An Interview with Tig Notaro

Summary

Office Ladies Podcast: An Interview with Tig Notaro

Episode Date: November 5, 2025
Hosts: Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey
Guest: Tig Notaro

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Episode Overview

In this lively and heartfelt episode, Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey bring on comedian, actress, and writer Tig Notaro for an in-depth interview. The conversation blends behind-the-scenes Office stories, personal revelations, career reflections, and plenty of laughs. Tig shares what it was like to guest star as Tiffany’s mom in "Test the Store," her journey through acting and comedy, her experience as a cancer survivor, family stories, and the tale behind her now-famous watch. The episode is filled with humor, genuine emotion, and candid insights into the real-life experiences of its hosts and guest.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Fan Anticipation for Tig Notaro's Interview

• Jenna and Angela share that fans have long requested a Tig Notaro interview, especially after her role in season eight's "Test the Store" (04:08).
• Fan letters express admiration and excitement, with one asking, "Tig, why are you so amazing? How do I become more like you? And where do I sign up to be your friend?" (12:16, Rebecca D.).

2. Tig’s Unusual Journey into Acting and The Office

• Tig describes herself as "not a big auditioner," stating, "I'm not good at auditioning... I'm a standup comedian who has friends that have TV shows. And then I end up on them, and then it just kind of has kept happening." (13:56)
• She candidly admits she had never watched The Office before appearing on the show:

  "I hadn't ever seen The Office...I realized I didn't know who the characters were, so I didn't know who to direct the lines to." (17:34)

• During filming, she would accidentally direct lines to the wrong people in the conference room scene:

  "I was directing my lines in the wrong direction. And I was corrected, and they're like, 'Tig, you're looking at...' and I was like, 'Oh my God, get me out of this situation.'" (18:20)

• Tig later watched The Office with her kids, who became big fans—Dwight is their favorite character (38:26).

3. Unique Comedy Timing and On-Set Anecdotes

• The show's director, Brent Forrester, revealed that Tig's trademark slow delivery led to a typical exchange on set:

  "Hey, Tig, I have a thought."
  "You want me to talk faster?"
  "Yeah."
  "Every time they put me on camera, they tell me to talk faster. ...I can't." (33:44-34:23)

• Tig explains her slow comedic rhythm is innate:

  "The timing, it feels like a rhythm and a song to me...no, there's no thought. It's truly just how I deliver it." (35:10)

4. Overcoming Challenges & Developing an Acting Process

• Upon joining Star Trek: Discovery and Starfleet Academy, Tig struggled to memorize complex lines until her wife, Stephanie Allynne, developed a boot camp for her:

  "She basically said, when you get your sides...write out or type out only your dialogue...get it to where you can say it basically like an entire monologue...then plug it back into the script." (25:01-26:06)

• Tig credits this process with transforming her confidence and effectiveness as an actor.

5. The Impact of Cancer—Personal and Career Insights

• Jenna and Tig share an emotional dialogue about breast cancer, centering on Tig’s famous "tragedy plus time" quote and how it offered Jenna comfort during her own diagnosis and treatment (45:04–55:56).
• Tig describes how cancer made her more open, but also careful about how much she shares publicly versus privately.
• They discuss the complicated dynamics of support during health crises: friends who show up, those who cannot, the need for both comfort and normalcy. Tig emphasizes:

  "Any hard thing I go through, I'm going to be alive after this uncomfortable thing. ...but nothing feels better than...just being with somebody that you care about." (59:37–61:20)

6. Fun & Memorable Moments

• Angela tries to recall Holly Hunter’s favorite curse word, “sucker,” leading to a nerdy/funny tangent (29:34-30:34).
• The famous “Tig in space” motif. Angela says:

  "You are Tig, and you're Tig in space." (26:54) Tig: “I'm Tig in space. I'm Tig in the office, and I'm directing my lines to all of the wrong people.” (26:57)

• The “tortoise man” bit: Angela laments how she looks in hats, declaring,

  "I look like a little tortoise man." (58:50)
  Tig: "I look like a tortoise man. With or without a hat, I get called sir... Everywhere I go, I'm called sir." (59:00)

7. Family, Parenting, and Personal Stories

• Tig shares a touching story about her son honoring both his moms at a school assembly:

  "...they said, is there a woman in your life that is inspiring to you? And he said, my two moms. ...I was included in that. It was so sweet." (75:12)

8. The Story of the Watch

• Jenna noticed Tig’s Rolex in her latest special, leading to the story of how she received it from a former girlfriend who loved scars and gifted her the watch after their relationship (70:31-73:57).

9. Rapid-Fire "Call Sheet" Questions

• Tig’s first entertainment job: booking bands and working as a local music promoter (77:13).
• She plays guitar and drums (78:19).
• She loves nearly every small town she tours; cites Tulsa, Bloomington, and Indianola among other favorites (79:35-82:01).
• Midnight snack: Popcorn while watching sitcoms with her family—Friends, with The Office cued up next (83:39-84:55).

10. Tig On Her Career, Favorite Projects, and Star Trek

• Tig is proud of her Star Trek work and is excited by the enduring legacy and fandom:

  "That fandom is...it's like the Office...it's bigger, it's just been around for so long and you're part of that universe now." (68:08–68:13)

• She recounts being credited in unexpected ways (e.g., as “Tig Notaro from Garfunkel and Oates” after a minor role) (65:41–66:57).

11. Tig as Producer—New Documentary

• Tig produced a Sundance-winning documentary about poet Andrea Gibson and their battle with cancer, “Come See Me in the Good Light,” noting its emotional resonance and upcoming Apple release (90:22–93:54).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

"I hadn't ever seen The Office...I didn't know who the characters were, so I didn't know who to direct the lines to."
—Tig Notaro (17:34)

"Before you give me any notes, just know I have no range. But go on."
—Tig Notaro (34:23)

"The timing, it feels like a rhythm and a song to me...it's truly just how I deliver it."
—Tig Notaro (35:10)

"Comedy is tragedy plus time."
—Tig Notaro, as referenced by Jenna during her own cancer journey (45:04, 45:37)

"Any hard thing I go through, I'm going to be alive after this uncomfortable thing...but nothing feels better than...just being with somebody that you care about."
—Tig Notaro (59:37–61:20)

"I'm Tig in space. I'm Tig in the office, and I'm directing my lines to all of the wrong people."
—Tig Notaro (26:57)

"Popcorn while watching Friends with the family at night—then The Office is up next."
—Tig Notaro (83:52–84:55)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Fan Letters about Tig: 12:05–13:36
• How Tig Got Cast on The Office: 13:56–14:57
• Admitting She Hadn’t Seen The Office: 16:14–18:09
• Director Story: “Talk Faster”: 33:35–34:23
• Tig Shares Acting Process Boot Camp: 25:01–26:06
• Cancer Conversation (Personal & Career Impact): 45:04–55:56
• Angela’s “Tortoise Man” Riff: 58:50–59:16
• Tig’s Watch Story: 70:31–73:57
• Tig’s Documentary Story: 90:22–93:54

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Final Notes

• Tig’s Comedy Special "Hello Again" is available on Prime Video.
• Podcast Plug: Handsome with Tig Notaro, Fortune Feimster, and Mae Martin.
• Documentary: Come See Me in the Good Light, about poet Andrea Gibson, released on Apple (Nov 14).
• Tig on Star Trek: Filming Starfleet Academy with Holly Hunter & Paul Giamatti.

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The Office Ladies’ Takeaway

Jenna and Angela close the episode expressing gratitude for Tig’s honesty, humor, and vulnerability, celebrating both her artistic achievements and the way she’s inspired those who—like Jenna—face adversity. The conversation is both an insightful look into The Office’s behind-the-scenes world and a moving meditation on the power of comedy, support, and human connection.

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For more on Tig Notaro:

• Website: tignation.com
• "Hello Again" comedy special (Prime Video)
• Podcast: "Handsome"
• Star Trek: Starfleet Academy (upcoming series)
• Documentary: "Come See Me in the Good Light" (Apple)

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End of summary.

Transcript

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[Jenna Fischer]

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[Angela Kinsey]

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[Angela Kinsey]

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[Tig Notaro]

Hmm.

[Jenna Fischer]

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[Tig Notaro]

I know.

[Jenna Fischer]

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[Jenna Fischer]

Jenna and Angela here with some exciting news.

[Angela Kinsey]

Our holiday merch is here, and we are so tickled.

[Jenna Fischer]

You know, Angela spearheads our merch, and she has once again designed some adorable stuff. We've got brand new party planning committee sweatshirts so you can plan your next holiday party in true Scranton style.

[Angela Kinsey]

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[Jenna Fischer]

Angela pulled some very funny office quotes for the ornaments.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, there were a lot to choose from.

[Jenna Fischer]

But listen, hurry, because these holiday goodies are only available from November 5th through.

[Angela Kinsey]

12Th, and some of our selected items from our last merch Pop up are still available until they sell out. So hurry and go check it out.

[Jenna Fischer]

Head to shopofficeladies.com and grab yours before they're gone. Happy holidays. I'm Jenna Fisher.

[Angela Kinsey]

And I'm Angela Kinsey.

[Jenna Fischer]

We were on the Office together, and we're best friends. And now we're doing the ultimate Office lovers podcast just for you.

[Angela Kinsey]

Each week, we will dive deeper into the world of the Office with exclusive interviews, behind the scenes details, and lots of BFF stories.

[Jenna Fischer]

We're the Office Lady 6.0. Hello.

[Angela Kinsey]

Hey there.

[Jenna Fischer]

I'm very excited about today's episode.

[Angela Kinsey]

Same lady. We have been wanting to have this guest on for a long time, and it finally happened. Jenna, you want to tell everyone who we're talking to today?

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, yes, we are talking with Tig Notaro. Remember when we broke down Tess the Store in season eight? We were not able to speak with her and we got a lot of mail. I want to read you some. Kimberly T. From Utah said, please, please interview Tig Notaro for this episode. Your podcast and hers are two of my favorites, and I'm dying for a crossover. And Abigail D. From Boston said, special guest star alert. I absolutely love the sitcom queen Tig Notaro as Tiffany's mom. She's also been in episodes of New Girl, Instant Family, Community, and Fresh off the Boat. Such a talented standup comedian, and I was just so tickled to see her do such a great job on this show. Way to go, Tig.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, we were so excited when Tig was on set when we filmed this. We were thrilled she was going to be part of the Office. We were big fans. We're still big fans. And as Abigail said, Tig is a standup comedian. She's an actress, a writer, producer, podcaster. She's been nominated for a Grammy Award for her album Live. And her special Boyish Girl Interrupted was nominated for an Emmy award and a Grammy. She has written several stand up specials, is a favorite on late night talk shows, and you can see her in many television shows and films. Most recently, you can catch her on her new comedy special, hello Again, that was directed by her wife, Stephanie Allen. And she's on the morning show Star Discovery. And she is filming Star Starfleet Academy series now.

