Pretty Little Episode #65

Summary

"Handsome" Podcast – Pretty Little Episode #65

Date: November 14, 2025
Hosts: Tig Notaro, Mae Martin (Fortune Feimster absent)

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Episode Overview

This "Pretty Little Episode" (a shorter edition due to Fortune Feimster’s absence) finds comedians Tig Notaro and Mae Martin chatting candidly about their odd daily quirks, coffee mishaps, neighborly exchanges, and animal encounters before diving into listener questions about Shania Twain dreams and staying authentic as a creator. Lively stories, thoughtful advice, and lots of dry humor keep the energy up, even in Fortune’s absence.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Fortune's Absence & The Origins of "Pretty Little Episode"

• [00:54] The episode opens with Tig and Mae explaining that Fortune Feimster can't join because she's moving, lacks internet, or (as Mae jokes) "she's having an orgy."
• They note it’s the first time in the podcast’s history that the hosts arrived before their producer, Thomas.

2. Quirky Phrases & the "Inst" In-Joke

• [02:23] Mae shares an inside joke: whenever she or a friend uses an unusual word or phrase in text, they add "[inst]" to indicate "I never say that."
• Tig: "It was so subtle and not weird because other people say it all the time, but it would never normally come out of my mouth..." [02:51]

3. Tig’s Anti-Lid Coffee Routines & Neighborhood Observations

• [03:30] Tig describes why she never uses plastic coffee cup lids — she's convinced she's "pouring plastic into [her] mouth."
• This leads to comically detailed stories about constantly spilling coffee during morning walks, capped by a moment where she accidentally pours cortado down her neck:
  • Tig: "I'm scratching my neck with a coffee cup in my hand. Where else is it gonna go?" [05:31]
• Both hosts discuss the familiar faces and their unofficial “mayor” roles in their neighborhoods.

4. Getting to Know (or Avoiding) Neighbors

• [06:58] Mae recalls her parents' overenthusiastic neighbor-bonding in a Greek village, leading her to keep distance from her own neighbors to avoid too much friendliness.
• Tig shares the story of her neighborly exchange: jars of homemade lentil soup for Stephanie’s vegan banana bread — “Something that we’ve done for almost eight years.” [08:21]

5. Animal Intrusions at Mae's

• [08:25] Mae’s backyard turns into a “Disney movie” as a skunk, raccoon, and possum arrive together, drawn by cat food intended for a stray named Dean.
  • Tig: "That sounds like the animal lottery to me." [09:06]
• Tig mentions a friend who, against all advice, feeds raccoons, calling them her “children.”
  • Mae: "She got eaten by raccoons." [10:05] (jokingly)

6. Listener Question #1 – Where Would You Go with Shania Twain?

[11:30]

• Annie (Caller): "If Shania Twain appeared and said, ‘Let's go, girls,’ where would you be going and who would go with you?"
• Mae’s answer: Amusement park with “girl pics,” wearing a propeller hat, and references an intimate, comedic moment when Shania’s music played in a romantic setting.
  • Mae: "She can call me a girl. She can do no wrong." [11:45]
• Tig’s answer: Calls back to a viral party bus incident with "Glenn, Abby, Sarah Paulson, Holland Taylor... Amanda Kloots," joking that Ellison “hugged [her] so hard she broke [her] ribs.” [13:32]
• Tig also reflects on emotional significance:
  • "If Shania said, 'let's go, girls,' I would see that as an Andrea sign... Like, we're going to Andrea town." [14:16]
• Annie’s own answer: "Getting on a private jet to Australia, or brunch with her mom friends without the kids." [14:46]

7. Staying True to Yourself as a Creator (Listener Question #2)

[16:37] – Gabby’s Question:

• Gabby, a spoken word poet, asks, “How do you stay true to yourself and not cave into pressure to ‘stay relevant’ or fit algorithms, especially as an online creator?”
  • Expresses worry about the "hamster wheel" of content creation.

