Joel Kim Booster asks about failed jokes

Summary

Handsome – Joel Kim Booster Asks About Failed Jokes

Podcast: Handsome (Headgum)
Hosts: Tig Notaro, Fortune Feimster, Mae Martin
Date: April 21, 2026
Episode Theme: Joel Kim Booster asks: “What’s a joke you loved but audiences hated, and do you know why?”

Episode Overview

In this irreverent and candid episode, comedians Tig Notaro, Fortune Feimster, and Mae Martin welcome Joel Kim Booster’s question about comedic flops: those jokes that comedians love but that simply don’t land with audiences. The trio swap stories about personal joke failures, workshop the concept of “bad bit night,” and unpack the fine line between premise, audience connection, and comedic persistence. The episode is as silly as ever, blending personal anecdotes—leaky roofs, spa nights, and Tom Cruise impressions—with sharp insights into the pursuit (and pain) of standup comedy perfection.

---

Main Discussion Points and Highlights

1. Personal Catch-Ups, Silliness and Home Calamities

• New Hulu Video Launch: The “Handsome” podcast is now also available on Hulu, one day earlier than their usual YouTube release. (02:00)
• Tig’s Leaky Roof: Tig describes a mysterious case of missing shingles, joking about potential British “shingle thieves.” (02:13–04:55)
• Mae’s Hotel Note Tradition: Mae contemplates hiding a whimsical note in a hotel room—for fans to find—a tradition originally suggested by Tig (05:13–06:14).
  • Quote: “Can you give me some credit for being a genius here?” — Tig (05:41)

2. Self-Care, Flirting With Yourself, and Odd Bath Habits

• Spa Night Stories: Mae describes a cozy solo night painting and taking a bath (06:44–08:07).
• Bathtub Dining Debate: Fortune advocates eating (and drinking coffee!) in the bathtub, while Tig and Mae disagree (08:18–09:37).
• Shower Coffee Confessions: Mae shares a habit of drinking coffee in the shower—“killing two birds with one stone” (09:09–09:33).
  • Quote: “That’s kind of romantic if you’re putting the moves on yourself.” — Tig (09:37)

3. Debunking Creative Energy Myths and Gendered Spheres

• Mae’s Energy Conservation: Mae discusses abstaining from self-pleasure to preserve creative energy (10:13–10:33).
  • Quote: “I want to let it build up. And also I have a lady friend coming to visit me for a couple days…” — Mae (10:25)
• Manosphere, Girl- and Themisphere? The group jokes about male self-help spaces and dreams of more inclusive kin—“the themisphere” (11:04–11:18).

4. Kinks, Viral Stories, and Pop Culture Tangents

• Kristi Noem’s Husband Photo Scandal: The trio speculate on the context of leaked cross-dressing photos, kink, and public reaction (11:19–12:36).
• LeAnn Rimes’ “Jaw Release” Therapy: Mae recounts her own emotional (and gastrointestinal) experience with somatic therapy, triggered by a viral LeAnn Rimes video (13:04–14:47).
  • Quote: “She saw a Gollum.” — Fortune, on Mae’s partner witnessing her post-therapy illness (14:36)

5. Sleep Patterns, Wearables, and Dream Analysis

• Tig’s Sleep Journey: After struggling with severe insomnia (2–3 hours nightly for years), Tig celebrates improvements thanks to routine, reduced gummies, and her Apple Watch sleep tracker (15:15–16:36).
  • Quote: “I am down to two and a half milligrams, which is really tiny…and now I have an Apple Watch.” — Tig (15:52)
• REM and R.E.M.: The crew riffs on the band and their songs, with Mae breaking into “That’s me in the corner…” (17:19–17:30).

6. Tom Cruise Impressions, Pop Culture, and Peculiar Memes

• Mae’s Tom Cruise Dream: Mae had a dream that Tom Cruise was competing on “Survivor” in a ski mask (21:12–21:42).
• Tom Cruise Behavioral Analysis: Plenty of riffing on strange celebrity interviews, memes, and public antics (23:44–25:30).
  • Quote: “‘Why would you do that?’” — Fortune, imitating Tom Cruise after a red carpet water prank (23:56)
• Stunt Skill Jealousy: Kate Winslet’s world-record breath-holding (for “Avatar”) is cheered as a win over Cruise’s physical feats (26:10–27:30).

---

[Key Segment] Joel Kim Booster’s Failed Jokes Question

[27:39] Official Segment Begins

[28:01] Joel Kim Booster:

“What is a joke that you can remember that you absolutely loved but the audience hated? And do you know why the audience hated it?”

The Hosts’ Responses

Tig’s Blob Joke

• Premise: If “the camera adds 10 pounds,” then 10 pounds should add to nothing as well.
• Flop: “All right, next.” Audiences just didn’t get it—Tig calls it her “worst bit” but still finds it amusing (29:01–29:40).
  • “If the camera adds 10 pounds…and you're filming nothing, just 10 pounds of something should appear. All right, next.” — Tig (29:22)

Tig’s Baby Shower Joke

• Premise: The visual of an actual baby, just old enough to wobble, emerging from the shower trying to clean itself.
• Persistence Works: This eventually became a successful joke through years of iteration (30:50–31:23).

Fortune’s Swim Team Story

• Premise: Fortune jokes about failing at swimming by “running across the pool doing the butterfly stroke."
• Evolution: A funny, off-the-cuff story took two years to refine and became a signature bit (32:02–32:43).

Fortune’s Failed Margarita Story

• Premise: Fortune tells a long story about buying expensive margarita supplies for a date whose child was present but never actually drinking them.
• Flop: The crowd was more distracted by details like the child and the premise never landed (36:54–40:38).
  • Quote: “If you don’t care about the premise, the story is not going to work.” — Fortune (40:08)

Mae’s Gummy Bear Massacre Joke

• Premise: On school trips, Mae would “save” a single gummy bear from being eaten—and then slowly mutilate it by eating limbs while imagining keeping it for life.
• Flop: “Even now, that's horrible to think of…but I swear there were good asides.” (43:53–44:30)
  • Reflective Note: This segment turns into a workshop on why some ideas just don’t work live.

Idea for “Not My Best” Night:

• Show Concept: The hosts pitch a hypothetical show where comics have to perform their worst (or most failed) bits for each other and get feedback (44:37–44:54).

---

[48:00] Joel Kim Booster’s Own Example

• Joke Premise: Rather than go back in time and kill baby Hitler, Joel jokes about returning to Hitler’s adolescence to encourage his art dreams so he never becomes a dictator.
• Why It Fails:
  • Many audiences bristle at “rehabbing Hitler” jokes—“not super welcome in this climate.”
  • Most people don’t realize Hitler originally wanted to be an artist, so the premise is lost on them.
  • Quote: “A lot of people do not know that Hitler wanted to become an artist. And so without knowing that context, it really doesn't make much sense.” — Joel (48:21)

Hosts’ Analysis:

• Sometimes, as soon as you say “Hitler,” people just tighten up—“their buttholes tighten” (48:31–48:40).

  • Memorable Moment: “As soon as you say Hitler, their buttholes tighten.” — Tig (48:31)

• Discussion on Dark Tourist Sites: Anecdotes about Anne Frank’s house (which "isn't actually her house") and people’s odd behaviors at Auschwitz, including the “you’ve ruined Auschwitz” story (49:05–50:40).

---

7. Comedic Craft Reflections

• Persistence vs. Premise: The group agrees sometimes a bit just can’t be salvaged if audiences don’t care about the premise, no matter how much you want it to work (40:08–40:38).

• Comedian’s Process: Stories improve over time—but even joke “failures” can become room for creativity, camaraderie, and sometimes, great bits when re-imagined.

  • Quote: “I think all of us…are slower to write, but we always get there.” — Fortune (51:57)

• Possible Live Show: “Not My Best” or "Bad Bit Night"—where comedians swap and attempt to fix each other’s failed jokes for fun (44:37–51:40).

---

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “I want to let it build up. And also I have a lady friend coming…” — Mae (10:25)
• “If you don’t care about the premise…story’s not going to work.” — Fortune (40:08)
• “As soon as you say Hitler, their buttholes tighten.” — Tig (48:31)
• “Well, you’ve ruined Auschwitz.” — Mae retelling her parents’ story (50:37)
• “I would do that. I would do that.” — Tig, about doing a "bad jokes" show (44:54)
• “You could do the tits out tub.” — Tig, pitching a silly interview show for Fortune (52:34)

---

Important Timestamps

• 02:00 – Handsome now on Hulu
• 04:09 – Mae’s whimsical hotel note
• 06:44 – Mae’s solo spa night and painting
• 08:18 – Bathtub food conversation
• 15:15–16:36 – Tig’s journey from sleep deprivation and sleep gummies to wearable obsession
• 27:39 – Begin Joel Kim Booster’s failed jokes question
• 29:01–31:23 – Tig shares failed material and slow joke evolution
• 32:02–32:43 – Fortune’s swim team story origin and journey
• 36:54–40:38 – Fortune’s failed margarita story and lessons learned
• 43:53–44:30 – Mae’s failed “gummy bear massacre” bit
• 44:37–44:54 – “Bad bit night”/“Not My Best” tour proposal
• 48:00 – Joel Kim Booster’s Hitler-as-artist joke and analysis
• 51:57 – Reflection on the slow process of writing effective stand-up

---

Tone and Takeaways

The episode is light, self-aware, playful, and zany, with plenty of self-deprecation. The comedians openly workshop their material and failures, offering rare behind-the-scenes insights for comedy fans. If you’ve ever wondered how a joke gets made (or unmade), this episode shows how much failure, stubbornness, and revision lies behind every successful bit—and how even pro comics love to roast themselves.

