure and genuine. And then also connecting by bringing her to the grave, my mother's grave site, and visiting that with her. And then it was just such a true, genuine moment. And then my sentence caught up with myself, and I was just caught in this terribly awkward, genuine moment. That was so funny because I didn't realize what I was walking into as I'm, like, showing her my mother's grave and then explaining that these are the extra plots that my stepfather bought because there was, like, a special. Like, essentially, buy one, get one free. And then. And she's like, so what is it? I'm like, well. And then I'm realizing, like, oh, he bought these plots for me and my brother and for our significant others to be buried here. And we're standing there at the grave awkwardly like, oh, yeah, here's maybe where your body's gonna go anyway. Wanna go to lunch? Like, it was so uncomfortable. I was like, you might be gay. Gay buried here. I mean, I feel like all of my comedy, it's really all based in. In truth, with very exaggerated, silly.
- [63:49]
What is your joke you're most proud of, or what do you think is your greatest joke?
- [63:57]
I'm not stumbling on this because there's just a plethora. I can't say this is my greatest, but I. I think that people really respond to it or responded to it. And I used to get so excited to tell it, and it's the. The story of seeing Santa Claus. I don't think it is my greatest, but it is something that happened in my real life that made me laugh so hard, so deeply. Hyperventilating, crying to a degree that I don't know if I've ever laughed that hard. When all of the pieces came together and it hit me what had just happened, where. I mean, it is so many moving parts to it, and it's teeing up for one. Yeah, I mean, I know that's what comedy is. And. And. But it's. There are so many moving parts to it.
- [65:10]
I think what is. What captured. What's difficult about that joke, difficult for comedians that you're able to do in that joke is like a thing that is so funny. To you to translate it to people who have no relationship to this dynamic and have it be funny to them.
- [65:24]
Well, yeah. And. And. But that happens all the time. When I was telling. When I was first telling the Taylor Dane story and. And when it wouldn't work, people would always say to me, oh, it's because they didn't grow up with Taylor Dayne. They don't know who she is. And I would always make the point that, like, people don't know who my mother is. Like, people don't know my wife.
- [65:46]
Yeah.
- [65:46]
People don't know my kids. But my job is to describe this person or situation.
- [65:54]
Yeah.
- [65:55]
So it doesn't matter if people don't know who Taylor Dane is or the Indigo Girls or my wife or my mother or my kids or Santa Claus, for that matter.
- [66:04]
What is your best impression?
- [66:08]
Out of my three impressions.
- [66:10]
Oh, which one's the best?
- [66:12]
I mean, the clown horn, and it sounds like. It sounds like falafel.
- [66:20]
How did you figure out you can do that?
- [66:24]
I don't know. But my. My son Max does it now, too. And. And that is something I've also. When I went back out working on material, you know, actually to go back, I think this was when I. Even though I'd already done my impression bit before I had cancer, when I was returning back to stage, I think I just remembered I did a show in Northern California. I was offered an amount of money I had not been offered before, and I had no material. And I went out there and I cobbled together a set that was another one of those shows where I think I did the clown horn for, like, 20 minutes. Because the audience, they get so. You see grown men getting so. Just giddy and, like, they want to hear it again. The people want to hear it over and over and over again. And I couldn't believe how long that satisfied them.
- [67:32]
Yeah. It's so perfect because of the exact opposite. You were like, oh, they're expecting me to give them the entirety of my existence. Like, all the pain I experienced. Like, no, this little noise will work. They're like little kids.
- [67:44]
Yeah. Same with this stool.
- [67:46]
Yeah.
- [67:46]
I mean, it's like. It's unbelievable what makes people, what they spark to.
- [67:53]
That's great. I think that's it. Thank you. Oh. What you wrote about my book was, like, one of the highlights of having written a book. When I received the blurb that you wrote for it, which is on the COVID of the book.
- [68:06]
That's so nice.
- [68:06]
It was one of the most meaningful things I've ever Well, it's true.
- [68:10]
I've never met anyone that knows and loves comedy like you.
- [68:15]
It's, it's, it was a very special day.
- [68:20]
Well, thank you.
- [68:22]
Jesse David Fox
That's it for another episode of Good One. You can watch hello Again on Prime Video. You can listen to Handsome wherever you get your podcasts. Follow Tig on Instagram herealfluffnotaro. Good was produced by myself and Jelani Carter got from Shadow Shriekershin did our theme song, write our view and rate the show on Apple Podcast 5 stars. Please email any comments, questions or laughing around suggestions to goodonepodcastmail.com or tweet us oodonepodcast. I'm Jesse David Fox and you can follow me at Jesse David Fox. Buy my book comedy book wherever books are sold. Thanks for listening to Good One from New York Magazine. You can subscribe to the magazine@nymag.com pod we'll be back next Tuesday.
- [68:58]
Tig Notaro
Have a good one.
- [69:05]
Welcome to Good One show about talking them jokes son. Hey, Good One. It's a good one.