Advice from Hosts:

• Mae: Rejects forced content creation; instead, focuses on fostering creativity and collaborating with inspiring friends.
  • “It's thinking laterally. How do I cultivate inspiration in my life?... How can I generate more of that feeling?” [19:35]
• Tig: Strong stance on genuine inspiration:
  • "I can't make myself create things unless it comes naturally.. to actually sit down and force myself to find something funny, I can't do that." [18:15]
  • "I don't think it's good to think about [the audience]." [20:17]
• They agree: the most meaningful art comes from personal specificity and what excites the artist, even if it’s not the “relevant” thing.
• Mae: "When I think about the things that have really, like, lit me on fire as a fan... It's always weird. Like Pee Wee Herman... or Twin Peaks." [21:27]

8. Comic Brainstorm – Mae’s Next Comedy Special

• [22:01] Tig (playfully): "You accidentally just said the title of your next stand-up special: Sticking to My Guns... and you’re in a tank top." [22:13]
• Mae loves the idea, jokes about the irony of NRA fans being tricked by the title.

9. Podcast Philosophy & Sign-Off

• Tig sums up their “do what you love” philosophy:
  • “As artists and performers, you have to make sure you’re enjoying what you do.” [23:00]
• Mae: “That’s always the thing that people end up connecting with—the specificity.” [23:26]
• They thank listeners, remind them to submit questions, and poke fun at the “fun, dumb, and silly” nature of the show.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Tig Notaro:

  • "I'm scratching my neck with a coffee cup in my hand. Where else is it gonna go?" [05:31]
  • "I can't make myself create things unless it comes naturally... if something naturally strikes me, I make a note." [18:15]
  • "As artists and performers, you have to make sure you're enjoying what you do." [23:00]
  • "This show is exactly what this show is." [23:31]

• Mae Martin:

  • “She can call me a girl. She can do no wrong.” [11:45]
  • "It's thinking laterally. How do I cultivate inspiration in my life?" [19:35]
  • "When I think about the things that have really, like, lit me on fire as a fan of people, it's always weird..." [21:27]

• On their podcast style:

  • "It's dumb and it's fun." –Mae [23:46]
  • "Sometimes it's tear jerky." –Mae [23:52]
  • "Fun, dumb, and silly." –Tig [23:50]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Coffee & Lidless Mishaps: 03:30 – 05:36
• Neighborhood & Neighbors: 06:06 – 08:25
• Animal Antics at Mae’s: 08:25 – 10:23
• Q1: Shania Twain Hypothetical: 11:30 – 15:17
• Q2: Artistic Authenticity: 16:37 – 22:22
• Podcast Philosophy & Sign-off: 23:00 – 24:19

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Takeaways

Even on a scaled-down episode, Tig and Mae deliver a mixture of irreverent routines and sincere advice. Their stories and answers highlight the importance of authenticity, the comedy in everyday life, and the friendships that animate both their personal worlds and their podcast.

Transcript

[May Martin]

This is a Headgun podcast. You know what's smart? Checking Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds on car insurance. You know, it's not smart not checking the weather before scheduling your end of year yard sale. Nobody's gonna buy your old jeans and that guitar you never got around to playing if it's pouring rain outside.

[Allstate Announcer]

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.

[May Martin]

Friends on the handsome pod. Chatting with friends on the handsome pod. Cheers.

[Tig Notaro]

Hello, it's your friend Tig Notaro. I'm sitting here with my friend May.

[May Martin]

Martin joining you and Thomas again, correct?

[Tig Notaro]

Yes. Fortune is not here. We were supposed to do a full episode, but Fortune sold her house.

[May Martin]

She's moving. But then she said, well, her Internet's down. And I thought that's. She's having an orgy. Yeah, I know that line.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah. Well, she didn't say, my Internet will be back up at 10:30, but after I shower. But. But, yeah. So we have pivoted to. What is this? I was gonna call it a mini episode. Yeah, a pretty little episode. Yes.

[May Martin]

Also, today was the first time in Handsome history that we logged on before Thomas. It was Tig and I just waiting.

[Tig Notaro]

I was startled. I was startled. Yeah. I was like, wow, Thomas isn't here. Fortune isn't here. And we were just staring at each other.

[May Martin]

We didn't say a word.