---

Listen for:

• Hilariously honest stories about joke flops
• The warmth and camaraderie of three top comedians
• Candid moments on creativity, process, and why even the best have their worst bits
• Ridiculous tangents on Tom Cruise, sleep trackers, and “tits out tubs"

For new listeners:
Expect plenty of riffing, a few strange mental images (“tits out tub”), and a celebration of comedy’s messier side.

---

[Summary Reviewer’s Note]

This summary skips all ad reads/outros and focuses on content. All timings refer to where main moments begin. For direct quotes, attribution uses MM:SS format for easy reference.

Transcript

[Mae Martin]

This is a Headgun podcast.

[Tig Notaro]

Checking Allstate first could save you hundreds on car insurance. That's smart. Not checking that you put an end time on your party invitation Miscalculation for sure. I was planning on being in bed at 9:30pm but now I've got a house full of guests partying until the sun comes up.

[Mae Martin]

Yeah, checking first is smart. So check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate. Potential savings vary subject to terms, conditions and availability. Allstate North American Insurance Company and affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois.

[Fortune Feimster]

Hacks is back for its fifth and final season, and so is the Hacks podcast. Join the Hacks creators and showrunners Lucia and Yellow, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky as they unpack the Emmy winning comedy series. On each episode, hear stories from the set, what goes on in the writers room, and how these beloved characters close out their final season.

[Tig Notaro]

Watch Hacks streaming exclusively on HBO Max and listen to the Hacks podcast on HBO Max or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Mae Martin]

Friends on the Handsome Pod. Chatting with friends on the Handsome pod.

[Fortune Feimster]

Cheers. Welcome to the Handsome Pod. I'm Fortune Feamster.

[Mae Martin]

I'm Mae Martin.

[Tig Notaro]

And I am Tig Notaro. Yay.

[Mae Martin]

Some of you may be watching us on Hulu.

[Tig Notaro]

Tell us what you're talking about.

[Mae Martin]

Nothing's changing, nothing to be stressed about, but some of you may be watching us on Hulu. We're gonna be on Hulu now that's

[Tig Notaro]

available a day early.

[Mae Martin]

Yes.

[Tig Notaro]

So Mondays, it'll now be available on Hulu to watch our handsome and pretty little lady. And pretty little lady's faces.

[Fortune Feimster]

That's right. You can still listen to our audio as you currently do, and you can also watch us on YouTube. This is just an additional place to also watch our handsome faces.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah, our handsome virus is spreading.

[Fortune Feimster]

So, yeah, we're very excited about that. Anywhere we can keep it handsome. We are all about.

[Tig Notaro]

Yes, we are. You know where I'm not keeping it handsome? Oh, my house.

[Fortune Feimster]

Oh, really? It's messy.

[Tig Notaro]

No, we had a leak from our roof last night, so that was fun.

[Mae Martin]

Was it raining? What was happening?

[Tig Notaro]

It was raining. And yeah, I noticed the. The situation in our bathroom and there's a real mystery because a lot of our. What are they called on the roof? What are those things?

[Mae Martin]

I want to say eaves, but I've never said it before.

[Tig Notaro]

No.

[Fortune Feimster]

Are you talking about gutters? No.

[Tig Notaro]

Shingles. Shingles. Shingles. Shingles. See, if you're watching YouTube, you'll see my shingle slash bunny rabbit. Yeah. So.

[Mae Martin]

So wait, something's wrong with your shingles?

[Tig Notaro]

There were a lot of shingles missing on our roof.

[Fortune Feimster]

Oh, no.

[Tig Notaro]

And it's a real mystery. Where did they go? We haven't been picking up in our yard. Our kids are always out playing baseball and we have no idea what happened.

[Mae Martin]

I mean, I think I solved it.

[Tig Notaro]

Oh, that was quick. Right hand.

[Fortune Feimster]

You know where?

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah. What? Tell us.

[Mae Martin]

I think the baseball's been hitting them. And like a rogue baseball.

[Tig Notaro]

10ft of shingles missing on our ring. That is a lot of shingles. That is a mystery beyond belief.

[Mae Martin]

Yeah.

[Fortune Feimster]

What?

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah.

[Mae Martin]

And it's rained before and you haven't had a problem.

[Tig Notaro]

Oh, it's rained before. We have lived here a decade and it has rained and it has poured and it wasn't even pouring last night. It was just gently raining.

[Mae Martin]

Oh, okay.

[Fortune Feimster]

Yeah.

[Mae Martin]

Are they some. Because some people used to steal shingles off of Westminster Abbey because they had lead in them and you could sell the lead. Is it possible that there's a kind of Victorian, British scamp, shingle thief? Oh, I'll just get a couple of these shingles, sell them for a sixpence.

[Tig Notaro]

Debbie is. Are you saying Debbie was stealing my shingles?

[Mae Martin]

Could be Debbie, could be Oliver Twist.

[Fortune Feimster]

We don't know.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah, we have. There's no way to know. But either way, missing 10ft of shingles on our roof. And we now have to get our roof redone. And it's a good time, but it's not very handsome.

[Mae Martin]

That's a real mystery, though.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah. And all the cats stand around and watch the water drip.

[Fortune Feimster]

Oh, they try to swat at it with their paws.

[Tig Notaro]

Not even. I think they're just like, what the hell is that?

[Fortune Feimster]

Yeah, but that.

[Tig Notaro]

That was a good act out. Fortune. That looked exactly. Yes. Not the rain water into a big old bucket.

[Mae Martin]

Well, I'm still at the. I'm still at this hotel and thinking about what note I can hide behind this painting. It's. It's an. It's like a fancy hotel. So someone would have to come to room seven sixteen if anyone wants to take on this mission.

[Fortune Feimster]

Of course they do.

[Mae Martin]

And I'll leave because it happened before. Remember? I had one and somebody actually found it and brought it to my show.

[Fortune Feimster]

So.

[Mae Martin]

Yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

It's so incredible.

[Mae Martin]

It's really good.

[Fortune Feimster]

I want it to be my.

[Tig Notaro]

Can you let me. Can you give me some credit for being a genius here?

[Mae Martin]

Yeah. It was your idea, right?

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah.

[Mae Martin]

Okay.

[Tig Notaro]

Let's not pretend like I'M not a genius over here with a million. Great idea. You thought that was your idea?

[Mae Martin]

I had made it my idea in my head, 100%. I was like, God, I'm so whimsical.

[Fortune Feimster]

I know it wasn't my idea because you told me to do that. When I went to the Caribbean and I had had a couple mai tais.

[Tig Notaro]

Oh, that was a good time.

[Fortune Feimster]

And I did not leave a note. Even though I said I was going to Fortune.

[Mae Martin]

I forgot. Somebody might have flown there.

[Tig Notaro]

To Fortune was day drinking. You can't blame her. I was going through a lot.

[Fortune Feimster]

Yeah,

[Mae Martin]

well, maybe I'll leave, like, one of those things where I draw a face and then someone else can draw the body and it.

[Tig Notaro]

Oh, and you can keep hiding it, and then the next person may sound like a lot. It sounds like not nearly enough. You have to do that, May.

[Fortune Feimster]

Two against one.

[Tig Notaro]

Yes.

[Mae Martin]

I got my. Luckily, I got my big art book and I had my little spa night at home last night. Or in this hotel room.

[Fortune Feimster]

Tell us all about it.

[Mae Martin]

Well, I did some paintings. This is me. Me on the bus.

[Tig Notaro]

Oh, I thought that was you naked. I was like, may I like. I really like that.

[Mae Martin]

I like the colors of that insomnia on the bus.

[Tig Notaro]

That is awesome.

[Fortune Feimster]

You actually can make that into, like, a print.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah, that's really, really appealing to my eyeballs.

[Fortune Feimster]

It's appealing to my eyeballs, too.

[Mae Martin]

And then I painted my friend Matt asleep.

[Fortune Feimster]

I don't like it.

[Tig Notaro]

I don't like that one.