[Jenna Fischer]

You asked her a lot about it, Ange. Angela really geeked out on the.

[Angela Kinsey]

I mean, it's.

[Tig Notaro]

It's.

[Angela Kinsey]

This is a huge, huge show to be a part of.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's a big deal. And we also got a lot of mail from you all about it.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

She was also in Justin Noble and Mindy Kaling's show Sex Lives of College Girls on Netflix.

[Jenna Fischer]

While Mindy is a very big fan of Tig, we shared when we broke down Test the store that it was Mindy who requested Tig for the role of Tiffany's mom.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, and I went back and rewatched Test the store's Superfan episode on Peacock. Tig's scene has an extra couplet of dialogue and it cracked me up. I thought we should hear it now. If your attacker is willing to defile.

[Tig Notaro]

A corpse, you better stop playing dead right away and just make it known that you're alive. Forgive me for interrupting. I believe my daughter had an altercation with somebody here. Some fancy gentleman with a squeaky voice.

[Angela Kinsey]

I think you guys might have the wrong office.

[Jenna Fischer]

That's him.

[Tig Notaro]

The guy I hit.

[Angela Kinsey]

What?

[Tig Notaro]

What?

[Jenna Fischer]

You've gotta be kidding me.

[Angela Kinsey]

Poor Andy.

[Jenna Fischer]

First you got beat up by a.

[Angela Kinsey]

Gang, and now she kicks your ass.

[Tig Notaro]

Oh, Kevin, what about the lady you hit with a pine cone there?

[Jenna Fischer]

That chubby one. I just had a baby yesterday. Wow.

[Tig Notaro]

Apologize.

[Angela Kinsey]

Sorry I kicked your ass in front.

[Jenna Fischer]

Of your thin girlfriend. How about we wait till next year after you have your kid?

[Tig Notaro]

You know what? Tiffy's going to college. Listen, I don't know what you guys are talking about, but I guess I'll just accept your apology so we can get on with our day.

[Jenna Fischer]

Sorry I punched you. And I promise I'll take it off Facebook.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's on Facebook.

[Tig Notaro]

There we go. God bless. A friend of mine uses your paper. You do good work. Bye. Bye.

[Jenna Fischer]

Bye. I'm so glad you played that, Angela, because. Well, you'll hear in the interview. But Tig has a very unique point of view of shooting that scene. That is so funny.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes, her memory of filming it is hilarious. And It's a piece of information neither of us knew. She's never shared it before. But I love the extra couplet of dialogue about the fact that her daughter had uploaded it to Facebook.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. Further humiliation for Andy.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, everyone, why don't we take a break? Why wait any longer? And then when we come back, it's our interview with Tig Notaro.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, let's do it.

[Jenna Fischer]

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[Tig Notaro]

And this is Undomesticated, the podcast where.

[Jenna Fischer]

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[Tig Notaro]

Are you talking to me?

[Angela Kinsey]

We are.

[Tig Notaro]

Okay. I wasn't sure if, like, you needed to do a little something and then talk to me and then, oh, we'll.

[Angela Kinsey]

Do that, but we don't make you sit through it.

[Tig Notaro]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

We're like, hey, we've got a great episode for you today. Take us here.

[Jenna Fischer]

We did that already.

[Tig Notaro]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

But we're super excited to see you.

[Tig Notaro]

I am very excited to be here, Tig.

[Jenna Fischer]

We asked our listeners to send in questions for you, and we're gonna ask you some of their questions.

[Tig Notaro]

Okay.

[Jenna Fischer]

But I have to share that when I was going through the digital mailbag, I have not forever in the five years we've been doing this, seen the kind of letters that you inspired from people.

[Angela Kinsey]

And we've. We've talked to a lot of people, Tig.

[Tig Notaro]

Have you? This isn't episode one.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's our new spinoff podcast.

[Jenna Fischer]

We got a lot of not questions for you, just letters from people expressing their enthusiasm for you. And I'm going to read you one.

[Tig Notaro]

That's so nice.

[Jenna Fischer]

I thought it would be a good way to kick things off.

[Tig Notaro]

I hope it's a long letter.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's not. Oh, it's a short one, but it's great.

[Tig Notaro]

I'll still hear it.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's from Rebecca D. In Edinburgh.

[Tig Notaro]

Hi, Rebecca.

[Jenna Fischer]

Rebecca said, tig, why are you so amazing? How do I become more like you? And where do I sign up to be your friend? I don't have any questions. I'm just looking forward to hearing y' all chat. Also. F. Canc.

[Tig Notaro]

That is very nice.

[Jenna Fischer]

That letter we got over and over again with slight differences, but.

[Tig Notaro]

But it was Rebecca. Every time. It was Rebecca. You are so much.

[Angela Kinsey]

I'm like Rebecca D. From Edinburgh again.

[Tig Notaro]

But with a different accent in her writing.

[Angela Kinsey]

Spelled Rebecca different a few different ways.

[Jenna Fischer]

But you are beloved.

[Tig Notaro]

Oh, that is kind. That's very nice. Thank you for embarrassing me.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know. How do you do with praise like that? Because I always say something like, you're like, oh, your hair looks nice. I'm like, I didn't wash it. I Can't.

[Tig Notaro]

Or. Oh, nice Christmas pajamas. Oh, they're clean.

[Angela Kinsey]

I think that's from earlier off my convo. You guys. I dropped things off to the school this morning. In Christmas pajamas.

[Tig Notaro]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Don't judge me.

[Tig Notaro]

And I tried to get to this recording today and circled the building many times and drove everybody behind me crazy. But we're here.

[Jenna Fischer]

We're here.

[Tig Notaro]

And I dropped swimsuits off for my sons today.

[Angela Kinsey]

This is what you do.

[Tig Notaro]

That's what I do.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, we are so happy to have you here. And, you know, we broke down this episode that you're on Test the store during the strike, and we couldn't talk to you then. Cause, you know, we were following the rules and whatnot. But we always start our interviews and we ask people, how did you get your job on the Office?

[Tig Notaro]

Well, I went in and auditioned, and I'm not a big auditioner. Not because I am a fancy person. It is really the opposite, because I'm not good at auditioning, and I don't really identify or I haven't. I'm starting more so identifying with acting. But I'm a standup comedian who have. You know, I have friends that have TV shows. And then I ended up on them, and then it just kind of has kept happening. And I'm almost. I'm like 25 years into acting, and I still tell people I'm like, oh, no, I'm not an actor. I'm a standup comedian. And so I did happen to audition for that, because it's like, oh, it's the office. I'm gonna go give that a whirlwind. And then I got it. Which is not. I usually get a job if I don't audition, because I'm typically Tig in space or Tig in a cop suit or, you know, so that's why I don't audition.

[Angela Kinsey]

I like thinking of you like that now. Like, Tig's in the car.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah, that's right. Circling the building. Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, we know that Mindy is a huge fan of yours.

[Tig Notaro]

Well, I remember afterwards, Mindy was saying, oh, when you came in to audition, I was like, oh, we gotta hire Tig. And so I don't even know if my audition really mattered. So maybe it was because Mindy liked me.

[Jenna Fischer]

What was your experience like when you came to set then? Because this was early in your acting career. This was. You'd done Sarah Silverman, which is a little bit more sketch comedy, I guess. How was this?

[Angela Kinsey]

Because you were in the conference room with everybody.

[Jenna Fischer]

So Staring at you.

[Tig Notaro]

I was. And I told you before we started that I wanted to apologize ahead of time for my experience on the Office.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Tig Notaro]

It was. Everybody was very nice to me.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Tig Notaro]

This was all my doing. This goes back to me not really identifying with being an actor. And I also want to back up and explain something about myself that people always kind of roll their eyes and go, it can't. Not really. But really, I don't watch. I don't follow TV and film. Okay. I follow music and documentaries.

[Angela Kinsey]

We've listened to your podcast Handsome, which is hilarious. And so we know this about you.

[Tig Notaro]

It is very true.

[Angela Kinsey]

I mean, you didn't know who Selena Gomez was.

[Tig Notaro]

Yes, I said Lena.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, I know.

[Tig Notaro]

And it's true. Even the other. I produced this documentary where my friend, who is like a hardcore hairy armpit activist in the mountains of Colorado, didn't know, acknowledged on the documentary that they didn't know who Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen were. And Stephanie was like, there's no. My wife. Stephanie said, there's no way Andrea doesn't know. And I said, andrea's, like, doing massive activism, living in the mountains. And I'm sure they really don't know who Mary Kate and Olsen is. That's what I said.

[Jenna Fischer]

Mary Kate and Olsen.

[Tig Notaro]

Mary Kate and Olsen. And Stephanie was like, what did you just say? And I was like, what did I say? And she said, you said mary Kate and Olsen. And I was like, okay. So if I said that and I work in Hollywood, chances are my friend in the lady does not know who Mary Kate and Olsen are. So anyway, I just wanted to give that backstory.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Tig Notaro]

And now comes the embarrassing, mortifying part.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay, you're on set.

[Tig Notaro]

I'm like, I've learned my lines, which is a whole task for me. I mean, getting my lines down. I'm in a panic, and always I go onto set, and I hadn't ever seen the Office. Okay, okay. And now I'm on set filming the Office, and I'm, as you said, in the conference room with everybody. I realized I didn't know who the characters were, so I didn't know who to direct the lines to.

[Jenna Fischer]

You didn't know who Pam was? I don't know who any people are.

[Tig Notaro]

I didn't know anybody was. And it didn't dawn on me while I was learning the lines. And then when I walk in and I see everybody, and I had you.

[Angela Kinsey]

See Andy with the shiner, I see.

[Tig Notaro]

Everybody, and I'm like, I don't know who. And I was directing my Lines in the wrong direction. And I was corrected, and they're like, tig, you're looking at. And I was like, oh, my God, get me out of this situation. You know what?

[Jenna Fischer]

You have so many options of people.

[Angela Kinsey]

There's so many people. So many people.