[Tig Notaro]

No. We were like, it's you. It's you.

[May Martin]

How are you doing? Anyways, I've never said that phrase in that way. It was a really weird. It was like if I was cast in something that was the dialogue, they'd go, just do that again.

[Tig Notaro]

I did. I said something that made me laugh because I had never said that in my life. And I wonder what it was. I. I left Stephanie a message this morning saying, oh, my God. And I can't remember what it was. So apologies for that story that went.

[May Martin]

Nowhere, but I liked lot.

[Tig Notaro]

Thank you.

[May Martin]

I have a thing with a friend where if we use a word or something that we don't normally use in a text, we write in brackets, inst. So I N S T. And it stands for I never say that. So you'll be like, wow, that was appalling. And then in backwards in brackets, inst.

[Tig Notaro]

Inst. And did you make up inst.

[May Martin]

I think he did. I think he made up inst.

[Tig Notaro]

Okay.

[May Martin]

Yeah. Are you still trying to. You're still trying to remember the. Yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

It was so subtle and not weird because other people say it all the time, but it's that thing of like, it would never normally come out of my mouth and for some reason it did on my morning walk today.

[May Martin]

Was it? Yes, Queen.

[Tig Notaro]

I will jokingly say that. But yeah. Stephanie's still in London, so I have to leave her voice memos. When something funny happens. She always makes fun of me because when I get a coffee to go somewhere, I don't get a lid. Have I told you this?

[May Martin]

That's very interesting.

[Tig Notaro]

Well, let me tell you why. And I'm sure it makes no sense because of all the other toxins in the world and in the cup and in the coffee and whatever. But in my mind, if I have a plastic top on my cup and I'm pouring hot coffee into my mouth, then the hot coffee is heating up the plastic top and just pouring plastic into my mouth. More. More so than. So I don't get a top when I get a. To go coffee.

[May Martin]

Yeah, I'm on board with that.

[Tig Notaro]

Okay. And then Stephanie is so annoyed by me because I spill my coffee all day, all morning. When we're on our walk, I'll just. We'll be talking and having our coffee, taking our walk, and she'll hear me go, oh, shhh. And then. And she looks at me, she's like, oh my God, why don't you put a top on? And I'm like, no, no, no, it's fine. And today I haven't told her about this, but you know, I have my little cortado cup, which is so tiny. Yeah. And. And I lifted my hand up to. And if you're on YouTube, you can see the act out head on over for this is very important. I have my little cup in my hand and I have an itch on my neck and I use the hand that had the cup to itch on my neck. And the coffee came out of a cup not just on my hands, but down my neck and on my shirt. And I was laughing so hard by myself because I was thinking if Stephanie was with me, she would be annihilating me because it's, it's. I'm like, it. It's a bad character. And I think for sure this time I'm going to be able to finish our walk without getting coffee all over myself. And it's impossible.

[May Martin]

It's very like Kramer almost. It's like a. It's like a Quirk that I sort of like. Of course it poured down your neck.

[Tig Notaro]

I'm scratching my neck with a coffee cup in my hand. Where else is it gonna go?

[May Martin]

A full, lidless coffee.

[Tig Notaro]

Yes.

[May Martin]

I always feel really free and thrilled when you're rushing out the door in the morning and you get in the car, in my case, the Uber, and you have a mug of coffee, and you bring the mug with you. That always feels really, really cool and bold. I like that.

[Tig Notaro]

Oh, my God. There's so many times I didn't even mean to be cool or bold where I've just walked out our door with Stephanie, and we're, like, halfway down the street, and I'm like, oh, my God, I have my coffee mug.

[May Martin]

Yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

But I don't continue with it. I do bring it home because we usually walk for about an hour in the morning.

[May Martin]

Do you mix up your. I want to say root, but would you say route?

[Tig Notaro]

I say route, but I know what a root is. And so I know what you're asking me. And when I mix it up, I just. I zigzag different streets at different times in different ways, but it's pretty much the same.

[May Martin]

Yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

I am such the mayor of the town, and I'm sure everyone in town is the mayor of town because there's so many regulars of. This guy is always sitting at the coffee shop, and this person's always having a meeting outside of that restaurant. And.