[Mae Martin]

Oh, you don't like that?

[Fortune Feimster]

That one is for someone, though. That is. I could see.

[Tig Notaro]

No, I. I like it. I love the other one. Oh, like, crazy love it.

[Mae Martin]

Yeah. I had such a cozy night by myself.

[Fortune Feimster]

Make some prints. Make some prints. Make some prints.

[Tig Notaro]

Now tell us about your night in with yourself. Did you put the moves on you? What happened? Tig.

[Fortune Feimster]

Tig. Marie.

[Mae Martin]

I was actually very chaste and coy with myself, so.

[Tig Notaro]

Oh, that's adorable.

[Mae Martin]

Did not put the moves on myself. I did a long bath, and I. And I did some drawings and I

[Tig Notaro]

ordered dim sum, but there was the koi part. That was a little flirtation with your song.

[Fortune Feimster]

Dim sum, good eats.

[Mae Martin]

Yeah, I guess I was flirting with myself. Yeah. Every time I walk by the mirror, I'd go, hey.

[Tig Notaro]

Hey, you.

[Fortune Feimster]

Did you eat the dim sum in the bath?

[Mae Martin]

No, I would never eat in a bath because of that.

[Fortune Feimster]

Yeah, me neither. I was on tour in Salt Lake and totally took a bath and ordered no, ma'. Am. Essentially dim as well.

[Tig Notaro]

No, ma'.

[Fortune Feimster]

Am. Ate it in the bath?

[Tig Notaro]

No, ma'. Am.

[Mae Martin]

Why not?

[Fortune Feimster]

Is it two against one again?

[Tig Notaro]

I think so. I feel like a bath is very sacred, you know?

[Fortune Feimster]

Yeah, but if you're gonna get dirty, that's the place.

[Mae Martin]

Yeah, but you gotta keep the water

[Fortune Feimster]

running down my cheek. Just be like, splash. Splash it off.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah, I guess. You make a point. Everyone should be eating in the bathtub.

[Fortune Feimster]

I do make a point. Thank you. I drink coffee in the bath.

[Mae Martin]

Yeah, that. The best is coffee in the shower. I love that.

[Tig Notaro]

What?

[Fortune Feimster]

We'll see that. Now that seems weird to me.

[Mae Martin]

Really?

[Tig Notaro]

Coffee?

[Mae Martin]

Yeah. But you're standing up. You're. You're killing two birds with one stone in the morning.

[Tig Notaro]

Are you like a ceramic mug situation in the. Okay. And is that every morning?

[Mae Martin]

No, just like if I'm in a hurry or sometimes if I'm having a second cup of coffee and I'll just take it into. And you're right, probably some of the

[Fortune Feimster]

shower water, dirty shower waters spilling in there.

[Tig Notaro]

But it is kind of romantic if you're putting the moves on yourself. Like, hey, I'm going to have some coffee in the shower. And you know, I can see that for you.

[Fortune Feimster]

You really want the moods being put on yourselves real bad.

[Mae Martin]

T. Yeah, I'm taking a break. From.

[Fortune Feimster]

From what?

[Mae Martin]

From, you know what. No, wait, I regret it.

[Fortune Feimster]

Invading.

[Mae Martin]

Yeah, from. From, you know, putting the moves on myself to completion.

[Joel Kim Booster]

You know,

[Mae Martin]

because I read a thing about. About my creative energy and I don't want to splooge it away and I want to

[Fortune Feimster]

so wild.

[Mae Martin]

I want to let it build up. And also I'm. I have a. A lady friend coming to visit me for a couple days and I thought,

[Tig Notaro]

hello, I'm not going to put them

[Fortune Feimster]

in the nitty gritty here.

[Mae Martin]

I'm over sharing.

[Fortune Feimster]

Listen, that's what we're here for.

[Mae Martin]

But do you think that that's true? That if you put the moves on yourself too much, you're depleting your energy? You know, some people are like, I'm sure in like the manosphere. And these dudes are like, you got to preserve your energy.

[Fortune Feimster]

And I don't know, I've never thought of it as depleting your energy. I felt like it. I thought it would give you a boost.

[Mae Martin]

I think so too. So maybe I shouldn't listen, your body, your choice.

[Tig Notaro]

Is there a girlosphere or a Themosphere?

[Mae Martin]

Oh, my God, a themisphere would be so.

[Fortune Feimster]

As opposed to a manosphere.

[Mae Martin]

Yeah, well, you know that there was that documentary about the manosphere. Yeah, you're right. Is there a woman.

[Fortune Feimster]

I haven't watched it either.

[Tig Notaro]

Now, here is what I really want to get to. I want girl. Okay, girl. Give me one second. May, I really want your opinion on this. Not that I don't want yours. Fortune. But I'm fine. This. And. And by the time this comes out, this is going to be a little bit of old news, but Kristi Noem's husband.

[Mae Martin]

Oh, yeah.

[Fortune Feimster]

Oh, yeah. Wasn't he in pictures with balloon boobs and a dress or something?

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah.

[Fortune Feimster]

No. What do we know the context behind.

[Mae Martin]

I'm curious.

[Tig Notaro]

Is that a king? Well, is that a kink?

[Fortune Feimster]

Is that a kink?

[Tig Notaro]

What is.

[Fortune Feimster]

What is.

[Tig Notaro]

That's just. Is that just a kink or is that somebody that can't be open about gender or sexuality or.

[Mae Martin]

I don't know. I think you'd have to ask him. I mean, I think. I think you're our go to king. I'm the king. The king of king.

[Fortune Feimster]

Yeah. But did they know, like, what the context was behind it?

[Mae Martin]

You know what? I just think it's a shame that it's like, I hate Kristi Noem, but it's like, oh, now we're gonna be like, see, look at this. Like, right, that.

[Tig Notaro]

It's like a bad. Like, she, like, it's in my feeling. My feeling is she's. She remains the weirdo.

[Mae Martin]

Yeah, totally. Yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

Like, that's how I. When I'm looking at these pictures, I'm like, yeah, whatever. Kristi Noem is the weirdo.

[Mae Martin]

Yeah. I think a lot of people do. Do, like, cross dressing, which is just like, I like to dress up in women's clothes or maybe role play. I don't think that means that they're like, trans or gay or whatever. They might be into the idea of their wife and them while they're dressed up.

[Fortune Feimster]

Yeah, I was. I was looking at the story because I wasn't sure about what all happened, but there was also an emotional video of Leanne Rimes having a deep jaw release treatment, which reminded me of you, May. Yeah, you had that done, right?

[Mae Martin]

The guy put a rubber glove on, he put his hand.

[Tig Notaro]

Do I know about this or. Yeah, yeah.

[Fortune Feimster]

Was when May was on vacation and after they had played role played cabin boy or something. It was during the same trip where May role played as a cabin boy. May got a massage where they put their hands in your mouth, but then you get violently ill from it.

[Tig Notaro]

Violently blocked this out. How do I not remember this?

[Fortune Feimster]

Well, this video went virally and Ron's getting that. That treatment done.

[Tig Notaro]

And what did she. What was her response to it?

[Fortune Feimster]

She's cried.

[Mae Martin]

Sobbing. Crying. Like, I guess it's an, you know, an emotional trauma release thing. We hold a lot in our jaws. And she was like. And I. Listen, I didn't cry, but it was really.

[Fortune Feimster]

You vomited?

[Mae Martin]

Yeah, but I think that there was some bacteria on the glove or maybe I ate something bad because I then got so violently ill. And poor Parv. Like, I was on a romantic trip, and she came around the corner when she was woken up and she saw what she saw.

[Fortune Feimster]

She saw a Gollum.

[Mae Martin]

She saw.

[Tig Notaro]

She can't unsee. She cannot unsee. Yeah.

[Mae Martin]

Yeah. It was really. It was hard to, like, be cool and sexy after that. Yeah.

[Fortune Feimster]

I wonder if that's gonna become the new thing, though, getting your jaw massaged after this video.

[Mae Martin]

I bet after that video. Yeah. Like, somatic release like that. I bet. I. Do you feel. Do you grind your teeth and stuff?

[Tig Notaro]

I do a little bit.

[Mae Martin]

You wear all kinds of mouth guards and. Right.

[Tig Notaro]

I mean, me, Yeah. I don't wear all kinds. I was. I had the cpap. I got the earplugs. I got the eye mask, but I got rid of the cpap.

[Fortune Feimster]

Okay.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah.

[Fortune Feimster]

Yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

That was tough. And I was not able to get it to be a part of my sleep routine, but I'm sleeping a lot better. I'm sleeping a lot better.

[Fortune Feimster]

There you go.

[Mae Martin]

Are you. And how do you. How do you know you just wake up feeling. Because sometimes you think I was asleep for eight hours, but I feel exhausted. Like, how do you know you're getting that deep level?