[Tig Notaro]

And I was just going on a wild gas, like, you know what is so funny is that you remember this.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, now I will say this. I watched the. There's the super fan version of it now on Peacock, right? And it's pretty much the same as the original broadcast. There's one or two more couplets of dialogue. But now that you said it, because it's very fresh in my mind.

[Tig Notaro]

You.

[Angela Kinsey]

Look out at everyone and you look at people and you go, you make good paper here. And you're looking at the accountant, and you're sort of. Your gaze is kind of like deer in headlights.

[Tig Notaro]

Oh, it was.

[Angela Kinsey]

Because you have no idea who's making the paper.

[Tig Notaro]

I went over this with my wife when I was getting ready for bed last night. I said, stephanie, I'm doing Office Ladies, and I've seen the Office since then. My kids got really into it when they were four. They're now almost nine. So I'm getting ready for bed. And I said, I'm doing the Office Ladies podcast tomorrow. Do you think I should share that? And she was like, I don't know. And I was like. I said, I find it hard to believe that they would take it so personally and be upset with me. And she was like, yeah, you know, I'm sure it'll be fine. But she said this morning before I left, she said, make sure you let them know that you have changed and you research now before that, you're not that same person. So that's my secret. On the Office, I was absolutely mortified. It felt like one of those moments in life where you're like, I got caught. I got caught.

[Angela Kinsey]

Nobody knew. No one knew.

[Jenna Fischer]

It reminds me of the dream. Like the anxiety dreams. You have acting anxiety dreams. Do you have those where you're like, oh, my gosh, I have a role and I have to deliver a monologue, and it's now, and I don't know it, and I don't know any of these people. I've literally had the dream that you lived.

[Tig Notaro]

I haven't had those, I think, because I don't identify with acting, so there's not even that anxiety.

[Angela Kinsey]

You have so much. You say on Star Trek, and it's like engineer speak. And, I mean, I one time auditioned for a Sci Fi I don't think it ever made it. And I was so unbelievable. I love your character because I believe you.

[Tig Notaro]

I had to say something because it's Tig in space. Why wouldn't you believe me?

[Angela Kinsey]

It is Tig in space. I know. I tried a new version of Angela in space and it didn't work. I had to say something like. And it was so ridiculous. I was, like, showing my scar, and I lift up my shirt and I go. Got that from a tick tick in Sector Four. I still remember it. I did not get a call back.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, this was an audition.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes, it was an audition.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, for a show that now you think didn't go.

[Angela Kinsey]

I don't think it went.

[Jenna Fischer]

I'm catching up.

[Tig Notaro]

Yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay.

[Tig Notaro]

I wasn't even listening.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Tig Notaro]

No, that's not true.

[Angela Kinsey]

But I'm just saying you do well with, like, big speeches. You are an actor now.

[Tig Notaro]

Here's the thing. I was on a show called Star Discovery.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes.

[Tig Notaro]

That wrapped up and ended. My character jumped over to a new Star Trek series that I'm currently filming.

[Angela Kinsey]

Starfleet Academy.

[Tig Notaro]

Starfleet Academy, starring Holly Hunter.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know, I know. I'm so excited about this. I have a question for you. Go. I didn't mean to interrupt you.

[Tig Notaro]

Paul Giamatti is the villain. Incredible cast. I have really struggled with Star Trek dialogue. And on this series, I have a bigger role, and so there was more dialogue. And I was really feeling down on myself. Cause I was like, I'm struggling, and, you know, I'm on a show with these incredible actors, and it really. I was thinking, I need to, like, step it up. And Stephanie said, I'll put you through my boot camp, but you have to follow everything I tell you.

[Jenna Fischer]

What's her boot camp? Memorizing boot camp.

[Tig Notaro]

She was saying, essentially, I'll teach you my process, but you have to do everything I tell you.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay.

[Tig Notaro]

And so I did that. I was in Toronto working. I saw a new side of my wife I hadn't seen. We've been together 12 years, and she was no joke. She was so intense and serious about doing this, making it work. And I have to say, her process has changed my life. I mean, I had done all the typical things of running the lines over and over. I wrote them out a million times. I did it with other people, or I would record myself saying the other side of the lines. And I was struggling. And her process has made everything so much easier for me. And I'm excited to do not just Star Trek. And this came at the end of season one of this new show. I can't wait to go back to just a regular show where you say, hey, see you at the party, and, like, use her process. Because I even struggled with that kind of thing.

[Angela Kinsey]

I can tell you, Jenna is geeking out right now. I haven't even looked at you. But this one loves a process.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah, I love a process. I didn't care, but, like, I would be on those, you know, Emmy panels with the morning show, and I'm up there with, like, Jen and Rhys and Jon Hamm, all these people, Billy Crudup, and they're asking them about their process. And then I used to try and kind of fake it to be. And then I just. I went rogue one day, and I was like, I don't have a clue what's going on. I'm struggling through the whole. And I'm, like, making jokes. And I thought for sure people were gonna be like, you gotta. But they were all so amused, and they were like, we're bringing you on every panel. Because I just. I stopped after that first time trying to pretend like I was, you know, really. I can't compete with those actors that are out there.

[Jenna Fischer]

But now.

[Tig Notaro]

But now I'm excited to put you on a panel.

[Jenna Fischer]

You are not going to be all jealous. I have a process.

[Angela Kinsey]

You do. You have to share your wife's process. I mean, not here. You can save it. Because I'm sure it's like, I don't want you to have to share her process.

[Tig Notaro]

If it's special, no, I'm happy to, especially if it helps somebody. But she basically said, when you get your sides, which, for people that maybe don't know, it's just that scene that you're going to be doing. And, um, it's not the whole script. It's just your scene. She said, read it through and then write out or type out only your dialogue. And that way, if you get 10 pages, you don't panic, thinking, oh, my God, I have 10 pages. Because you're just looking at your dialogue, and you'll see. Maybe you only have seven lines in the 10 pages. And it can really give you an idea like, oh, I don't need to panic, because I just have these seven lines to learn. And then she said, just learn only your lines. Get it to where you can say it basically, like an entire monologue. And then once you have that down, then plug it back into the script to the sides that you have, and then you're fully off book.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's fantastic.

[Tig Notaro]

And I was like, wow. And she said, and when you've removed just your lines, you can see, oh, I do have a lot of lines, or, oh, I actually don't have that many. And that helped me personally.

[Angela Kinsey]

Right. It's less daunting if you can just see what your part is.

[Tig Notaro]

Yes. Yeah. And it was easier for me to plug it back in after I isolated things. What do you think of that process?

[Jenna Fischer]

I like it.

[Tig Notaro]

Do you?

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, I do. I might try it.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah, I really. It got me so excited. Whereas before, I'm in a panic every time I'm on set, and I'm not a panicky, nervous person, but I felt like an imposter, you know, whenever I was on set because I don't identify with being an actor and I don't have a process. I'm just scrambling every time.

[Angela Kinsey]

But you are Tig, and you're Tig in space.

[Tig Notaro]

I'm Tig in space. I'm Tig in the office, and I'm directing my lines to all of the wrong people. And that was just a nice. It's been a secret I've carried around for a long time.

[Angela Kinsey]

I'm so glad you could get rid of that. You're done with that.

[Tig Notaro]

Well, I don't ever want to come across as disrespectful, but now I think time and my career, I'm caught up and I'm like, okay, I'm an actor. I'll say it. Fine, I'm an actor. Especially now that I have a process.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

We got a fan question from Linda B. In Riverside, California.

[Tig Notaro]

Hey, Linda B.

[Jenna Fischer]

Who wanted to know, were you a Star Trek fan before joining the cast of Star Trek?

[Tig Notaro]

Well, the original series, my brother and I were both into, and we had all the action figures and things like that, but I didn't follow it after I was like five or something. And then my friend Alex Kurtzman, he took over the entire Star Trek universe and has helped EP and create all these shows. And he and I worked together at, you know, the director, Sam Raimi, at his company. I was an assistant there. He started out as an assistant and then became like a showrunner. And I went off and did stand up full time. And then he brought me in for a meeting, and I thought I was gonna do an episode or two. And then I ended up just being a recurring character on Star Discovery. But after the first episode, I really struggled with my lines. And I called Alex and I said, I know you said you wanted to use me as much as you can. And in my mind, I thought they'll probably use me once or twice and I'll go away. But I said, I want you to know I struggled really bad. And if you don't want to use me as much as you. Okay. Yeah. I was like, truly, don't feel like you have to hold yourself to that. And he said, if you're having trouble with the lines, I'll just make them even harder.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, no.

[Jenna Fischer]

What?

[Tig Notaro]

You just, you know, a friend giving me a hug, and he's like. And he also said, and your character will never die, so that's not around the corner. So you're in.

[Jenna Fischer]

Buckle in.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah. That's so great. Yeah. But now it's so fun to be in the Star Trek world. My gosh.

[Angela Kinsey]

I have to ask you about Holly Hunter because I just love her. You know, I'll never forget when she was on Inside the Actors Studio. You know, they ask everyone their favorite curse word and people just sort of say or ask. And she just looked right at him and said, sucker. I was like, what?

[Jenna Fischer]

That is brilliant.

[Angela Kinsey]

And I. I don't even really know that I really heard anyone say that. Like, out and about in the world.

[Tig Notaro]

You have not heard people say that?

[Angela Kinsey]

At that time, I was young.

[Tig Notaro]

Oh.

[Angela Kinsey]

And I just remember being like, how young?

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

I don't know, what, maybe early 20s.

[Tig Notaro]

And you had not heard anyone?

[Jenna Fischer]

We aren't buying it.

[Tig Notaro]

No. This seems.

[Angela Kinsey]

I was not familiar.

[Tig Notaro]

I mean, it was like, holly's not gonna buy that.

[Angela Kinsey]

No, for real. Like, I remember being like. I had heard a lot of, like, curse words, but I was like, sucker. I don't think of that one. That's like. That's fantastic.

[Jenna Fischer]

It is a unique favorite curse word, I'll give you that.

[Angela Kinsey]

Anyway, this is.

[Tig Notaro]

You guys mentioned nerding out, and this feels kind of nerdy about the way you're discussing that word. Oh, yeah. Like, you saying it, like, being like, I hadn't really heard that much. And you saying. Yeah, whatever. You were just saying it just felt very nerdy around an un. Nerdy word.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, anyway, I just remember being so surprised by it. And now you get to work with her, and I'm worried that someday if I meet her, that I would have that moment where you just go. And I just say something like, I loved it when you said she's gonna be like, what are you talking about?