[May Martin]

Yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

And it's very like, hey, good morning. Oh, hey, how's it going? So it's a nice feeling.

[May Martin]

I want to get to know my neighbors. I don't know any of them yet. They're mysterious to me. But I think it's because when I was a kid, my parents had this place in Greece, and they lived there for, like, five years.

[Tig Notaro]

Wow.

[May Martin]

And they were like. They made the mistake of getting to know all their neighbors right away. And just. It was a small village in Greece, and it was, like, constantly throughout the day, you'd hear. Cause my mom speaks Greek, and you'd hear these old ladies coming down the path. You'd hear their feet, and they'd go, yasser, Wendy. Wendy. Like that. And she'd be like, oh, my God. It was always when she'd lay down for a nap or something, and they were so nice. They'd come with, like, hon. Or like, some eggs from their chickens. And.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah, yeah.

[May Martin]

So Wendy Tikani is like that every morning. So I'm like, what if I make two good friends with my neighbors? And then.

[Tig Notaro]

Well, did I Tell you about my relationship with my next door neighbor, maybe.

[May Martin]

Tell me again.

[Tig Notaro]

Owen and his family.

[May Martin]

Yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

They make the most delicious lentil soup.

[May Martin]

Oh, God, I didn't see that coming.

[Tig Notaro]

No, nor did we. And they put it in a jar on our front doorstep.

[May Martin]

Oh, yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

And then Stephanie makes the most delicious vegan banana bread. And then in exchange, a few days later, we go put the banana bread on their front porch.

[May Martin]

Yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

And so that's been.

[May Martin]

I love that.

[Tig Notaro]

Something that we've done for, I mean, almost eight years.

[May Martin]

God, that's nice. My thing is, my problem at the moment with my house is. Is animals. And, um, you know, I have my friend Matt and his girlfriend in the back house, Leslie.

[Tig Notaro]

And Leslie is an animal.

[May Martin]

Leslie is a skunk. No, she's, like, befriended this stray cat, which is great. And they. He had worms and they got him medicine. Like, they're really. And he's. He's so friendly. His name is Dean. We name him Dean. And then. But she's getting a little bold and leaving him food out at night. And I went out the other day and it was like a Disney movie where. I'm not kidding. At the same time, there was a skunk, a racc, and a possum. Like, they were hanging out.

[Tig Notaro]

That sounds like the animal lottery to me. I mean, like, you pull the latch and all three of those show up. Yeah.

[May Martin]

And they were all just hanging.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah.

[May Martin]

And it's a little. It's a. It's too wild back there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm like, this is getting crazy. There was an owl that kind of dive bombed Leslie. Yeah. The raccoon's not scared of people at all.

[Tig Notaro]

He gets.

[May Martin]

And they're sniffing around for the cat food, so I don't know. I gotta lay down the law.

[Tig Notaro]

I have a friend that has just fully gone with it.

[May Martin]

Oh, really?

[Tig Notaro]

Like with raccoons.

[May Martin]

Oh, interesting.

[Tig Notaro]

And she has. You should follow her. It is the most hilarious thing. Everybody would tell you, do not feed raccoons.

[May Martin]

Yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

Her entire back patio is like 10 raccoons. And they, like, bang on her door and. And she calls them her children. She's so funny. I actually haven't seen a post of hers in a while, but I'm certain there.

[May Martin]

She got eaten by raccoons.

[Tig Notaro]

Oh, probably. I think also there's skunks in the mix, but she just goes for she does not follow any rules. And I'm sure there's gonna be people that are gonna get upset hearing this and yell at us, but I'm not doing It. Becky is doing it.

[May Martin]

This is not.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah, no. Yeah. But they are cute.

[May Martin]

But until they're not. You know, until they.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah.

[May Martin]

Charge you.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah, it's kind of like Thomas. He's eating.

[Fortune Feimster]

Charge.

[Tig Notaro]

He charged. He will. He will charge you. I. I told you. Yeah. Yeah.

