Handsome Podcast — Pretty Little Episode #71 (December 26, 2025)

Hosts: Tig Notaro, Mae Martin
Episode Theme: Lighthearted post-holiday reflections, listener questions, and comedically earnest life advice.
Special Guest Host: This episode is just Tig and Mae — Fortune's absence is referenced playfully.

Episode Overview

This “Pretty Little Episode” is a cozy, post-holiday catch-up between Tig Notaro and Mae Martin. The duo reflects on Christmas and traditions like Boxing Day, shares personal stories about musical instruments and reality TV, and, as always, answers listener-submitted questions with humor and warmth. Topics range from hypothetical laws to the ultimate “retirement job,” making the episode an embodiment of Handsome’s friendly, freewheeling vibe.

Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. Post-Holiday Vibes & Boxing Day Traditions

[00:48–02:41]

• Boxing Day Explained: Tig googles the origins of Boxing Day for her and Mae’s benefit, noting it’s not widely celebrated in the US, but has significance in the UK and Canada, with roots in giving boxes of gifts or alms to service workers or the poor.

  • Tig: “It’s named after the practice of giving Christmas boxes filled with gifts, money, and food to servants and tradespeople who had to work on Christmas Day. Or, it could come from the church alms boxes…” [01:38]

• Comparing Holiday Sales: Mae wonders about post-Christmas sales; Tig points out in the US, big shopping days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday are tied to Thanksgiving—Christmas sales aren’t as prominent.

• Personal Habits: Both confess little enthusiasm for shopping and stress the appeal of homemade/artistic gifts.

2. Musical Aspirations & the Difficulty of Instruments

[02:52–06:22]

• Tig’s Home Studio: She reveals a new drum machine, adding to an array of instruments, aiming to compose complete songs solo:

  • Tig: “What I want is to be able to create a full song just by myself…” [03:48]

• Instrument Talk: They compare musical (and non-musical) skills—Mae pretended to play flute, but actually played trumpet in school.

• Admiration for Strings: The challenges and beauty of playing violin/fiddle are discussed, via stories about The Chicks and the Watkins Family Hour.

  • Tig: “As soon as that violin comes in, you just... you want to weep. Like, it’s so beautiful.” [05:44]
  • They fantasize about adding violin to their podcast theme.

3. Reality TV & Game Shows

[06:33–10:49]

• Survivor Obsession: Tig is a religious Survivor fan (“Of course. Every week.” [06:53]) and talks about the excitement for the upcoming all-stars season 50.
• Would the Hosts Compete?:
  • Mae would never go on Survivor or similar shows due to anxiety (“there’s not a chance in hell I would do that show” [07:44]), but is open to trivia/game shows despite the pressure of timers.
  • Tig offers this tip for surviving TV game show stress: “I think it’s always a good strategy to just...and say something really confidently because then funny stuff comes out.” [08:50]
• Deceitful Games: Mae shares hilarious stressful memories from Mafia, admitting to being a convincing liar “for the game.”

Memorable Moment:

• Tig recounts a fart-related anecdote from UK Celebrity Traitors—Celia Imrie’s “owning up” to an accidental noise lights up both comedians.
  • Mae: “I love that.” [10:35]
  • Tig: “Don’t you wish people were more confident with a well timed fart?” [10:37]

Listener Questions Segment

4. If You Could Pass a (Low-Stakes) Law …

[11:30–15:28]
Caller: Sarah from Maine

“If you could pass a law that’s not super high stakes…what law would you pass and why?” [11:33]

• Tig’s Pick: Ban the phrase “Okay, slowly backing away now”—especially in real-life convo.

• Mae’s Reflection: Not as irked by it, but finds it funny.

• Curriculum Reform: Both get thoughtful, wishing schools taught more relationship skills, emotional literacy, creativity, and financial know-how.

  • Tig: “We should be teaching relationship skills and schools and financial literacy and gender...and better history…” [12:51]
  • Mae: “Throwing in...empathy classes, and emotional intelligence, communication stuff.” [13:17]

• Funny School Policy: Tig tells of a school using “stars” for good behavior, forcing kids to “pay” stars to use the bathroom or blow their nose—both are appalled.

  • Mae: “Oh my gosh.” [14:48]

• Bike Law Dream: Mae would love a law to make biking safer and easier in North American cities.

Sarah’s Own Answers:

• Ban Christmas ads/merch before Thanksgiving (“just rein that stuff in”).
• Require everyone to redo driver’s ed every ten years.
  • The hosts agree this might be helpful, especially for older drivers and keeping up with changing norms.

5. Dream “Retirement Jobs”

[17:27–22:51]
Caller: Katie from Wisconsin

“If you had to have a retirement job, what would it be?” [17:27]

• Mae’s Answer: Something easy but social, like a greeter at a store—reflects on her mother’s fulfilling volunteer work as a USO greeter.

• Tig’s Answer: Teaching something whimsical to kids, maybe mythological stories or community theater; expresses her love of “giving pep talks” and a tendency toward leadership.

  • Tig: “Maybe putting on little local community theater shows with kids or with, like, special needs kids...that would be really fun.” [19:30]

• Katie’s Own Dream: To be a singing telegram performer, making up silly parodies for birthdays (“I love to just make up random songs, and I think that would be so fun.” [20:21]).

• Discussion: The hosts riff on how fun it would be to get fired by telegram, and reminisce about Valentine’s Day “candy bouquets” at school—a source of childhood anxiety and playful drama.

Notable Quotes

• Tig: “What I want is to be able to create a full song just by myself...” — [03:48]
• Mae: “I can tell you with great certainty there’s not a chance in hell I would do that show.” (on Survivor) — [07:44]
• Tig: “It’s always a good strategy to just...say something really confidently, because then funny stuff comes out.” — [08:50]
• Tig (on emotional skills in schools): “We should be teaching relationship skills…financial literacy…gender and better history…” — [12:51]
• Mae (on biking): “If it were more part of the culture, it would be something more people would do…I’d like that.” — [15:09]
• Sarah (Caller): “I think everyone should have to take refresher driver’s ed and pass the test again every 10 years.” — [15:49]
• Tig (on retirement): “Maybe putting on little local community theater shows with kids…that would be really fun.” — [19:30]
• Katie (Caller): “My dream retirement job is to be one of those singing telegram people…” — [20:21]

Funniest or Most Memorable Moments

• Instrument confusion: Whether any host played flute or trumpet—a running bit of musical uncertainty [04:34–05:07].
• Owning the Fart: UK Celebrity Traitors story of Celia Imrie’s accidental moment [09:43–10:42].
• Candy Bouquet School Memories: Mae and Tig reminisce about the anxiety and drama of not receiving a Valentine’s candy bouquet at school [21:41–22:50].

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Boxing Day discussion: [01:04–02:41]
• Tig’s drum machine; musical chatter: [03:04–05:44]
• Reality TV: Survivor & games: [06:47–10:12]
• Celebrity Traitors/fart story: [09:43–10:42]
• Listener Question 1 (pass a law): [11:33–15:28]
• Listener Question 2 (retirement job): [17:27–22:51]
• Valentine’s Day candy bouquet chat: [21:41–22:51]

Closing Thoughts

Tig and Mae close on notes of gratitude and encouragement, urging listeners to reflect, make resolutions, and “manifest” for 2026. The vibe is upbeat, silly, and authentically Handsome.

For more questions, advice, or just to join the fun, listeners are encouraged to submit new prompts for 2026 at speakpipe.com/handsomepod.