[Tig Notaro]

No, she would probably hug you for like two minutes. She's very affectionate too.

[Angela Kinsey]

Aw.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

I mean, she's the commander, right? She's the captain.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah. She is the top dog. And she is man, she's just incredible. And she's also so fun. Like, before I left Toronto, we had gone out for lunch. That went five hours.

[Angela Kinsey]

No.

[Tig Notaro]

Yes. Yeah. Yeah. That's so fun. I mean, she's an incredible actor, and she's a serious actor. And she's also so fun and so fun to laugh with, you know, and talk to. And she's one of the most curious people I think I've ever met. And this. I'm always like, oh, this sounds so weird to say. Cause of course, you should be nice to everyone. But that's not always the case on sets, especially with somebody as well known and celebrated. But she knows the entire cruise, name their jobs, speaks to everybody, sits down like, two inches from their face, so interested in their lives.

[Angela Kinsey]

That makes my heart so happy.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah. Yeah. It's really. It's really a nice thing to come across in this industry. So I have.

[Jenna Fischer]

I had.

[Tig Notaro]

We're gonna pivot.

[Angela Kinsey]

We're gonna pivot.

[Jenna Fischer]

Hold on.

[Angela Kinsey]

We'll cut our whisper. Why would you cut that?

[Jenna Fischer]

I don't want whispers.

[Angela Kinsey]

Pivot, whispers. You gotta kill them.

[Tig Notaro]

We're pivoting.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, I got it.

[Angela Kinsey]

You got it. You found it.

[Tig Notaro]

I found what I want. Is it the watch?

[Jenna Fischer]

We're not at the watch yet, everybody. We're going to do it. We're going to do a question about Tig's watch, but we're not there yet.

[Tig Notaro]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Jenna Fischer]

Stay tuned. Should I go to my full voice again?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

You found your pivot.

[Tig Notaro]

I'm not going to stay there.

[Jenna Fischer]

I'm going to stay.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, I'm going to have a cup of tea.

[Tig Notaro]

Okay.

[Jenna Fischer]

Okay. Tig, there is a thing about you that is famous, which is that you talk slow.

[Tig Notaro]

Yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. You even did a whole bit where you tried to get an auctioneer to train you to talk fast.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Very funny.

[Tig Notaro]

Thank you.

[Jenna Fischer]

We reached out to the director of your episode, Test the Store, Brent Forrester, and he sent in an audio clip about what it was like directing you in the episode. And I want you to have a listen.

[Angela Kinsey]

Should we have given you a heads up? That's hilarious.

[Tig Notaro]

Oh, my gosh.

[Jenna Fischer]

You probably can see where this is going.

[Angela Kinsey]

For the part of the little girl's mom, Mindy always pictured Tig Notaro. We didn't audition anybody. We just offered it to Tig, and she was great. But at the time, I was concerned about the pacing of the scene.

[Jenna Fischer]

And after the first take, I walked.

[Angela Kinsey]

Up to Tig and I said, hey, Tig, I have a thought.

[Tig Notaro]

And she said, you Want me to talk faster?

[Jenna Fischer]

And I said, yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

How do you know?

[Jenna Fischer]

And she said, every time they put.

[Tig Notaro]

Me on camera, they tell me to talk faster.

[Angela Kinsey]

And I said, can you talk faster?

[Tig Notaro]

And she said, no, I can't.

[Jenna Fischer]

Do you remember this exchange?

[Tig Notaro]

I feel like it is an exchange I have on every set. Every set. In fact, it's gotten to the point where when a director comes towards me, I'll put my hand out and say, before you give me any notes, just know I have no range. But go on. What were you gonna say? I just. But it's always getting to that of like, okay, and now let's do it faster. And, you know. And I try, but, you know, I.

[Angela Kinsey]

Just think the beauty in your comedy is your pacing. I just love it. And I feel like I couldn't imagine you tell a story not the way you tell it.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah. There's a lot of talk about how. Just the connection between music and comedy. And a lot of musicians want to be comedians. A lot of comedians want to be musicians. And so much of that, I don't know. The timing, it feels like a rhythm and a song to me. The way, like, I can't. The way I deliver my material, it's not thought out. It's just the natural beat and rhythm of the story. And people have asked me, do you decide to pause there for two seconds, or do you decide to. And I'm like, no, there's no thought. It's truly just how I deliver it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Have you always had that cadence?

[Tig Notaro]

I mean, I've always been told I was slow and dry, but I think it's highlighted on stage in front of an audience. But it's not on purpose.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know. Just back when I did a ton of improv, you would do a workshop and you would teach these young improvisers. And I always sort of felt bad saying this because I was like, oh, they're all here to learn. But you can't teach timing. You can teach a lot of things, I feel like, for comedy, but timing is just something instinctual. I think, personally, I do, too.

[Tig Notaro]

And it's a very different timing on and off stage as well. I think that it's just highlighted a little more. Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

We got a fan question from Natalie L. In Boston says, I love you, Tig. Did you get to practice with the actress who played your daughter prior to the shoot day?

[Tig Notaro]

No, I did not. I. I was gonna say I wish I had, but I didn't.

[Angela Kinsey]

Did you know she was playing your daughter?

[Tig Notaro]

No. I'm kidding. I Honestly don't think I knew anything. Yeah. Like, why is she stealing?

[Angela Kinsey]

Why am I referring to her?

[Tig Notaro]

Get out of my scene, kid. Yeah. No, I didn't run it with anybody. And is this upsetting to the Office fans if somebody is like, oh, I hadn't seen it. You know what I mean? Like, I know there's rabid fans where they might be offended or something? No.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, that you hadn't seen before?

[Tig Notaro]

No, no.

[Jenna Fischer]

Because we've had a lot of different guest stars. Some people were like, I was so nervous because I'd seen every episode, and then other people were like, I knew it was a big show, but I hadn't seen it yet.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, no. And everyone's experience is completely different, so. No, you will not. You'll be fine.

[Tig Notaro]

But I do. I want to mention again that I have seen many episodes of the Office because we were just blown away that our four year olds were just so into it.

[Jenna Fischer]

Do they have a character that they were most like? A lot of little kids, like Dwight?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, I was gonna guess Dwight.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah, it was Dwight.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah. And I know who Dwight is.

[Jenna Fischer]

Rain, you're not just. You're not just saying sure, sure.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah. Who's. No, for sure. For sure.

[Angela Kinsey]

We also have this question from Colton S. In Vincent, Ohio.

[Tig Notaro]

Hey, Colton S. Colton S. Says, did.

[Angela Kinsey]

You break at all during the scene? Did you crack up? If so, who made you break?

[Jenna Fischer]

You might not know who made you break. Describe them.

[Tig Notaro]

I mean. No. I have to say, I. I mean, I think I. I'm always amused by Ed Helms. I mean, he is such a silly man, and I know people know that, but I think he's even sillier than. I don't know. I think once you know Ed and then you see his silliness, it's a tickle. It's a deep tickle. So I can just. I don't have a great memory, but I can just assume. I know he was sitting in the front row. I'm just gonna assume. I was tickled. But I was more so on edge, like, terribly on edge that day, because I really, like I said, felt caught.

[Jenna Fischer]

Did you know Ed before you shot on the Office?

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah. Not well. I think just through Largo of him doing shows there. And I did as well. You're right, though.

[Angela Kinsey]

He is really silly.

[Tig Notaro]

He's so silly.

[Angela Kinsey]

We used to do the stupidest bits. And I know that I could call him right now and do the stupid bit and he would do it right back.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

I told him this story one time about this Girl from my hometown who, if she really liked you, she'd be like, hey, you stupid twat. Ed lost his mind. And still to this day, we will say that to each other. And he does it right back the same way.

[Tig Notaro]

And I'll have to do that to him next. Oh, my gosh. Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

But you gotta do it like that.

[Tig Notaro]

Like I'm going down a country road.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, like she's laughing, like, between cigarettes. Smoke.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah. He's. I think he's. Even though people know he's a comedian, I still think he. It's surprising how silly, deeply silly that man is.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. In the best way.

[Jenna Fischer]

The holidays are coming up. That means a lot of people travel over the holidays, right?

[Angela Kinsey]

A lot. I mean, Thanksgiving is the most traveled holiday in the United States. I believe. I believe that.

[Jenna Fischer]

I believe that is true. Yes. Okay, well, how about this idea? While you're away, why don't you host your place on Airbnb and make some.

[Angela Kinsey]

Moolah, and then also, you're going to have some money for holiday shopping. How about that?

[Jenna Fischer]

I like how you transitioned that into shopping lady.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, here is who this is a perfect fit for. If you're someone who travels frequently, if you have extra space, maybe you're someone that has a seasonal home, or maybe you always go away at the same time of year for, like, a family tradition or work event. This is a practical way to earn money. While you're doing all those things, your.

[Jenna Fischer]

Home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at Airbnb.

[Angela Kinsey]

We love Instacart. We use it all the time. You know, it's more than a grocery technology platform. It's a care company. Yeah. Because it's designed to make life easier. It connects you to thousands of stores across the United States. With just a few taps, you can shop from your favorite stores and have fresh groceries and household essentials ready for pickup or delivered to your door in as fast as 30 minutes. We love it when we go out of town, we take a trip. And Josh always sort of plans our groceries so they last us right up until when we leave, so we don't leave anything going bad in the fridge. And then when we get home, we're going to need groceries. So we land, he Instacarts our order. We get home, we've got groceries waiting for us. Instacart brings convenience, quality, and ease right to your door so you can focus on what matters most. Download the Instacart app and use code officeladies20 to get $20 off your first order of $80 or more. That's code officeladies. 20 to get $20 off your first Order of $80 or more offer valid for a limited time. Excludes restaurants. Additional terms apply.

[Jenna Fischer]

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[Tig Notaro]

That's amazing.

[Jenna Fischer]

But I just have to say that. I just have to say thank you for that because I went back to it and it was your line where you say that comedy is tragedy plus time. I thought of that so many times in the very early days because I was like, no, I'm just in the tragedy. Yeah, but there will be time.

[Tig Notaro]

Yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

And maybe. Maybe there will be comedy again one day.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

And so. Yeah. What a. What a crazy thing.

[Tig Notaro]

Yes. And thank you for that. And I'm so glad that you're doing well. And I want to also make sure. And I tried to make it clear in the special that, like, that isn't my line. I just was repeating a line. Yes. That's like a famous but to have.