[May Martin]

That's why you can't. You can't feed him too much, or else he'll get too comfortable.

[Tig Notaro]

But when you do feed him and you say, you want to bite of this, what does he say?

[Fortune Feimster]

Yes.

[May Martin]

Yes, please.

[Tig Notaro]

Yes, please.

[Allstate Announcer]

You know what's smart? Checking Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds on car insurance. You know what's not smart? Not checking if you've got some doggy bags before taking the pup out for a walk. Let's all pitch in to keep the neighborhood sidewalks as clean as they can be.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah.

[May Martin]

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]

All right, let's. Let's hear it. First one.

[May Martin]

Hi.

[Annie (Caller)]

Make Fortune and Tig. This is Annie. My question for you is, if Shania Twain appeared in front of you and said, let's go, girls, where would you be going and who would you be going with?

[May Martin]

Great question. Well, first of all, I'd have a little chat about gender, but I. You know, Shania can call me. She can call me a girl. She can do no wrong. Wow. Okay. Who would you go with and. And where? I think I'm going to an amusement park. Like a. Like, roller coasters. And I'm taking a lot of girls pics, you know, and you're gonna have.

[Tig Notaro]

Your propeller hat on.

[May Martin]

Yes. Spinning on the coasters. And. And it's gonna be like a montage of. Actually, can I say, and this is maybe tmi. But I was.

[Fortune Feimster]

Wait.

[Tig Notaro]

Do you know my whole feeling about tmi?

[May Martin]

No. Tell me.

[Tig Notaro]

Well, TMI is too little information.

[May Martin]

Yeah, you're right. You're right. I like it. I was in a sexual situation, and I never know what music to put on. And this person put on a playlist, and Shania came on the list at a sort of crucial moment in the encounter.

[Tig Notaro]

Was it let's go, girls?

[May Martin]

It was indeed. And it was really a good moment. She was like, I'm gonna change the song. And I was like, don't.

[Tig Notaro]

What about Whose bed have your boots been under? Do you know that song?

[May Martin]

No.

[Tig Notaro]

Oh, that's a Shania song.

[May Martin]

Who's your sort of crew of girls tag and what girls outing? I feel like for you, it's that party bus with, like.

[Tig Notaro]

I mean, that. That's. I mean, May is referencing a viral party bus video that happened. A lot of really fun friends were on that. Who. Who was that? Glenn, Abby, Sarah Paulson, Holland Taylor.

[May Martin]

Holland Taylor.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah. Amanda Kloots.

[May Martin]

And you know who hugged you?

[Tig Notaro]

Oh, yeah. Ellison. Janet. There was a whole gaggle of people. I mean.

[May Martin]

Yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

But, yeah. Not only did she hug me, she broke my ribs.

[May Martin]

Yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah. And, you know, sent me flowers.

[May Martin]

But that's the crew that you got to assemble. I think if.

[Tig Notaro]

If I hear let's go, girls.

[May Martin]

Yeah. Shania.

[Tig Notaro]

I guess. I guess that's right. But also, I can't help but think. I mean, Shania, I'm so still, deeply in the world of, you know, Shania's song was Andrea and Meg's song. And I think if Shania said, let's go, girls, I would see that as an Andrea sign.

[Allstate Announcer]

Right.

[Tig Notaro]

You know?

[May Martin]

Yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

Like, we're going to Andrea town.

[May Martin]

Yes.

[Tig Notaro]

You know.

[May Martin]

Yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

And I would assemble our. Our gals.

[May Martin]

That's a good answer.

[Fortune Feimster]

Yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah. But I do. I do love me some Shania.

[May Martin]

Yeah, me too. She has so many hits that you forget about, too, so.

[Tig Notaro]

In fact, some of you don't even know.

[May Martin]

Yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

Like, whose bed have your boots been under?

[May Martin]

I actually only know two. Should we hear Annie's answer?

[Tig Notaro]

Annie, give it to us.

[Annie (Caller)]

My answer would be, ideally, maybe getting on a private jet with some of my girlfriends and going to somewhere crazy like Australia. But, you know, if we were on a budget, perhaps just getting together with my mom friends and going to brunch without our children. Anyways, love you guys. You guys make me giggle every day on my way to and from daycare. Bye.