[Tig Notaro]

Well, I don't know exactly, but I was doing. I mean, like, I had gone up in my sleep gummies to 30 milligrams, and I am down to two and a half milligrams.

[Mae Martin]

Whoa.

[Tig Notaro]

Which is really tiny. And I'm on a routine, which I've been trying to do by pulling back with work and travel and everything just so I can get my life and sleep in order. And now I have an apple watch. And apparently they're not totally accurate, but, man, has it made me excited and obsessed with my sleep. Because it tells you roughly, your deep sleep, your core sleep, your REM sleep, what time you fell asleep when you woke up. And so right now, if anything is roughly correct, I'm getting about seven hours of sleep, which is way more than the two to three hours that I was getting.

[Fortune Feimster]

Oh, wow. Two to three. That's hard to function.

[Tig Notaro]

Oh, my gosh.

[Mae Martin]

That was your Base level.

[Tig Notaro]

That's four years.

[Mae Martin]

Yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

What?

[Fortune Feimster]

How did you not pass out during the day?

[Tig Notaro]

I was. I was so deeply exhausted, I couldn't even quite express. And now I'm just feeling a lot better. And I'm gonna now try and slowly get down to 1 milligram for my sleep gummy.

[Mae Martin]

I bet you're gonna be having crazy dreams now, too.

[Tig Notaro]

For sure. Like, once you come off of sleep gummies, you really start to dream. And I'm having a little bit of breakthrough dreams here and there, so I think I'm.

[Mae Martin]

Is that. That's in rem, right?

[Tig Notaro]

I believe so.

[Mae Martin]

Every time I hear rem, I think, that's me in the corner.

[Fortune Feimster]

Yeah, that's me in the spot.

[Tig Notaro]

See, I think about driver 8. Do you know that song?

[Mae Martin]

No. Which is that Thomas does.

[Tig Notaro]

I'm not gonna sing it. Hear it.

[Fortune Feimster]

Okay, go look it up.

[Tig Notaro]

But I love that song. Do you like that song, Thomas? Driver 8.

[Mae Martin]

Oh, yeah. I'm a huge REM fan.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah.

[Mae Martin]

Oh, really? Yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

That's a good tune.

[Fortune Feimster]

But anyway, this one goes out to the one I love.

[Mae Martin]

Oh, yeah. And what about Everybody Hurts?

[Fortune Feimster]

I mean, classic.

[Mae Martin]

I Dreamed Last Night.

[Tig Notaro]

Oh, you'll sing that?

[Mae Martin]

Yeah. You'll sing that. What if.

[Fortune Feimster]

Why are you being strange? Why are you being stingy?

[Tig Notaro]

That's just my personality. I'm just a stingy gal.

[Mae Martin]

Checking Allstate first could save you hundreds on car insurance, and that's smart. Not checking the dimensions of the desk I ordered online. Now I've got a problem. I wanted a little place to write for my guest room, and now half the room is filled with a mahogany monstrosity.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah, checking first is smart, so check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate. Potential savings vary subject to terms, conditions and availability. Allstate North American Insurance Company and affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois. Who's planning a trip to Provincetown this year? I cannot say enough good things about Provincetown, Massachusetts. It's a beautiful mosaic of cultures where everyone is welcome. For me and so many others, the definition of paradise is summertime. In P Town, there's freedom, there's sunshine, and the chance to be ourselves. Whether you're flying solo, strutting with your squad, or spending quality time with your sweetheart, Provincetown has so much to discover and enjoy. There's hiking, biking, beaches, fine dining, glamour. And it's all wrapped up in one destination.

[Mae Martin]

Bask in the sun and sand at the beaches of Herring Cove and Race Point. Tour the dunes blaze the bike trails and walk the trails of the National Seashore. P Town also has countless fun theme weeks for everyone. Lgbtq, There's Pride, Girl Splash, Bear Week, Family Week, Trans Week and more. From Boston, you hop on a fast ferry and you get there in 90 minutes. The ferries run from mid May through mid October, so get more [e-mail] the official guide to Provincetown. That's ptowntourism.com Good hair days do more

[Tig Notaro]

than we give them credit for. When your hair feels healthy, you show up differently. You're more confident, more relaxed, and you're not constantly checking mirrors or adjusting your hair. Nutrafol supports hair health from within, working over time to deliver results you can see and feel so your hair becomes something you enjoy, not something you stress about.

[Mae Martin]

Nutrafol is the number one dermatologist recommended hair growth supplement brand and the number one hair growth supplement brand personally used by dermatologists. Nutrafol's hair growth supplements are peer reviewed, NSF certified for sport and clinically tested.

[Tig Notaro]

Let your hair be one less thing to worry about. See visibly thicker, stronger, faster growing hair in three to six months with Nutrafol. For a limited time, Nutrafol is offering our listeners $10 off your first month subscription and free shipping when you visit Nutrafol.com and enter promo code Handsome. That's Nutrafol.com spelled N U T R-A F O L.com promo code Handsome.

[Mae Martin]

Last night I dreamed I was playing Survivor on my tour bus with and Tom Cruise was playing.

[Tig Notaro]

And he was Survivor the band or the song?

[Mae Martin]

The TV show?

[Tig Notaro]

I was playing neither.

[Fortune Feimster]

Oh, neither. So it wasn't Eye of the Tiger?

[Mae Martin]

No. In my dream, I was competing for a million dollars with and Tom Cruise was competing and he was running around in a ski mask at night and, like hiding. And we were all like, we need to get this guy off.

[Fortune Feimster]

He's like, I need to win this million dollars.

[Mae Martin]

Yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

Is that a good Tom Cruise impression?

[Fortune Feimster]

No.

[Tig Notaro]

No.

[Fortune Feimster]

Trying to make it.

[Tig Notaro]

I need to win this.

[Fortune Feimster]

I can't. I can't do a Tom Cruise impression. I know it's hard to believe.

[Tig Notaro]

And I can't sing. Driver 8 by rem apparent.

[Mae Martin]

I can do both.

[Tig Notaro]

Let's hear what is the version you think? What do you think driver8 sounds like?

[Mae Martin]

I've never heard it in my life.

[Tig Notaro]

I know, I know. Give us your best shot.

[Mae Martin]

Should I do it as Tom Cruise?

[Fortune Feimster]

Why not? Why not?

[Mae Martin]

Okay. This is Tom Cruise singing Driver 8, which I've never heard by R.E.M. okay, listen to me, kid. It's going to be great. You and me, we're driving. Eight after eight. Wait, what is it?

[Tig Notaro]

Driver eight.

[Mae Martin]

Motorcycles, Planes and automobiles.

[Tig Notaro]

Wait, is this the song?

[Fortune Feimster]

Is this the song? Are we singing? What?

[Tig Notaro]

Are you acting or singing?

[Fortune Feimster]

Does Tom Cruise not sing?

[Mae Martin]

He was doing kind of a spoken word.

[Tig Notaro]

No, no, no, he needs to sing. 2, 3, and.

[Mae Martin]

Listen to me, kid. It's gonna be great. You and me are heading. We're off, we're driving. 8. It has. There's no melody there.

[Fortune Feimster]

Doesn't really feel very rem, but who knows?

[Tig Notaro]

It feels very Tom Cruise, though. Let's be honest. That felt. Yeah, it's gonna be great.

[Mae Martin]

He's always saying, listen to me, listen to me.

[Tig Notaro]

Does he say that a lot?

[Mae Martin]

Always when he's. When he's trying to convince. Is it Philip Seymour Hoffman not to kill him? And he's tied to the chair and he goes through every tactic to try to get this guy not to kill him. And he goes. First he starts, Listen to me, listen to me. You don't want. You don't want to do this, okay? We can work something out. And then he's. For God's sake, stop it. He tries angry, and then he tries scared. Please, please. He does.

[Tig Notaro]

Do you think it's in the script or do you think he chooses to pull out? Listen to me.

[Mae Martin]

I think it's all Tom. I think he's throwing in. Listen.

[Tig Notaro]

I think I'm gonna start doing that.

[Mae Martin]

Yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

Listen to me, listen to me.

[Fortune Feimster]

You ever see that video of him on the red carpet somewhere in Europe, and they guys like a prankster and he squirts him with water and he's

[Mae Martin]

like,

[Fortune Feimster]

why would you do that? That was good for you. That was good. He's like, hey, man, why would you do that? That's not cool.

[Tig Notaro]

Oh. So he went from kind of a fake laugh to a serious intense. Why would you do that? You messed up my makeup type thing.

[Fortune Feimster]

Yeah, he called it rude or something. I mean, which. It was crazy. It was rude.

[Mae Martin]

You can't predict how he's going to react to things. Like there's a new video, someone showing him a really not that funny meme of him. It's like, have you seen this meme of you hanging off of a hot air balloon or something? And he's like, he can't stop laughing. Oh, my God. That's insane. He's losing his mind. It's what. It feels like he just decided arbitrarily in his head. I'm going to find that really funny.