[Jenna Fischer]

You, like, apply it to your recent diagnosis was so brilliant.

[Tig Notaro]

I was. I was just rock bottom in tragedy and also trying to immediately do comedy. And I did not know how it was gonna go. Just like, I didn't know how. Nobody knows how life is gonna go, but.

[Angela Kinsey]

And the audience, in the beginning, when you said, I have cancer, at first they didn't know what to do with it. They sort of laughed. And then, my God, you just had everybody in the palm of your hand. It was so honest. It was just really beautiful.

[Tig Notaro]

Well, thank you. I always say it was truly the exact. Everybody was perfect in that audience. They carried me through because I had never shared such personal. I mean, when I was diagnosed, I thought I wasn't going to tell anybody. And I remember calling my manager and saying, I have cancer and I don't want anybody to know. And I had. I mean, just to even back up, prior to that, I had had pneumonia. I had this intestinal disease called C. Diff that's deadly. It ended up killing my stepfather a couple of years ago. And then I also had cancer. My mother tripped, hit her head and died. My girlfriend and I split up, and then I was diagnosed with cancer, and that was in four months. And I just. And it was actually shortly after I had met you, because I remember I was with my girlfriend at the time, and we had all had a really fun time and exchanged numbers and, you know, and then all of that happen. But, yeah, when I went on stage, I just was highly aware of how quickly life and health can just slip away. Just gone. And I was at a point in my life and with my health where I couldn't just take a Tylenol or something and turn my health around. I was just. It was terrifying. So when I went on stage, I thought, I love standup so much and I want to do it one last time. If this is my. I didn't know what was going to happen to me because my body was fighting so much simultaneously, and I had no idea what was going to happen with that. I had no intention of releasing that as an album. It just was all kind of a crazy experience. How it all went down.

[Jenna Fischer]

Did that change your approach to your comedy moving forward? Did it become more personal?

[Tig Notaro]

I mean, everything changed. But, yeah, I opened up in so many ways. I was so private when I was hospitalized with C. Diff, you know, and Sarah Silverman only meant good, but she had shared pictures of me to another comedian. And I was like, you don't show her anybody. I'm so. You know. And she was like, oh, my God. I didn't even think about it. Cause I would share that about myself. And I was so closed off and private. Whereas now I'm like, I would. I'd be like, oh, yeah, I looked like hell. I was on my deathbed. You know what I mean? I don't care. When I was first with Stephanie, I had a medical emergency and was in diapers, like, walking around in front of her. I kept joking about making a crinkle, crinkle noise when I'm walking around. But all of that made me let go of so much. But then also trying to find the happy medium of. I've shared so many things, whether it was through standup. I wrote a book, I wrote a TV show, there's a documentary about me. There's so many things. And I realized that I don't have to make myself completely available or share every single thing all the time and talk about silliness. I love silliness and I love lighthearted ridiculousness. And so after that time period, I was so thankful and I went on tour and I met with everybody after every show and thanked every. I felt so supported. And then I also realized, like, I'm not really that personality that can sustain this, you know, for this long. And I do direct people to the stuff I've put out. And also, sometimes I'll share things, sometimes I won't. And sometimes I'll talk after a show. And sometimes I'm just going to go back to my hotel room. So it's been a whole process of trying to figure out where I am and what I'm going to do or share, because I am an earnest person, but I'm also a very ridiculous person.

[Jenna Fischer]

So I'm really relating to a lot of what you're saying. I'm kind of hanging on your every word because I'm also a really private person. And I did not share about my cancer diagnosis for a year. And so I've only just shared, like, last October. And I sort of feel like I'm in that place that you're talking about, about the outpouring of support. And now I do want to talk about it a lot, in fact, in some ways, because when I was going through it, I wasn't emotionally processing it at all. It was just. I had to. Just one step in front of the other. And every time I got through one thing, like when surgery was over, chemo began, and when chemo was over, radiation began. And so I now have my port out and I've Done all the big things. I'm just on, like, a medication that I'll take for five years, which is what's giving me the hot flashes, which is why I keep taking my coat on and off in this interview and.

[Tig Notaro]

Cause you're terribly indecisive, and I can't.

[Jenna Fischer]

Decide if I want this coat on.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

No, I can't be like, is this the fit? Not the fit. Is this the fit?

[Jenna Fischer]

It's both things, and they're working against each other. But, yeah, I think now I've only had time to think, oh, my God, what just happened? Yeah, what the just happened to me? And so I'm doing that same thing where I'm figuring out, like, well, how much do I want to talk about that publicly? How much do I want to talk about it privately? I don't know.

[Tig Notaro]

It's a lot, for sure. I mean, it took me a long time. You know, I was backlogged with emotional distress. And because I was so guarded in my life, I remember, like, the news had come out that I was sick. And then as soon as I had a double mastectomy and the doctors felt like they had gotten everything under control, I wanted immediately to go on Conan and share that I'm okay. Like, I didn't want anybody to think I'm not okay. You know, I'm moving along, everything's all right. And that was kind of how I was going through life. And I took a job, and I was working on a TV show, and. But meanwhile, my mother just tripped and died. And meanwhile, I still have incisions, like stitches across my chest while I'm working on this new show. And I don't have a primary relationship, and I just. I was so lost and confused. But it took me a while to really catch up with what was going on with my body and my mind. And I remember I moved back to LA after working on that job, and I sat on my couch, and I felt like I was gonna fall off of the planet. I don't know if it was a panic attack, but I didn't feel stable on the couch. And you know what's crazy? This is also very odd. To tie it all back. March 1, I am confident is when my episode of the Office aired, and that was the first time I got any symptom. I remember I was home with my girlfriend, and my throat hurt, and I wasn't feeling well, and I just thought I had a cold or something, but I had gotten bronchitis or something, and then it turned into pneumonia, and then I had gone to get antibiotics, and that is what caused me to contract C. Diff. And then it just kept domino. It just kept going and going and going. But March 1, I sat and watched the episode of the Office. So I did finally see an episode of the Office. But that was the beginning. March 1st of 2012 was when my life just started to slide away. And my mother died on March 28, and I was hospitalized mid March. Like, right now, I was still hospitalized with C. Diff. But anyway, so it just took me a very long time to catch up, because once I went through and had my surgery and I moved out to New York to work on this show, and I just was trying to keep things going. I'm fine. I'm okay. No problem. I can handle anything. You know, I remember the moment you.

[Angela Kinsey]

Got still is when I almost fell off. It all caught up with you, the.

[Tig Notaro]

Face of the earth. I truly was like, what is happening? I felt so unstable.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, I totally get that. I also had this desire as soon as I told everybody that I was being treated for breast cancer. I wanted everyone to know I was okay. Yeah, I didn't want people to worry about me. And I also. I wanted people to know that I could still work. I was really afraid that no one would ever hire me again.

[Tig Notaro]

Same. You know, that's why I called my manager. I remember sitting in the parking lot. I had a loft downtown at the time, and I called my manager, and I said, do not tell anybody, because I really was so scared that people would take work from me.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, that's so sad, isn't it? Because I know what a worry that was for you, Jenna. And she went to such great lengths. We had all these meetings. We were changing. We were starting to meet with Odyssey, which is who we're with now for the podcast. And we had all of these zoom meetings. And Jenna created this wig hat. It was like a baseball cap with a wig that you.

[Jenna Fischer]

It had like my. My. My hairstylist came up with it. It's, you know, almost like a mullet hat. I was like, why can't I take my old hair extensions and glue them into a hat?

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

And she was like, you can.

[Angela Kinsey]

And you guys, what'd you call you had a nail wigget a wig.

[Tig Notaro]

It.

[Jenna Fischer]

And I had four.

[Tig Notaro]

That's amazing.

[Jenna Fischer]

I had different colors so I could switch them out. And then I also had these headbands that had hair, so I could put those on as well. I also had wigs because my hair was falling out, but I hadn't told anybody. So I did have some, like, awkward school functions where, like, a hat wasn't really appropriate.

[Tig Notaro]

Did you have any.

[Jenna Fischer]

But I wore it anyway.

[Tig Notaro]

Did you have any headphone wigs? No.

[Angela Kinsey]

For podcasting.

[Jenna Fischer]

I didn't. I didn't.

[Tig Notaro]

But that show up to your kids school and you're like, sorry, I'm running late. I have to record the podcast. I just forgot.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, well, I don't want to take them off now.

[Angela Kinsey]

No.

[Tig Notaro]

Because my hair will look weird. And it is my hair.

[Angela Kinsey]

No one. Don't be concerned. This is all real.

[Tig Notaro]

Nothing to see here.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah, no, but we would. I would sometimes just on zoom, I would just, like, put the camera in a way.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

So that you couldn't see the top of my head. And then I could just wear the headband way.

[Angela Kinsey]

And then I started wearing hats. And I'm not meant to wear a hat.

[Tig Notaro]

No.

[Angela Kinsey]

It makes. I just kind of look like a. Kind of a short, like, pudgy man. I don't know. My face is so round. Like, I put a hat on and I'm like. Like I'm like a little hard on yourself. Like a little tortoise.

[Jenna Fischer]

This is not true. She has a thing where she does braids with a hat.

[Angela Kinsey]

Because without the braids, I just look like a little tortoise man.

[Tig Notaro]

A tortoise man.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, I'm a tortoise man.

[Tig Notaro]

I look like a tortoise man. With or without a hat, I get called sir. Oh, ladies, excuse me, but everywhere I go, I'm called sir. Yes, I answered a lady.

[Jenna Fischer]

We are not calling ourselves tortoise men on this.

[Angela Kinsey]

All right, all right.

[Jenna Fischer]

We are going to be kind to.

[Tig Notaro]

We are office ladies today. We are not courtesy men.

[Angela Kinsey]

We are.

[Jenna Fischer]

Thank you.

[Angela Kinsey]

We are.

[Tig Notaro]

That's the spin off ladies.

[Angela Kinsey]

We're handsome ladies.

[Tig Notaro]

Yes. Yes, we are.