[Tig Notaro]

Oh, she was giggling on her way out. Yeah.

[May Martin]

Have a little mimosa with the. With your mom friends.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah.

[May Martin]

Or go to Rise Up Lights.

[Tig Notaro]

Right? Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Good thing Fortune's not on this episode, or else we would have been derailed with some Rise of Lights. Rise Up Lights and Gina Philope. I can't do it. I think the closest thing I have to my gaggle of girls is, as we've talked about, I have childhood friends that I'm very tight with.

[May Martin]

Yeah. I think that's probably who I would take as well. I'd take. Yeah. Childhood friends.

[Tig Notaro]

You know what I do? I pack them all in the lesbian party bus and take them to a Shania Twain party or a concert. That's exactly what I would do.

[May Martin]

Yeah, it's sad that neither of us picked handsome like you, me and Fortune on an outing.

[Tig Notaro]

Let's go, ladies.

[May Martin]

Yeah, let's go, girls. And me.

[Tig Notaro]

I used to do this stand up show at the Improv. I think actually it was in a few different places when I first started out and it was called Pretty Funny Women.

[May Martin]

Okay.

[Tig Notaro]

And. And I used to call it Pretty Funny Women And Tig, that's good.

[May Martin]

Listen. It's a spectrum.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah, it sure is.

[May Martin]

Should we hear another one?

[Tig Notaro]

I think we should.

[Fortune Feimster]

Good morning, Fortune, May and Tig. My name is Gabby and I'm a pretty little lady who's originally from Wichita, Kansas. Shout out to my mama who also listens to this podcast. I am looking for some advice as an aspiring artist. So, recently I started sharing my work on TikTok. I do spoken word poetry and I find video footage online and edit it and then I put my voice over it. My question for y' all is this. When you're putting out work for a wider audience, how do you stay true to yourself and not cave into pressure to maybe stay relevant or relate to a wider audience, even if that's not what you're truly wanting to do? So what I mean by that is I feel like there's a lot of pressure nowadays to, to burn and churn content, to post things, to fit an algorithm, or to stay relevant with more people. However, I only want to post work when I feel inspired and when something tickles my fancy and I want to share it with the rest of the world. And so I'm wondering, how do you stay grounded in yourself when there's all of these external pressures on you?

[May Martin]

Well, Tig, I know you're an expert on TikTok. Sure.

[Tig Notaro]

Are you on TikTok?

[May Martin]

No, I, I, I. Yeah, I think that's passed me by. I think someone set me up a TikTok account and I haven't done it, but I relate to the question a lot. Like, once you get in that hamster wheel of, of wanting to constantly have an output so that you can generate momentum. But I don't think that's a good approach. I think it's okay to go quiet and then, and then only do stuff that you're. I mean, it's tough, though, in this.

[Tig Notaro]

I think it just depends on what you're looking for if you want to have that hamster wheel, like financial security, where you're like this churning stuff out and, and, But I can't I just. I can't make myself create things, but I certainly. I mean, I guess I could force myself, but I just don't enjoy that process. I like when I'm kind of. I'm at an interesting place right now in that I have material that I haven't found fully explored. It's just bits and pieces. And I was actually thinking this morning that I need to sit down and see how much deeper I can go with these concepts and just any other twists and turns I just haven't thought about. But like, to actually sit down and. And force myself to find something funny, I can't do that. But if something. I mean, I could do that. I don't like to do that. But if something naturally strikes me, I make a note, I write it down, and then I explore it later. But I have to do it naturally or else it just does not feel good to me.

[May Martin]

Yeah, I think I feel similarly. So maybe the answer for her, though, if you're doing. If you're doing short form, content with spoken word, is like. And you don't want to do it if you're not inspired. So rather than forcing yourself to do it, it's thinking laterally. How do I cultivate inspiration in my life? How do I make that percentage of time that I'm feeling creative and sparkly, and what makes me feel like that? And how can I generate more of that feeling? What people do, I like collaborating with. That's always a good thing. If you're like, I got nothing, but you have a friend who makes you feel funny or creative and you can. And get you out of your head. I don't know.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah, I personally don't. I don't think it's good to think about. And this isn't like a negative against the audience, but I don't think it's good to think about them. Yeah, I really don't.