[Fortune Feimster]

Yeah. And that video where they're like, what's your favorite movie? Snacks. And he's like.

[Mae Martin]

He's short. He short circuits. Yeah.

[Fortune Feimster]

Popcorn. Of course. Yeah. He, like, doesn't know. He's like.

[Mae Martin]

Like, normal snacks. Yeah.

[Fortune Feimster]

Normal thing to eat. What do you.

[Tig Notaro]

Do you think? He doesn't really eat popcorn. And he's just trying to not sound like an alien.

[Fortune Feimster]

Relatable. But he hasn't lived a relatable life in decades.

[Tig Notaro]

I think he hasn't been to a movie theater.

[Mae Martin]

I think he even says, like. Like, oh, when they. When they let me eat popcorn or something. And then. And then there's a video of him eating popcorn where. I think it was after this came out. So he was trying to prove. No, I do actually eat popcorn. And he's just, like, throwing it into his mouth like that. It's like. It's really wild.

[Fortune Feimster]

But. But, like, you know, his. His skills lay elsewhere. They just showed another video of him doing his own stunt where he's on. He's tied, hands are tied behind his back.

[Tig Notaro]

Dwight, don't do this stunt at home.

[Fortune Feimster]

Fortunately, I was going to do this stunt, but now I won't.

[Tig Notaro]

Okay.

[Fortune Feimster]

He's. He's on. He's tied to a pole, and he, like, lifts himself up like his body's doing it anyway, and frees himself with his hands tied to the pole.

[Tig Notaro]

It's.

[Fortune Feimster]

And they were like, he did this. And it's like, crazy.

[Tig Notaro]

He's superhuman.

[Mae Martin]

Yeah. I don't. I. I don't know that. He's all human. There's something. He's. The things he can do. And then. But I was really happy because Kate Winslet beat his record for holding your breath underwater.

[Tig Notaro]

Oh, right. I think she said.

[Fortune Feimster]

I thought you were about to say she held her breast. And I was like, oh, my gosh,

[Tig Notaro]

we should try and break the world's record by holding Fortune's breasts. And I was like, let's hold Fortune's breasts.

[Fortune Feimster]

I was like.

[Tig Notaro]

I was like, put that on the

[Fortune Feimster]

list, Thomas, please let me see this video of her breaking the record of holding her breasts.

[Mae Martin]

But it seems almost, like, unbelievable. Seven and a half minutes holding your breath like that is insane.

[Tig Notaro]

She actually cheated and.

[Fortune Feimster]

Wait, and why did she do this? Drink water.

[Mae Martin]

Avatar, I think. Or there was something where she.

[Fortune Feimster]

She was she.

[Tig Notaro]

In Avatar?

[Mae Martin]

I guess so. She was. She was repairing the swimming pool, so she had to.

[Fortune Feimster]

I don't know. Well, now I gotta Google this.

[Tig Notaro]

Okay.

[Mae Martin]

And if you're just finding us on Hulu for the first time.

[Tig Notaro]

Apologies and welcome.

[Fortune Feimster]

Oh, yeah, she did do this.

[Tig Notaro]

You're right.

[Fortune Feimster]

May.

[Tig Notaro]

Thank you.

[Mae Martin]

Thank God.

[Fortune Feimster]

And she was in Avatar.

[Mae Martin]

Thank you.

[Tig Notaro]

Wow.

[Fortune Feimster]

While filming Avatar, the Way of Water.

[Tig Notaro]

Oh, yeah, I forgot to do this. Should we get to our question? Yeah.

[Fortune Feimster]

Today's question Asker is a comedian, writer, actor, and podcast host who wrote and starred in the movie Fire Island. His podcast is called Bad Dates, and you can follow him at I hate Joel Kim on social media to check out his tour dates. Joel Kim booster is asking today's question.

[Joel Kim Booster]

I. Hello, handsome.

[Fortune Feimster]

Podcast.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Love you guys. Please ignore this sweatshirt. I did not go to Harvard. This is Stolen Valor, literally, because I stole it from a guy's house. But my question to you today is, what is a joke that you can remember that you absolutely loved but the audience hated? And do you know why the audience hated it?

[Fortune Feimster]

Thinker, where to begin? I know there's been a number of these.

[Tig Notaro]

Well, this is really. This is so terrible. But it's still a concept that I love, and it's just. It amuses me. And I tried it. I mean, in my early, early days of comedy, you know how they say the camera adds 10 pounds?

[Fortune Feimster]

Yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

Have you heard that?

[Mae Martin]

Yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

Yes. Okay, so this is so dumb.

[Mae Martin]

And you would do this on stage?

[Tig Notaro]

I mean, I wouldn't do this. I think I tried it two or three times. I was trying to work out the concept, but it was basically that if that's true, then just nothingness. There should be blobs of ten pounds just appearing out of nowhere. Do you know what I'm saying, guys? Thank you.

[Mae Martin]

I know what you're saying.

[Tig Notaro]

If the camera adds 10 pounds, and even if there is just. You're filming nothing, just 10 pounds of something should appear. All right, next. And why didn't it go well? Well, because that's a.

[Fortune Feimster]

That is a mystery. I'll never know.

[Mae Martin]

Yeah, because why.

[Fortune Feimster]

That one felt relatable.

[Tig Notaro]

My material, look it. I am not the fastest writer, okay? I. It takes me a while to work through. You're. You're the same.

[Mae Martin]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

Oh, my God. It takes me a while to work out my material, and, yeah, I have to drag it around the planet for a while, but that one, I knew right off the bat that's. That's not gonna fly.

[Mae Martin]

Maybe there's.

[Fortune Feimster]

You didn't do it on stage, though, right?

[Tig Notaro]

Yes, like two or three times. It was, like, in my first couple of years, and I was just like.

[Fortune Feimster]

And the audience was just like, no, thank you.

[Tig Notaro]

Hard pass. Move it along.

[Fortune Feimster]

Right.

[Mae Martin]

You straight man. Someone who doesn't bother you that much if you think something's funny. If. Would it. Would it bother you if they. If the audience.

[Tig Notaro]

Well, no, it's time out to the. Well, I mean, look, I want people to. To laugh.

[Mae Martin]

Yeah, right.

[Tig Notaro]

And there's certainly things that, like, I have to get rid of. And I didn't feel like I could get that concept off the ground. I did have this one also that ended up working out.

[Fortune Feimster]

And it was.

[Tig Notaro]

I had a joke about. I was saying, like, I've always been mature for my age. In fact, as a baby, I used to take showers and then I would imitate just like a wobbly baby. You open the shower curtain and they're like taking a shower. And I ended up closing with it. That's good. It used to not work at all when I would. I didn't know how to get in there. But I always thought it would be such a funny sight to open a shower curtain and see like a one and a half year old trying to keep their balance while they're cleaning themselves.

[Fortune Feimster]

Anyway, it is. It is hard to know. I mean, sometimes you can know right away when a joke's just like, oh, this is horrible, and I should just abandon this. But there are instances, as you both know, where you try something and it's very lukewarm, but you're just like, no, I'm gonna. I'm gonna dig in. Like, one of my more popular jokes was me talking about swimming on the swim team when I was in elementary school. And I was really bad at it. So I.

[Tig Notaro]

Bad at swimming.

[Fortune Feimster]

Bad at swimming.

[Mae Martin]

Give me a video of this.

[Fortune Feimster]

I wish I had it. And I told this off the cuff in my hometown at the comedy club, just because there was a lot of people in the audience who grew up with me. And someone asked me something about being on the swim team, and I was like, oh, yeah, I was terrible at the swim team. I would run across the pool and do the motion with my arms of the butterfly.

[Mae Martin]

Really funny.

[Fortune Feimster]

And so. But there was nothing to it. People were just like, oh, okay. And I was just like, oh, that's kind of like. Like you're saying. I was like, that's a funny visual. But it took me like two years to figure that story out. How to, like, make it, build it and make it funny.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah.

[Fortune Feimster]

But I was just like, I'm gonna figure this one out if it kills me. And I eventually did. And it became one of, like, the signature stories.

[Tig Notaro]

But you lived through it.

[Fortune Feimster]

I lived through it, but you just never know. Like, I could have spent two years and it just never gone anywhere, but

[Tig Notaro]

I know there's times when people are like, oh, that's not gonna work. And you're like, don't tell me that you don't know how I'm gonna get in. I. I used to take 20 minutes to do my Taylor Dane bit, and I almost gave up on that because I didn't know how to make it funny because it's such a long story. And I realized that a lot of the humor was the repetition and repeating, the excuse me, I'm sorry stuff.

[Fortune Feimster]

Yeah, I love that story.

[Tig Notaro]

Me too. I love you too.