[Angela Kinsey]

But no, we did. We wore a lot of hats. And I just. I was just. Whatever. Jenna and I've been down this road a lot because it's hard not to get emotional when you don't know how to be there for someone you care so much about.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah. You know, I mean, but that is what you do is you just show up to be with your friend and whatever comes with that. In that moment, I remember my big experience, I guess, as a young adult was my very closest friend from my childhood, who is also the godmother of my kids. Her sister killed herself, and I was so scared, and I called my mother and I was like, what do I do? What do I do? And she said, you hang up the phone with me. You drive over to her house and you just sit with her. And I was like, okay. And I did. And it was so hard, and it was so uncomfortable, and it was all of these things, but it changed my life. And I am. Man, do I live by that rule. Like, I will be there. I will absolutely be there. And I always think any hard thing I go through, I'm going to be alive after this uncomfortable thing. I'm going to be alive after this hard phone call. I'm going to live through this. It's just going to be really hard. It's going to be really uncomfortable. But nothing feels better than hanging up the phone, driving over, and just being with somebody that you care about. And I had incredible friends. I don't know how you, you know, handled or went through and how, whatever, but I was, like, on lockdown. I didn't want any peripheral friends. I didn't want. I just wanted my people.

[Jenna Fischer]

Your inner circle.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

And that was it. And I. I just. I really struggled with opening myself up, but I. I feel like I've done both. Aside from being there for people, allowing people to be there for me.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah. I had a really great group of very supportive friends, and those were the people that we shared with.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

But I didn't share very widely. So there were a lot of people that I do consider to be my friend who I did not share with for a long time. But I needed those people. I needed there to be, like, moms at the time. Same, who didn't know, who just came up to me with, like, school gossip, you know, people who weren't talking to me about cancer and how I felt. And so I love them for that, for not knowing. And I also did have some people who I told who I thought would show up for me, and they didn't. They didn't have the capacity to come and be with me in this. And I forgive them. It's okay.

[Tig Notaro]

Same.

[Jenna Fischer]

It's just some people have that, and some, I think it was just whatever, so real or scary for them that they couldn't do it, and that's okay. And I'm still friends with them.

[Tig Notaro]

I 1 million percent experience the same thing. And it was that learning curve in life where you go, I know they love me. Yeah. And I know they're not able to do this for whatever reason, but I did at first get my feelings hurt.

[Jenna Fischer]

I did, too.

[Tig Notaro]

And then when I really thought it through, I was like, this is not because they're a bad person or they don't care about me. They just don't have that ability.

[Jenna Fischer]

And then there were the people that surprised me as well. The people who I had maybe thought weren't gonna have the capacity to go through that with me, and they did. And I'm.

[Angela Kinsey]

Wow.

[Tig Notaro]

It's really mind blowing when that happens.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

Just puts everything under a magnifying glass, I would imagine. Right. Everything becomes more in focus when people.

[Tig Notaro]

Step into a really messy, terrible, rough situation and they're not. I mean, that's already a big deal when it's your crew, and then when it's somebody just a little outside or even a lot outside, and they're like, I'm here.

[Angela Kinsey]

Let's go.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah. Yeah. It's really incredible. Yeah. Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Well, switching gears as we do.

[Angela Kinsey]

As we do.

[Jenna Fischer]

You are such a multifaceted artist, and we got a lot of fan questions about your work.

[Angela Kinsey]

Multifaceted. I like that word. I want to be a multi hat. Like, what is it called on Wikipedia when you have multiple paragraphs?

[Jenna Fischer]

A multi hyphenate. Yes, that you're a multi hyphenate.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes, I want to be that.

[Jenna Fischer]

You are.

[Tig Notaro]

You are. Both of you are.

[Jenna Fischer]

We've got some hyphens.

[Tig Notaro]

We do.

[Jenna Fischer]

We do.

[Angela Kinsey]

We have one or two.

[Tig Notaro]

Not as many as you're hyphenate.

[Angela Kinsey]

I know. You're super hyphenate, though. Okay, back to you, Tig.

[Jenna Fischer]

Emily P. In Indianapolis said, Tig has been in so many things, but I wanted to know what her favorite project is. I just love when she comes up on my screen. I think the Office is the first place I saw her, but I love her standup. I love her on Bob's Burgers, on New Girl. I loved her in the movie Instant Family. There are so many options, but I want to know what Tig enjoyed the most or is most proud of.

[Tig Notaro]

Well, it's sadly not the Office.

[Jenna Fischer]

What?

[Angela Kinsey]

How dare you?

[Tig Notaro]

I was proud to be on there, but I was not proud of my work anytime. And what's so crazy is some people only know me from the Office.

[Angela Kinsey]

Do you get recognized a lot?

[Tig Notaro]

Yes. And I can't believe when people come up and they're like, oh, my gosh, I loved you on the Office. I'm like, what? It reminds me of. But it's also, obviously, that show is so enormous.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

You know Kate Micucci and Ricky Lindholm? They were Garfunkel and Oates musical comedy duo.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Jenna Fischer]

I don't know them.

[Tig Notaro]

Okay, well, very funny. They're no longer performing as Garfunkel. And Oates anymore, but can we find.

[Angela Kinsey]

Them on the Internet?

[Tig Notaro]

Yes. And it's.

[Angela Kinsey]

Is it delightful? I can't wait.

[Tig Notaro]

It's so delightful because they're both like fresh, sweet faced, singing, not so fresh, sweet faced. Okay, okay. But anyway, they had a TV show on IFC for a while and again, friends that had me come on their show and I was in one scene, very short scene, and I was going to Florida to work out material for my upcoming special. And so I was just doing a few quick club dates and when I got there, the poster said Tig Notaro from Garfunkel and Oates. That was my one credit. And it was clearly somebody that worked at the club that just was not familiar with me. Googled me. That was the first thing they saw. They just slapped it on.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, way to go, baby.

[Tig Notaro]

And it's like, no offense, ifc, I don't even know if that exists anymore, but I'm so maybe 50,000 people. Scroll down, buddy. IFC, you know. So anyway, I was very excited to do the Office. I was very flattered, I was very honored, but I just did not do anything I was proud of. What have I enjoyed? That is really a hard question. It is, it's really hard because it's like mentioning instant family. I was a social worker with Octavia Spencer and we just had the greatest time. Rose Byrne, who is this silly? I mean, I love her. She is a freak of nature. Her talent between drama and comedy, I can't even stand it. I love that. But you know, I do. I have a lot of pride. Even though I struggle through my lines doing Star Trek and I, I'm now, as I mentioned before, I'm more excited to apply myself now that I have a.

[Angela Kinsey]

A process.

[Tig Notaro]

A process.

[Angela Kinsey]

And that fandom that is, I mean.

[Tig Notaro]

It'S like the Office.

[Jenna Fischer]

That rivals the Office.

[Angela Kinsey]

No, it's bigger, it's. Cause it's just been around for so long and you're part of that universe now.

[Tig Notaro]

I mean, William Shatner is almost 100 years old. I think he's 95. And he still jets off every weekend to a convention. And I mean, have you seen this guy talk?

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes, I saw him on. I forgot, the late night talk show. But he was like doing bits and.

[Tig Notaro]

I mean, this guy has no clue. He's almost 100. Like somebody needs to tell his face this because he's just like walking around like he's not 95.

[Angela Kinsey]

You can take the weekend off.

[Tig Notaro]

Truly, you can put your feet up. Yeah. And then I also I have a small part on the morning show and I love it and it's really fun to do. Just like a dramatic, you know, show, fast talking drama. Yeah. And I've known so many of those cast members in so many different ways over the years and so that's fun too. Part of what I enjoy about acting is this really highlights how much I'm not an actor. But when they say cut and then I get to talk to.

[Angela Kinsey]

Then you get to do the chitty.

[Tig Notaro]

Chat, then I get to talk to my co star.

[Angela Kinsey]

That is one of the best parts.

[Jenna Fischer]

Of being an actor is just existing with all of these like incredibly creative, funny, interesting people. I mean, artists and actors are interesting.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah, yeah. So I don't know, those are the two things I'm working on these days that I'm. It's fresh in my mind and I'm enjoying them.

[Angela Kinsey]

Those are decent, you know, they're not too shabby.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah, I've really enjoyed everything. Like I, you know, there's been some rotten people in the mix here and there, but in general I've had a really great run.

[Jenna Fischer]

Can I ask you about the watch now? So in your new comedy special, hello.

[Tig Notaro]

Again, directed by your wife, she was nominated for an Emmy, Stephanie Allen. Yep.

[Angela Kinsey]

Fantastic.

[Jenna Fischer]

I loved your special.

[Tig Notaro]

Thank you.

[Jenna Fischer]

I couldn't help but notice that you have on a fantastic watch.

[Tig Notaro]

Thank you.

[Jenna Fischer]

And I asked you when you came in, I wanna hear about the watch. And you said there's a great story about this watch.

[Angela Kinsey]

And I'm sorry, I didn't notice the watch.

[Tig Notaro]

Oh, that's fine.

[Angela Kinsey]

I thought the lighting was beautiful.

[Tig Notaro]

Well, thank you. I was like, oh, there's a story. Because I was thinking how it ties in also to cancer. Oh, years ago I was guest starring on the Sarah Silverman program and there was an actress that came on there that I had a really fun banter with and exchange to the point where I was like, she's cute, but I was like, she's not into me, so that's fine. She was engaged to marry this guy and whatever, but I still thought she was so funny and it was just fun. Every time I saw her or worked with her, years go by and then I run into her right before I'm moving to New York to work on that TV show. And I hadn't been diagnosed yet, but we were at a table read together. A friend of ours was doing a Broadway play and wanted us to read through this script with her. And afterwards we found out we were both moving to New York at the same Time. Well, she was divorced now, and we exchanged numbers and, well, it turns out there was something between us. And then I was diagnosed in the middle of that. And I was very insecure because I was like, oh, my gosh, I can't believe this woman that I thought was so attractive and fun, and I'm getting her attention now, and now just buzzkill. I just got diagnosed with cancer, and she was so good to me during that time and helpful and. And then I had my surgery. I didn't have reconstructive surgery. And so I do still just have scars on my chest. And I remember also feeling very insecure about my body for a while. And when I talked to her about that, she was like, I love scars. I think scars are so hot and sexy. And I was like, what? I was like, well, I got something to offer you.

[Jenna Fischer]

I mean, I got scars.

[Tig Notaro]

Hell, yes, I got scars.

[Angela Kinsey]

All the live long day.

[Tig Notaro]

I was like, you like scars? And she was like, yeah, I love scars. And I was like, oh, my gosh. And so I have this, you know, fling. I don't even know what it was that was going on between us. But she had the. It's a Rolex watch. And for whatever. Oh, we had exchanged watches. She had a Rolex, I had a Timex, and just one of those little plastic digital watches. And so we exchanged watches while we were having our fling or whatever was going on. And then when it ended, I went to give her her watch back, and she said, I want you to keep that. And I was like, oh, I can't keep your Rolex. And she was like, I want you to have it. And I was like, wow. And so I walked away with a Rolex.