[May Martin]

I do agree, Like, I especially. Well, just with my recent experience with Wayward, like, pitching it there. There was so much anxiety around.

[Tig Notaro]

Oh, Wayward, you mean the number one show in the world? Go ahead.

[May Martin]

There was so much anxiety around genre and tone and algorithms and like. Like, is it a comedy or is it a thriller drama? And you do kind of have to tone. Tune that out and be like, well, it's a story and the tone will serve the story and. Yeah. Because otherwise you fall into, like, tropes and things. Yeah, yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

Or you're just not connected at all to what you're doing. If you're thinking, oh, this is what is popular right now or this is what everyone else is doing or. I don't know. I mean, I. I know it works for some. It just. You have to figure out if. If that feels right to you or not.

[May Martin]

And it's easier said than done. And I know everybody's got a make a living too, but I just think if. When I think about the things that have really, like, lit me on fire as a fan of people, it's always weird. Like. Like Pee Wee Herman was. That was unlike anything, you know, and. And he stuck to his guns there. Or like, you know.

[Fortune Feimster]

Yeah.

[May Martin]

With a Twin Peaks or. You know what I mean? Things that are. Were just so singular. Yeah. Yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

And by the way, you accidentally just said the title of your next stand up special.

[May Martin]

I did. What was it?

[Tig Notaro]

I think you're gonna be very excited to find out that your next comedy special is called Sticking to My Guns. And you're in a tank top.

[May Martin]

Okay. We cracked it. And I've contoured the. Out of them. They're gleaming in the. Sticking to my guns.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah, sticking to my guns. Bang, bang in parentheses.

[May Martin]

Really attract the NRA audience. And they'll be so disappointed when they turn it on.

[Tig Notaro]

But the right audience won't be disappointed when they see your guns. Hey. All right. Well, that was a fun episode. And that was a little, tiny, pretty little episode coming straight to you from Tig and May.

[May Martin]

Thanks for sending your questions. Keep sending them in. Submit your questions and advice requests to speakpipe.com handsomepod we would really appreciate it. We want to hear from you.

[Tig Notaro]

Well, and, you know, I have to say, to follow up on that last question, this podcast is a perfect example of doing what you want, doing what feels right. You know, people have suggested, hey, interview people, or, hey, what if you do this? Or maybe you shouldn't do that. And it's not that we don't care about the audience. It's that as artists and performers, you have to make sure you're enjoying what you do.

[May Martin]

Yeah. That's always the thing that people end up connecting with.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah.

[May Martin]

The specificity.

[Tig Notaro]

So, anyway, that just reminded me of that because there's a million podcasts interviewing celebrities, and there's so many wonderful ones out there. But that's not what this show is. This show is exactly what this show is.

[May Martin]

Exactly. It's dumb and it's fun.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah, it's fun, dumb and silly, and.

[May Martin]

Sometimes it's tear jerky.

[Tig Notaro]

Yes. Every now and then. But that's what it is. So, yeah. Submit your questions and advice to speakpipe.com handsomepod and also go to handsomepod.com for merchandise. Yeah, share episodes that you love with friends that you love, family members you love, people you cannot stand. Send them an episode and say to join this handsome crew.

[May Martin]

I guess all that remains is to remind everyone to keep it pretty. Handsome Handsome Handsome is hosted by Me May Martin, Tig Notaro and Fortune Feimster. The show is produced, recorded and edited by Thomas Willette. Email [e-mail] and please follow us on social media at Handsomepod. What a podcast. Podcast. What a podcast that was a headgum podcast. You know what's smart? Checking Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds on car insurance. You know what's not smart? Not checking what time the tour starts when you visit a new museum. The only thing I enjoy more than a museum is an expertly guided tour through a museum. So you know I'm going to be waiting in the lobby at 10am sharp.

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