[Mae Martin]

Squarespace gives you everything you need to offer services and get paid all in one place. Handsome created an entire custom webpage with Squarespace in less than an hour. And you can do the same thing for yourself, your business or your brand. Plus, level up your game with professional on brand invoices and online payments, and streamline your workflow with built in appointment scheduling and email marketing tools.

[Tig Notaro]

With Squarespace, your site design is flexible to suit your needs with intuitive drag and drop editing, beautiful styling options, unrivaled visual design effects on brand content, and more ways to list what you offer. No experience required. Squarespace's SEO tools make sure that you show up more often in search results as well, helping you connect with your audience fast. And with Squarespace domains, you can find the best name for your business at one fair, all inclusive price. No hidden fees or add ons required.

[Mae Martin]

What are you waiting for? Get started on your dream website today. Head to squarespace.com handsome for a free trial. And when you're ready to launch, use offer code handsome to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. Fortune in partnership with Airbnb. Let's talk about our spring travel plans.

[Fortune Feimster]

Well, we're both on tour, and when I'm on tour, I tend to not think about booking additional travel. Except here's an idea that I had. What if we make the Handsome wellness weekend we've been talking about into a staycation and book a home on Airbnb?

[Mae Martin]

Oh, I love that idea. Okay, that's good. What are we gonna need? Obviously, we're gonna need outdoor space for meditating. I feel like we need a pool to tread water in.

[Fortune Feimster]

And don't forget a hot tub that's big enough for the three of us. It's got to be a deep one too. All right, none of that shallow stuff. And inside the house, maybe like a nice kitchen. So we can make some smoothies.

[Mae Martin]

Okay. This is gonna be amazing. I'm gonna start looking on Airbnb right away.

[Fortune Feimster]

Well, I'll see in the tub, my friend. With a green juice in hand, we're

[Mae Martin]

going to find the perfect spot on Airbnb. Cheers.

[Tig Notaro]

It's Way day at Wayfair. From April 25th through the 27th, you can score the best deals in home, like, up to 80% off with free shipping on everything Wayfair's got. With Wayfair, it's easy to find exactly what fits your style and needs, from furniture to decor to all your outdoor essentials. All of it is on sale during Wayday. Upgrade your space with quality pieces that work within your budget. And the best part, Everything ships fast and free during Wayday.

[Fortune Feimster]

I'm still decorating my new house, and I've really enjoyed discovering a new aesthetic that fits the space. Every home is a little different, so browsing Wayfair gives me inspiration. I actually just bought a really unique accent chair on there that I'm really excited to try in my living room.

[Tig Notaro]

Wayday is the sale to shop the best deals in home. We're talking up to 80% off with fast and free shipping on everything. Head to Wayfair.com April 25th through the 27th to shop Wayday. That's W A Y F A I R.com Wayfair Every style, every home.

[Fortune Feimster]

I tried to tell a story early on. I don't really remember the details of it now, but I was committed to this story for years, and it just never would go anywhere. And I was like, I don't understand why this isn't working. And I finally just dropped it. But it was about going on a date with somebody, and she had a child. And I. The first date, the child was at home, and I was like, oh, okay. And she had bought lunch, and I was really broke. This was a long time ago. And so we ate lunch and everything was great. She was lovely. And she. She was like, should we go buy stuff to make margaritas? And I was like, okay.

[Mae Martin]

For lunch?

[Fortune Feimster]

Yeah. And so we go. So I. And this didn't happen. The kid, like, five or something like that. And so you guys are just gonna

[Tig Notaro]

get trash with the little kid.

[Fortune Feimster]

Well, I made a joke about, like, we got in the minivan. We didn't actually get in the minivan, but, like, yeah, I was trying to build it. Like, we got the minivan, left the kid in the car. That didn't happen. But, you know, you're trying to.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah, of course. Of course.

[Fortune Feimster]

And then the joke was that like I, I, I was broke, but I was trying to be chivalrous. And I was like, since you bought lunch, I'll buy the margaritas. But you know, I'm thinking like, you know, the cheap 15 tequila. And she goes for the patron, which was like, you know, 50, 60 bucks. And when you're broke, that's like, holy. Yeah, yeah. But not only that, but like the contro or whatever you call it, the orange liqueur. So that's another like 30. And then like a specialty salt. I mean a mixture. This thing ends up being like a hundred and twenty dollars, which to me was like a thousand.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah.

[Fortune Feimster]

And I was just like sweating. And we get back to her house, we start chatting for a while. We don't end up actually ever drinking the margaritas.

[Tig Notaro]

No.

[Fortune Feimster]

And that was always so wild to me that we never drank them. And she ended up putting the stuff in her cabinet and keeping it. And I, I'd be pissed. I could never get over that. A. We didn't drink it. And then be. She kept it. I couldn't even like. Because I was like, hey, you saw that receipt. I'd love to return this, but I was trying to tell this story and it just never, Everyone was just like, okay,

[Tig Notaro]

did you just end up playing peekaboo with her child completely sober?

[Fortune Feimster]

Well, I just said I wanted, I think I ended it with like, I wanted to open the bottle Patron. And all the souls of the other women who bought liquor came out of the bottle. I don't know, I had some cheesy ending. It was not, I did not write it well. But also, no one cared about the premise.

[Mae Martin]

I think people were more just distracted about this kid. That element left in the car while you're buying alcohol.

[Tig Notaro]

There's a lot of concerning factors, I

[Fortune Feimster]

know, but, but some of it was just me as a young writer trying to think what's funny? Like, you know, because every single storytellers based on truth. But you elaborate to make it funny. You punch it up. And so I think in my punching it up, I confuse people more like, wait, what? And, but, but then at the end of the day, no one did care about the premise. And that is, if you don't care about the premise of a story, the story is not going to work.

[Tig Notaro]

You got to bring it back now

[Fortune Feimster]

they have more of a following.

[Tig Notaro]

You got to revisit. And I feel like the handsome followers are going to want to hear this story on stage now.

[Fortune Feimster]

I don't think so, because it It. It just kind of was like, I was broke. And, you know, it was more of the mystery of, like, why are we buying all this expensive margarita stuff? And then only to not drink it.

[Mae Martin]

I think she was running a racket, I think.

[Fortune Feimster]

And then keep it. Yeah, it felt. It was like, did you. Was this date just for you to get seen, for you to enjoy this with someone else?

[Tig Notaro]

This predated when you could get a margarita in a can, right? Yeah, yeah. Because that would have been the quick fix for. For that.

[Fortune Feimster]

Now it's weird to tell it because people would be like, well, you can afford now you can afford patron. And that's not even that nice of a tequila.

[Mae Martin]

No, I think you could still. You could still do that.

[Fortune Feimster]

But, like, then I was like, I can barely pay my rent.

[Tig Notaro]

Well, that's how you tell the audience is this is when you were broke. People aren't going to be in the audience now going, well, you can afford Patron.

[Fortune Feimster]

Honestly, I don't think people are going

[Tig Notaro]

to bring it there.

[Fortune Feimster]

I don't think. Oh, and then I did the other one I've told on this pod before, but was about me trying to use a gift card at the vegan restaurant.

[Mae Martin]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Fortune Feimster]

I actually told it in at Jam Trail.

[Mae Martin]

Yeah.

[Fortune Feimster]

On the show that May and I did together, and it got cut.

[Mae Martin]

No way. So you tried to get.

[Fortune Feimster]

Like, people really don't care about this gift card store.

[Mae Martin]

Oh, man.

[Fortune Feimster]

And. And just for those who didn't hear me tell it before, very quickly, I got gifted a gift card at a vegan restaurant, and I tried to treat some friends to a meal who love this restaurant.

[Tig Notaro]

Which one was it?

[Fortune Feimster]

It was. Oh, what's it called? Crossroads.

[Tig Notaro]

Oh, yeah, it's good.

[Fortune Feimster]

And I was trying to be discreet about using the gift card because, you know, I didn't want them to think I was being cheap. And the waitress couldn't stop saying the word gift card and told me that it didn't work. And she was on the phone with the company. Like, she kept coming to the table,

[Mae Martin]

speak to the gift card, get this

[Fortune Feimster]

gift card work flying around in the air. And the gift card never worked. And so I. I try to tell this whole story of this buildup of, like, being discreet, and then she keeps coming back and won't stop saying the word gift card. Turns out no one really cares about that story either.

[Mae Martin]

I just. I just have had to abandon a thing from my tour show after, like, three shows. I was doing it in la and the previews, no one liked it there. Then I was doing it on tour. No one liked it. It was like. It's like a long thing about going on a school trip and I get a bag of. Well, it starts with me being like, what is human nature? Like, I. Because I. I don't recognize the, like. Like, the. The horrors of the world. And I'm like, maybe I have some cruelty dormant within me. Because I remember that when I would go on, like, a school trip, I'd buy a bag of gummy bears, and I'd be massacring this bag of gummy bears, and I'd start to feel guilty, and then I would pick one to try to save and spare its life. And I would think, I will have you till I die. Like, I will be buried.