[Jenna Fischer]

Wow.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

That is an amazing story.

[Tig Notaro]

And she does like scars. I will confirm. She's really into scars.

[Jenna Fischer]

You got the gift of this person being completely, truly, like, turned on and attracted to you in this new form that you were so insecure about. And you got a luxury watch.

[Tig Notaro]

Yes, I did.

[Jenna Fischer]

Out of this relationship. I don't think it gets better than that.

[Tig Notaro]

No. And I am not somebody that. I'm just. I never would have bought a Rolex. Right. Yeah. I'm in a. I realized driving here, I'm in a flannel. Not a flannel. What is this, like a thermal?

[Angela Kinsey]

A ribbed, long sleeve thermal?

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah, that's inside out. I thought, you know what?

[Angela Kinsey]

When you sat down, I thought, it's either inside out or that's the fashion.

[Tig Notaro]

No, it's inside out.

[Angela Kinsey]

My sons always wear their shirts Inside out.

[Tig Notaro]

I'm always, like, on purpose.

[Jenna Fischer]

No.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah. Not my buddy.

[Jenna Fischer]

But there is a look. There is a fashion where the shirt is made to look that could be out.

[Tig Notaro]

Well, that's not what's happening.

[Jenna Fischer]

But what's giving it away, though, is I can see on your chest that there is some writing that is backwards, and I think I'm meant to be able to read it.

[Tig Notaro]

And let me just tell you, I will be 54 on the 24th of March. And so when's your birthday?

[Angela Kinsey]

June 25th.

[Jenna Fischer]

I'll be 54.

[Tig Notaro]

Oh, well, my son's. Their birthday is June 26th. Hey. Hey. We got to that point. We got birthdays.

[Angela Kinsey]

I still get excited about stuff like that.

[Tig Notaro]

I'm like, anyway.

[Angela Kinsey]

But so, okay, so you're going to.

[Tig Notaro]

Be 54, and I am somebody's parent. And I walked out of the house and circled the block and. But can I just tell you unrelated but related to being someone parent. This morning, our son was called out to speak at the school assembly. Assembly. And he got interviewed in front of people at the assembly. And Stephanie and I were there this morning, and they said, is there a woman in your life that is inspiring to you? And he said, my two moms. And it was just like. And I was like, I'm always scared I'm not going to be included in that because, you know, I go on tour. Wait, well, no.

[Angela Kinsey]

You've shared so many funny stories where you come home and they're like, oh, it's her.

[Tig Notaro]

Oh, it's her. Oh, yeah. Well, this is the other one. Okay. Yeah. But I was like, I was included in that. And it was so sweet to hear him say, like, my two moms, I love them, and I love being a part of our family. And we were just like. Stephanie turned, she said, did that make you cry? And I was like, yes. I didn't think I was gonna be included. So anyway, I had to throw that in. It was such a nice little moment this morning.

[Angela Kinsey]

That matters are those moments. That's it. That's all you.

[Tig Notaro]

That's it.

[Angela Kinsey]

That's it. All you think of in the quiet times are those moments.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. Whenever your kids do that thing, like the version of that thing, it just. I'm a puddle.

[Tig Notaro]

Same, same.

[Angela Kinsey]

All right. I would like to ask you, Tig, our call sheet questions.

[Tig Notaro]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

These were questions that were on the back of our call sheets.

[Tig Notaro]

Okay.

[Jenna Fischer]

And we would. Different crew members would get asked each week, and then we'd get to read their answers. It was really cool.

[Angela Kinsey]

Find out a Little something about people that we worked with. Okay, number one, what was your first entertainment job?

[Tig Notaro]

Well, before I got into standup. I mean, as I mentioned, I think before, I really into music, and I play music, but I also. My first girlfriend had a band, and I started booking her band. And so you were like an agent? I was a booking agent, and I also worked for a record company as a. A local person when I was living in Denver, who would promote their bands. It would come through. I'd have to go hang up flyers and posters and go talk to record stores, make sure they were. All their merch and stuff was there. So, yeah, that was my first entertainment job.

[Angela Kinsey]

I love it. I didn't know that.

[Tig Notaro]

Well, now you know.

[Angela Kinsey]

Now I know.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah. This is an entertainment.

[Angela Kinsey]

I have a song I would like to.

[Jenna Fischer]

No, I'm kidding.

[Angela Kinsey]

Maybe you could get behind.

[Jenna Fischer]

This is a pretty easy segue into our second question, which is, do you play a musical instrument? You said you do.

[Tig Notaro]

I play two. I play guitar and drums. And I'm better at guitar. I think I'm more natural at drums, but I haven't had time to. I have more of an interest in drums as an adult. You know, if a guitar's sitting around, I could pick it up and play some stuff, but I want to get better. I want to take some lessons and get better at drums.

[Angela Kinsey]

Do you play any, like, the guitar or anything for your kids?

[Tig Notaro]

I mean, we have instruments at the house, and I've played stuff, but they're kind of. We also have a drum set, and it seems like they're more interested in the drums. That tracks. That tracks.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

It's kind of easy to bang around. And this will make no sense if you haven't seen it, but you can see me play drums on my Netflix special, Happy to be Here.

[Angela Kinsey]

Okay.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah. So that's for the listeners. If they would like to see me play the drums.

[Angela Kinsey]

I'm writing it down. I do our social media tag, so I'm gonna put a little swipe up to that.

[Tig Notaro]

Okay.

[Angela Kinsey]

Our next question is, what's a place you've been to that you absolutely loved?

[Tig Notaro]

There's so many places. And Stephanie makes fun of me because I've toured. I mean, I've been doing stand up almost 30 years. And I go around the world. I go to small towns, college towns, big cities everywhere. And there is not a place that I don't love. I mean, I really. Where are you from?

[Angela Kinsey]

I was born in Louisiana, but my family's from Louisiana and Texas.

[Tig Notaro]

Oh, okay. Okay. Yeah. I hear it.

[Angela Kinsey]

But I grew up in Indonesia, so it's weird.

[Tig Notaro]

It is weird, I know. Yes. But you're like, it is weird. It is.

[Angela Kinsey]

I confirm.

[Tig Notaro]

Yes. I mean, just the other day, Oklahoma came up and I was like, ah, I love Tulsa. And Stephanie was like, what? And I was like, I do. And then Indiana, it's like, I love Bloomington. There are so many places that I love and I do not write any state off or little town because of anything, because there are. I'm originally from Mississippi and 501. 601.

[Angela Kinsey]

601.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah. I was close. Yeah, you were.

[Angela Kinsey]

My aunt was in Mississippi and my dad always called her 601.

[Tig Notaro]

That's it. I'm a six zero one er. But I remember leaving. I was in Jackson getting some award from the governor, and I was with my stepfather and my brother, and we were walking out of this restaurant and this guy ran out of the restaurant, chases me down, and he thanks me for representing Mississippi in a positive way. And he said, we're not all like what people think. He was like. And he was just so genuinely thankful. And it was such a reminder that there are incredible people everywhere. And regardless of who's representing your city, state, country, there are people that are just tremendous and make these cities cool and great. And the little pockets and the towns that you think, oh, there's nothing going on here. And so I just. I really do have such an appreciation for so many places. And I do love Tulsa and Bloomington and Iowa City. I love so many places.

[Angela Kinsey]

Do you do the same? Cause wherever we go, my husband teases me about this. It doesn't matter where we go. I immediately am like, on Redfin, I'm like, okay, how do people live here? Where do they live? What do their homes look like? I'm like, so curious.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah. And then you go find those towns where you can get like an eight bedroom house. I know, it's like, what on earth.

[Angela Kinsey]

Have, like barn and.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah, two barns.

[Angela Kinsey]

Orchard.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah. You know, I also. I'm a vegan person, which shifted after I got sick. I changed my diet. And that's part of the fun of touring for me as well is I have this app called Happy Cow and you just put in wherever you are and it tells you the nearest vegan restaurants. And I really. Oh, my gosh. And when people are like, well, I live in this place and I can't. I'm like, no, no, no, I have Happy Cow. Cause it gives you vegan options. And then if there aren't any, and then it goes to vegetarian. And so it kind of goes down the.

[Angela Kinsey]

Down the line.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah. And so I can always find something somewhere.

[Angela Kinsey]

Happy cow, folks.

[Tig Notaro]

Happy cow.

[Angela Kinsey]

You heard it here.

[Tig Notaro]

But it makes touring so fun for me to find new vegan restaurants and options.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. That leads into our next question.

[Jenna Fischer]

It does.

[Tig Notaro]

Wow.

[Angela Kinsey]

Number five. Oh, no, it doesn't. Number four. Never mind. It doesn't. Hold that thought.

[Tig Notaro]

Well, can't we do five and then do four?

[Angela Kinsey]

No.

[Tig Notaro]

Oh, I see. No, I'm kidding.

[Jenna Fischer]

No, we could. Do we want to do that? Do we want to Shake it up?

[Angela Kinsey]

Shake it up.

[Jenna Fischer]

All right, question number five. What's your favorite midnight snack?

[Tig Notaro]

Well, I'm rarely awake at midnight.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, I know.

[Jenna Fischer]

This could be your favorite. Like, I'm watching TV snack, too. Your favorite indulgence.

[Tig Notaro]

Well, that's what I was going to say is. I mean, it's not a crazy indulgence, but our son. And I'm not saying this because I'm sitting here with you, too, but our sons. And I understand Friends is not the Office, but our sons got really into Friends when we were on vacation. We would let them watch it if we were in a hotel room, and then it, for some reason, after this last summer, transferred over to our house, where every night we watch Friends and have popcorn. And it's a whole family situation of watching an episode of Friends before. And we're at season five, and after we finish Friends, we're going to the Office, and we're gonna watch the entire run of the Office. And that's because their grandfather is into the Office, and he's who started showing them the Office when they were four. And so now that they're watching, you know, iconic sitcoms, the Offices are next in line to plow through.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, if you need Pam and Angela to wish them a happy birthday, we will. We will make a video.

[Tig Notaro]

That would be amazing. Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

All right, number four, what do you like to do on the weekends?

[Tig Notaro]

I mean, because my career is so all over the place of recording my podcast and doing shows and acting and whatever, a weekend is kind of a weekday. It doesn't. There's no.