[Tig Notaro]

Here comes the bear portal.

[Mae Martin]

Gummy bear?

[Fortune Feimster]

Yeah, Gummy bear portal.

[Mae Martin]

That would have been the link. That would have been it. And then I just talk about how then, like, I'd get hungry and I'd start to eat. I'd be like, what's a limb? Like, I just chew off a limb of this guy, and he'd end up this, like, sticky torso of a gummy bear that I like mutilated, even though he was the one I love the most. Even as I'm telling you now, I'm like, yeah, that's horrible to think of. But I swear there were good asides, because I would talk about, like, how I'd want him to be in my tux in my suit pocket at my funeral. And then I was like, it's crazy that we wear suits.

[Tig Notaro]

Should we apologize to our listeners?

[Mae Martin]

I feel like this is. This episode has become us describing our worst bits.

[Tig Notaro]

That would actually be a fun standup show is if you brought your material that never worked, and then you try really hard and other comedians give notes and, like, maybe you can.

[Fortune Feimster]

Yeah, you try to tell it again.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah, I would do that. I would do that. I would do that. You know, also, real quick, I was on a walk the other day, and guy stopped me, and he was like, tig, I'm Taylor Dane's manager.

[Fortune Feimster]

Oh, my God. No way.

[Tig Notaro]

And so we're gonna maybe try and do a video of me and. And Taylor Dane together.

[Mae Martin]

Well, we should get a question from her.

[Fortune Feimster]

I would.

[Tig Notaro]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Fortune Feimster]

I would love to know how many times people mention.

[Tig Notaro]

I've said that to her.

[Fortune Feimster]

Yeah, I mentioned.

[Tig Notaro]

Do you know how many times they say it to me? Every day of my life, somebody comes up and is like, it comes. Excuse me. I'm sorry to bother you.

[Mae Martin]

Oh, my God.

[Fortune Feimster]

You, like, made her even more legendary. I mean, she has an amazing career on her own, but, you know.

[Tig Notaro]

Do you love her voice as well?

[Fortune Feimster]

She's got a great voice.

[Tig Notaro]

I love it so much.

[Mae Martin]

Have I mentioned that I always think about your bit? No, Moleste.

[Fortune Feimster]

That one's a really good one, too.

[Mae Martin]

That echoes in my mind all the time.

[Fortune Feimster]

That was the first time I saw you. Tig was performing that joke in Montreal just for laughs in2010, I want to say. Yeah, I was. I had. I knew you, but I had not seen you perform. And that was the first time I saw you perform live.

[Tig Notaro]

Interesting. Did we. We didn't meet, huh?

[Fortune Feimster]

We didn't mean. No, no.

[Tig Notaro]

We were like.

[Fortune Feimster]

I think we ended up meeting, like, a year later.

[Mae Martin]

Except the past, the present, and the future could be happening at the same time. They're saying now, so maybe you had already met.

[Tig Notaro]

Who are they people saying this?

[Mae Martin]

Harvard scientists that. I saw a headline. Harvard Scientists agree. The past, the present, and the future are happening at the same time. It kind of checks out right intuitively, don't you kind of go, yeah, yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

I mean, I buy anything.

[Mae Martin]

Yeah. Like, I kind of. Yeah.

[Fortune Feimster]

You know, I mean, you tell me that, and I'm just like, I don't know what that means, but okay. I was like, okay, if. If maybe is buying into it. Sure.

[Tig Notaro]

So should we see what Mr. Booster has to say?

[Fortune Feimster]

Yeah, Booster. By the way, the Fire island was such a good movie. Did y' all watch that?

[Mae Martin]

Yes. I loved it.

[Fortune Feimster]

I loved it. Those handsome fellas prancing around in their Speedos in Fire island being hilarious.

[Mae Martin]

Yeah.

[Fortune Feimster]

So good.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Okay. Have I ever had a joke that does not connect with the audience? Hell, yeah. The real question is, which one do I talk about? I guess the most recent example for me is a joke in which I talk about how I couldn't go back in time and kill baby Hitler, but instead I would go back to when he was a teenager and encourage his art to. And it, to me, is a very funny joke. There's a lot of acting out in it. There's a lot of voices and character work. And I think the reason it doesn't hit for a lot of audiences is a. The idea of rehabbing Hitler is not super welcome in this climate. And also, shockingly, I found this out. A lot of people do not know that Hitler wanted to become an artist. And so without knowing that context, it really doesn't make much sense.

[Tig Notaro]

Yes.

[Fortune Feimster]

Yes.

[Mae Martin]

The way I like the. Told it perfectly. So now I'm wondering, is it in the acting out and the voices and stuff. That's where he's losing people.

[Tig Notaro]

I wonder, I think sometimes also there's just that those trigger topics where people are like. Like as soon as you say Hitler, their buttholes tighten.

[Mae Martin]

Right.

[Tig Notaro]

Fortune, Marie,

[Fortune Feimster]

what they do. No. You hear that? Your butthole immediately tightens.

[Mae Martin]

Yeah.

[Fortune Feimster]

Your body just reacts very viscerally to this person. Obvious. For obvious reasons.

[Tig Notaro]

I was in Amsterdam with Stephanie and we had gone to the. Anne Frank's house.

[Fortune Feimster]

Yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

And we left with a brochure. And I was just looking through the brochure and it hit me. I turn to Stephanie, I go, that's not Anne Frank's house. The fact that it's called that. That was not her house.

[Fortune Feimster]

It was the neighbors.

[Tig Notaro]

It was. She was in hiding there.

[Mae Martin]

Yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

She wouldn't come back and be like, oh my God, there's my old house.

[Fortune Feimster]

You know what I mean?

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah.

[Mae Martin]

That's not factually correct.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah. Like, could you change that off of the brochure, please?

[Mae Martin]

Well, do you remember when Justin Bieber went there and he wrote in the guest book, Anne would have been a Belieber.

[Tig Notaro]

Oh, no, I forgot.

[Mae Martin]

He did. And I. You could tell you in the moment he thought. Yeah. He thought he was writing something pretty poignant.

[Tig Notaro]

Anne would have been a Belieber.

[Mae Martin]

Yeah. Yeah. Well, when I went, I. When I went, I couldn't. I don't know. It's always weird those things, like just the way people.

[Fortune Feimster]

Did you write Anne would have been a May Leverage.

[Mae Martin]

No, I just couldn't believe the way people were like taking pictures and laughing and joking and yelling at their kids. And I was like, can we have some reverence here? Like, I don't know. It always makes me think of the story of my parents have. I think I've told it before when they went on a tour of Auschwitz and there was this couple there who were arguing, whispering, arguing the whole tour being like, well, I told you not to leave it in the car. And then finally the husband just snaps and goes, well, you've ruined Auschwitz.

[Tig Notaro]

No, no, May, that didn't happen.

[Mae Martin]

Does my parents swear that happened. And it is a pretty good anecdote, but people are so self absorbed.

[Fortune Feimster]

Well, I feel, Yeah. I feel like they just aren't really grasping. Like they're just treating it like a museum of like. Yeah, you're looking at a painting, you're. Without really connecting what happened there.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah. What you're actually looking at. That's how I feel naming it. And Frank's house is there's a disconnect there, because that is not her house.

[Mae Martin]

Right.

[Tig Notaro]

It's like they wanted a catchy not her House.

[Mae Martin]

Yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

Anyway, there we are. I don't know.

[Fortune Feimster]

So maybe one. Maybe somebody end up doing that show where everyone brings their terrible jokes and somehow turns them into either a fun one night only situation or those jokes go on to be real big hits.

[Mae Martin]

Well, Tig, you had the idea of a tour called Not My Best or something.

[Fortune Feimster]

Oh, yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

This is not.

[Fortune Feimster]

When you were starting out.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah, this is not my best.

[Fortune Feimster]

Yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

I guess I should be calling it that. No, I'm gonna run people off from coming to my tour. Yeah, no, my tour has been really fun.

[Mae Martin]

Call it Top of my Game.

[Fortune Feimster]

You might. I mean, I think all of us, I would say the three of us probably all are slower to write, but we. But we always get there.

[Mae Martin]

Yeah. I love chatting to people and I love doing the, like a question bucket and improvising. So then I. I'm not disciplined enough about really honing the jokes because I. I like to get a laugh from a joke failing too. So I'm like, I just let it be fat for so long, like with. And then I. It takes ages. Yeah.

[Fortune Feimster]

I really would like one more story for my current tour, but nothing of any excitement.

[Tig Notaro]

Oh, I have a good idea to me.

[Fortune Feimster]

What?

[Tig Notaro]

You could do the tits out tub. No.

[Fortune Feimster]

May dub real hard with that.

[Tig Notaro]

You with your kink.

[Fortune Feimster]

No.

[Tig Notaro]

Your alcohol margarita story.

[Fortune Feimster]

No, there's no way. I got in the tits out tub the other day. Tits out hot tub. Tits out tub. Title. Hot tub. The other night.

[Tig Notaro]

Oh, my God.

[Fortune Feimster]

Kind of hope. I was kind of hoping that, like, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it's not as bad as I remembered. And I was like, nope, still tits out.

[Tig Notaro]

Tits out tub. And you're topless at home.

[Fortune Feimster]

You know me.

[Tig Notaro]

Are you just fully out? But what is it? I can't remember. Usually it's shirt.

[Fortune Feimster]

No. Pants.

[Tig Notaro]

What?

[Fortune Feimster]

Like Porky Pig.

[Tig Notaro]

Really? No, but wait, I can't remember. Are you naked or are you just naked?

[Fortune Feimster]

No, I'm never naked.

[Tig Notaro]

You and your little frilly onesie.

[Fortune Feimster]

Yeah, one piece. Even in the hot tub, I'm. I have my lesbian swimsuit on.

[Mae Martin]

Okay, but which is T shirt and shorts.

[Fortune Feimster]

Yeah, yeah. Sleeveless, cut off.

[Tig Notaro]

Oh, hello.

[Fortune Feimster]

I got show. My God, there's. Hold on.

[Mae Martin]

Go.

[Fortune Feimster]

Go to YouTube or YouTube or Hulu.

[Tig Notaro]

Yes, please.

[Fortune Feimster]

But. But my body is out of the water. Significantly.

[Tig Notaro]

Your tits.

[Fortune Feimster]

My tits are out.

[Tig Notaro]

Tits out. Tap.

[Fortune Feimster]

That's right. So I don't know I mean, I think I could pay a lot of money to get it fixed, but it's a matter of do I want to go down that road? We'll see.

[Mae Martin]

Well, why don't you pay money to have your tits surgically lowered?

[Tig Notaro]

I was going to say you could have your tits f.

[Fortune Feimster]

I'm gonna be the only person in history to get them lowered and not lifted.

[Mae Martin]

You gotta fit them in.

[Tig Notaro]

Well, you get that for free.

[Fortune Feimster]

And time. Pretty low.

[Tig Notaro]

I was gonna say, in time, they. They go ahead and drop.

[Mae Martin]

Right.

[Fortune Feimster]

I've never had perky, perky teas.

[Tig Notaro]

Well, okay.

[Fortune Feimster]

The crowd goes silent.

[Mae Martin]

Mild.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah.

[Fortune Feimster]

I'm not known for my perky breast.

[Tig Notaro]

You should do an interview show called Tits Out Tub. And you interview people with your tits afloat.

[Fortune Feimster]

True. I. I'm keeping mine because I'm the only one of us that has any, and we need to. We need me for our honey love.

[Mae Martin]

Oh, yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

Oh, right.

[Mae Martin]

Yeah. One of our sponsors is a.

[Fortune Feimster]

It's honey love. Yeah. And so y' all need me.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah.

[Fortune Feimster]

My perky boobies.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah. Tits out.

[Fortune Feimster]

That's right.

[Tig Notaro]

So you could walk around holding them up.

[Fortune Feimster]

I could just like Kate Winslet for seven and a half minutes.

[Tig Notaro]

All right, Fortune, this is our first day on Hulu, and you do that. Sorry, Fortune. Marie, you do that on our first day.

[Fortune Feimster]

I'm sorry.

[Tig Notaro]

On Hulu.

[Fortune Feimster]

Well, welcome to the podcast for those who've never seen us before.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah.

[Fortune Feimster]

Welcome you to our handsome community.

[Tig Notaro]

Thank you for being here.

[Fortune Feimster]

Just know that it is always silly around here. We don't take ourselves too seriously.

[Tig Notaro]

Sometimes it's kinky.

[Mae Martin]

Sometimes.

[Fortune Feimster]

Sometimes we actually do get pretty earnest. But, yeah, it's rare. A lot of this, you're gonna see a lot of silliness. So if you're not into fun, silly, happy, good, positive times, I don't know what to tell you.

[Tig Notaro]

We really don't know what to tell you except to subscribe.

[Mae Martin]

Yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

Review and rate our podcast online on wherever you get it.

[Mae Martin]

Yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

Tell your friends. Share episodes. Help us build this handsome community.

[Fortune Feimster]

Build this community.

[Mae Martin]

I am on tour right now. Should I do that?

[Tig Notaro]

Yes. Yes, please tell us.

[Mae Martin]

Well, I'm on tour right now, and tonight I'm in San Francisco. If you want to come by, say hello. There's still some tickets left for Portland, Oregon on the 24th or Vancouver on the 25th. Denver, Colorado. There's a late show on May 8th, but check out MayMartin.net and also check out Wayward on Netflix.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah.

[Fortune Feimster]

Right.

[Mae Martin]

Now, how about you guys? What. What are you up to?

[Fortune Feimster]

I'm gonna be in Toronto May 8 at Massey hall and then Reading, Pennsylvania. And then starting in the end of May, I'm going on a little European run. Berlin, Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen, London and Dublin. Then in June, I'll be back in the states for Rochester, Minnesota, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Omaha, Portland, Maine, and Detroit. I love it. So go to my website for that.

[Tig Notaro]

I'm going to be in Newtown, Connecticut, Portland, Maine, Brooks, California, San Luis Obispo, Albany, New York, Peekskill, New York, Clayton, New York, Rochester, New York, Spokane, Washington, Eugene, Oregon, Colorado Springs. And the list goes on. Go tignotaro.com for all show information. And, you know, maybe check out that documentary I produced, very beautiful, about the incredible Andrea Gibson called Come See Me in the Good Light. Oscar nominated on Apple TV. Yeah. And also, did we mention May 4th? Netflix?

[Mae Martin]

Netflix is a joke. We're interviewing the cast of the Hunting Wives. And also just chatting, chatting to each other. So please.

[Tig Notaro]

Wait, what is that trophy?

[Mae Martin]

What is going on?

[Fortune Feimster]

I know that Tig got nominated for an Oscar, but that's a just for laughs. This is just for last laughs. Handsome Podcast of the year.

[Tig Notaro]

Wait, why didn't I get one of those?

[Fortune Feimster]

Did you like you? They never sent you one?

[Tig Notaro]

No.

[Fortune Feimster]

Well, me and Fortune got him.

[Tig Notaro]

We got them in person. I would like one.

[Fortune Feimster]

We should tell somebody, buddy. But yeah, I just. I didn't want to upstage your Oscar nomination, but.

[Tig Notaro]

Well, you just did.

[Fortune Feimster]

I did get a. I did get a ha.

[Tig Notaro]

Award. Thomas put that on the list. Did you ask them for my trophy?

[Fortune Feimster]

This is my one award and it's going right here. Yeah, right by my snow globe.

[Mae Martin]

Hey, you're really. The place is really coming together.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah, it really is.

[Fortune Feimster]

You can tell I'm a bachelor.

[Mae Martin]

Yeah, well, well, Love you guys.

[Tig Notaro]

Love you dearly. Not queerly. Until next time, what do you say we

[Fortune Feimster]

keep it handsome?

[Tig Notaro]

Hulu Handsome is hosted by me, Tig Notaro. May Martin and Fortune theme ster. The show is produced, recorded and edited by Thomas Willette. Email us@handsome handsomepodgmail.com. follow us on social media at Handsome Pod.

[Fortune Feimster]

What a podcast.

[Mae Martin]

That was a headgum podcast.

[Tig Notaro]

Checking Allstate first could save you hundreds on car insurance. That's smart. Not checking to see if there are some leftover beignets at work.

[Fortune Feimster]

Zootelure.

[Tig Notaro]

Now I'm back home craving a sweet treat, and I'm realizing I could have grabbed one of those delicious powdered pastries to go.

[Mae Martin]

Yeah, check in first is smart. So check Allstate first for a quote, that could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate. Potential savings vary subject to terms, conditions, and availability. Allstate North American Insurance Company and affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois.

[Tig Notaro]

Hi, I am Mandy Moore.

[Fortune Feimster]

Sterling K. Brown. And I'm Chris Sullivan. And we host the podcast that Was Us now on Headgun.

[Tig Notaro]

Each episode, we're gonna go into a deep dive from our show.

[Fortune Feimster]

This is Us. That's right.

[Tig Notaro]

We're gonna go episode by episode. We're also gonna pepper in episodes with different guest stars and writers and casting directors.

[Fortune Feimster]

Are we gonna cry? Yes, a little bit. Are we gonna laugh?

[Mae Martin]

A whole lot. A lot.

[Fortune Feimster]

A whole lot. That's what I'm hoping, man. Listen to. That Was Us on your favorite podcast app. Or watch full video episodes on YouTube or Spotify. New episodes every Tuesday.