[Angela Kinsey]

What is the weekend? As the dowager says.

[Tig Notaro]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

Downton Abbey, anyone?

[Tig Notaro]

No.

[Angela Kinsey]

No. What is the weekend? Okay, never mind. Forget it.

[Jenna Fischer]

She's saying it for a different reason, though. She's saying it because she lives a life of leisure.

[Angela Kinsey]

Right.

[Jenna Fischer]

She doesn't know what the weekend is.

[Tig Notaro]

A weekend.

[Jenna Fischer]

This is the opposite.

[Angela Kinsey]

This is the opposite of that.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes, true.

[Tig Notaro]

Well, yeah. And I have my relationship and children, and then I'm Just a person alive on the planet too. And so I have my own things I want to do. So I am busy, but because I'm not on tour and because I'm not filming right now, my favorite thing to do is walk around the house saying, I'm a normal person. Just having a normal day, just doing normal things. I'm a normal person. It's the most uncatchy song. But I love being home. Just like going to baseball and basketball practice and then having a snack and shuffling around the house and I just, just. I am in heaven.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah.

[Tig Notaro]

And then I just start singing the uncatchy song of I'm a normal person. Live in a normal life. Do a normal thing like a normal person. Yeah. And then. Love it. So it's weekends or weekdays, but when I'm not like back to back with things I have to do and then this zoom is over and then I have to do this interview and then I have to go and then I have to leave for the airport. And I like when it's like that and I'm really trying to step away from that chaos.

[Jenna Fischer]

That pace is hard to keep up.

[Tig Notaro]

Really hard.

[Angela Kinsey]

It's hard to keep up. And. And yet I find sometimes we, we set boundaries and we're not going to get sucked into it. And then we do.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah.

[Angela Kinsey]

And then we're like, ah. How did we get sucked in?

[Tig Notaro]

Well, because you have weak boundaries. That's how, that's how it happened. Because I'm a normal person. I'm at home doing normal things because I'm normal and I'm loving my life.

[Angela Kinsey]

Aw, Tig, we love you.

[Tig Notaro]

And I you.

[Jenna Fischer]

Thank you for coming and talking with us.

[Tig Notaro]

Thank you for having me.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

The one thing we didn't talk about.

[Angela Kinsey]

Handsome podcast.

[Jenna Fischer]

Your handsome podcast. That's what I was about to say.

[Angela Kinsey]

We love.

[Tig Notaro]

Okay, well, you're both yelling at me.

[Angela Kinsey]

No, but we do. I mean, Cassie is wearing a baseball hat right now that says Lil Cowboy.

[Tig Notaro]

Uh huh. Yes. It's a silly show.

[Angela Kinsey]

So you have Fortune, who's so funny and May I met Fortune. We were both on a panel for that show, to tell the truth. And she was so incredibly funny. And yes, I just, I. I love her on the insta. I keep up with her there.

[Tig Notaro]

Same silly, silly, silly. And part of.

[Jenna Fischer]

Just love listening to you guys chat.

[Angela Kinsey]

Chat.

[Tig Notaro]

Well, thank you. Well, it's kind of like what I was saying before, how I was dealing with serious things all the time and trying to be helpful and supportive and it almost became, as they say, a Brand, which is great and fine. But I was also like, I wanna just be stupid with some comedian pals. Yeah. And so that's what sparked Handsome. And, you know, we're not a political show. We're not. I mean, sometimes we have genuine questions that come in from people. And you guys should submit a question as well.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah, we'll do that.

[Jenna Fischer]

I'll submit a question.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah, please do. You know, some. It just really runs the gamut of the questions that we get from people. And mostly we spin it into nonsense, but sometimes, you know, we'll write an authentic, genuine wave of a response.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yeah. We should tell everyone listening when you go check it out, because it's fantastic. You guys have banter at the top, and then you have a question that has been sent in by someone, Jimmy Fallon or, you know, whatever. There's people from all over over that send in questions. And then you guys all just kind of riff on what your answer would be to that, and it's really, really fun.

[Tig Notaro]

And then we play the answer at the end. At the end. Because the guest also answers their own question. Yeah, but it's very free form. Chat. Yeah, yeah. So.

[Angela Kinsey]

By three hilarious people.

[Tig Notaro]

Oh, well, thank you.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. Who all have. One of the benefits is you guys all have very distinctive voices. It's very easy to tell who's talking.

[Tig Notaro]

Yes. Yeah, yeah. And we're also. Mae is in their 30s. Fortune's in her 40s. I'm in my 50s. I have kids. I mean, I'm married with kids. Fortune's married. May is single. And really getting out there mingling. And there's a lot of differences and.

[Angela Kinsey]

Cultural references. One of you will know and the other won't. And Cassie was mentioning that before you got here, that she liked that the three different voices were in different sort of places in their lives.

[Tig Notaro]

Yes.

[Jenna Fischer]

Oh, Tig, one more thing before we go. Will you please tell us about the documentary you produced?

[Tig Notaro]

I produced a documentary called Come See Me in the Good Light, and it is about my dear friend Andrea Gibson of 25 years, the poet laureate of the state of Colorado, who has stage four ovarian cancer. And this film is so beautiful. It went to Sundance this year, and we all rented an Airbnb. It's produced by Glennon Doyle, Abby Wambach, Sara Bareilles, Brandi Carlisle. Everybody's just massive Andrea Gibson fans. This is. This person is. It's poetry that is so accessible, that will inspire you and destroy you and make you. It'll just blow your mind. Just such a talent. Anyway, we all go to Sundance. Andrea's not doing great. And we just went to the screenings, standing ovations. You hear people sobbing through the screenings, the funny parts. It's like, it could be a Will Ferrell movie. People are laughing so hard. And we were like, wow, this screened really well. But we didn't have the typical Sundance experience because we would go back to our Airbnb that we all were staying in and have tea, sit by the fire, hang out with Andrea and their partner Meg, who is also a poet in the film as well. And we went to the screenings. We weren't going to the parties and the events. And then we leave, and we're just like, this went so well. It screened so well. And then I get home to Toronto. My phone is exploding. Can you get on a call? Hey, you know. And Meg called me directly as well, Andrea's partner. And I immediately was like, oh, God, this is. And I call Stephanie, and I'm like, I'm so scared to return this call. Stephanie's like, just call back. And I'm like, on the edge of losing my mind. I'm so scared to return this call. And I call. Meg answers the phone, and Meg and Andrea are like, did you hear the news? And I was like, what? We won the Sundance Festival.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, my gosh.

[Tig Notaro]

Not just in documentaries. It won the top award of Sundance. Oh, my gosh. I then was in tears of joy. I was so confused because we didn't get a vibe of how the movie was going. You were, in your little way, snuggle down. We were just, like, having snuggle down, and that was all we were doing. And our director, who did the documentary Pamela, I don't know if you saw that, of Pamela Anderson, he did the Serena Williams doc, the Dr. Ruth doc, but he was like, movies like ours do not win Sundance, and it's sold, and it'll be coming out later this year, but it can. Such a beautiful film.

[Angela Kinsey]

Oh, I can't wait to see it.

[Tig Notaro]

It screened at the Boulder Film Festival, and it just won that festival as well.

[Jenna Fischer]

Wow.

[Tig Notaro]

Last night, we just got the news that it won that as well. So it's really, really. You walk out the door, and you want to go live your life like you've never lived it before. It's incredible.

[Jenna Fischer]

Wow.

[Angela Kinsey]

Amazing. Amazing.

[Tig Notaro]

Anyway, thank you for having me.

[Angela Kinsey]

Thank you so much for being here and just being you. We just. We're so happy to have this time with you.

[Tig Notaro]

Same. And I'm glad you're doing well, and I hope you're doing Well, I am good, thanks. Yeah.

[Jenna Fischer]

Right now we're gonna end in a whisper. I guess we should bring it back here.

[Tig Notaro]

Okay. For sure.

[Jenna Fischer]

Just feels like we should.

[Tig Notaro]

Yeah, absolutely. Okay. All right, bye. Thanks. Thank you.

[Angela Kinsey]

Well, a big thank you to Tig Notaro for coming in the studio to chat with us, and thank you to everyone who wrote in today such great questions for Tig.

[Jenna Fischer]

And you can find out more about Tig and her schedule of shows on her website, tignation.com and be sure to check out her comedy special hello Again on Prime Video. It's so funny.

[Angela Kinsey]

So funny.

[Jenna Fischer]

There's also her podcast, Handsome, and of course, Star Trek, Starfleet Academy.

[Angela Kinsey]

And since we recorded this interview, Tig's friend and poet, Andrea Gibson, very sadly passed away over the summer. And this episode was recorded back in March.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. And we can all honor and celebrate Andrea's story in the beautiful documentary Come See Me in the Good Light coming to Apple on November 14th.

[Angela Kinsey]

Yes. And I'll be sure and share it in our stories. Thanks again, everyone for writing in. Thank you, Tig. And we will see you all next week.

[Jenna Fischer]

See you then. Thank you for listening to Office Ladies.

[Angela Kinsey]

Office Ladies is a presentation of Odyssey and is produced by Jenna Fisher and Angela Kinsey.

[Jenna Fischer]

Our executive producer is Cassie Jerkins, our audio engineer is Sam Kiefer, and our associate producer is Ainslie Bubaco.

[Angela Kinsey]

Odyssey's executive producer is Leah Reese Dennis.

[Jenna Fischer]

Office Ladies was mixed and mastered by Bill Schultz.

[Angela Kinsey]

Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton. We want to talk to you guys a little bit about new Eggo protein waffles. It's really good, tastes great. Plus it's going to give you 20% of your daily protein.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes. Eggo protein plus waffles provide the same great taste of Eggo that you know and love, plus 10 grams of protein per serving. I made the new Eggo protein waffles for my kids the other day. They didn't even know that they were protein waffles. They're just the Eggo waffles that you know and love. I know they have protein.

[Angela Kinsey]

They're just yummy waffles.

[Jenna Fischer]

Yes.

[Angela Kinsey]

I mean, listen, I know we're talking about breakfast, but I have shared this before. I like them as an afternoon treat. And when your teenagers come home hungry, guess what's real easy to give them? A little protein waffle.

[Jenna Fischer]

They say you can fuel your morning, but you can also fuel your afternoon.

[Angela Kinsey]

Sure can.

[Jenna Fischer]

Head to your local grocery store to fuel your morning with Eggo protein waffles and pancakes. Available at retailers nationwide.