Tig Notaro

Tig Notaro

Tig Notaro at Bumbershoot 2010

Tig Notaro at Bumbershoot 2010
Birth name Mathilde O'Callaghan Notaro
Born March 24, 1971
Jackson, Mississippi, U.S.
Medium Stand-up
Years active 2001-present
Genres Observational comedy
Website tignation.com

Mathilde "Tig" O'Callaghan Notaro (born March 24, 1971)[1] is Grammy Award nominated American stand-up comic, writer, and radio contributor.[2]

Early years

Notaro was born in Jackson, Mississippi, to mother Mathilde "Susie" Cusack (née O'Callaghan).[3]

Notaro was raised in Pass Christian, Mississippi, until kindergarten. Her family later moved to Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston.[4][5] Her mother remarried, to Leslie Cusack, an attorney in the military.[3] She has an older brother, Renaud Notaro, who is a year older than her and is a radio talk show host.[2][3][6]

Notaro said she used to "go back and spend my summers and holidays with my grandmother and cousins and aunts and uncles. It's right there on the Gulf Coast, and we would hang out on the water and go sailing or fishing or crabbing or floundering and build bonfires and there's a harbor there and a yacht club. And then Hurricane Katrina came and wiped it out. That was devastating. My mother grew up in that town and my family's been there for generations, so it was very sad to see these historic buildings and places where I had so many memories get wiped away."[4]

Notaro said that as a kid she was "a full-blown tomboy, I was very mischievous and got into a lot of trouble. Everybody in my family smoked, and I started smoking probably when I was nine. My friends used to call me Huckleberry Tig."[4]

Notaro said she "failed three grades [eighth grade twice, and then ninth grade][2] and dropped out of high school"[4] and moved to Denver, Colorado, where she became involved in the music industry, setting up as a band manager, under the name Tignation Promotions.[7] She said she had earned her GED but that her cat ate it.[2]

"Tig" is a childhood nickname given to her by her brother when she was 2 years old.[8]

Notaro's great-great-grandfather was John Fitzpatrick, mayor of New Orleans from 1892 to 1896.<ref name=GambitWeekly-Interview-2011">Coviello, Will (January 3, 2011). "Interview: Tig Notaro". The Gambit Weekly. Retrieved May 14, 2012.</ref>[9] Notaro said that her mother was born in New Orleans, and that she has "family still in New Orleans and Baton Rouge and Hammond, they're all over, and then also in Mississippi. That's where the majority of my family is, in Mississippi and Louisiana; some are in Texas, but mostly Mississippi and Louisiana."[9]

Career

Tig Notaro 2010

Notaro's work promoting bands took her to Los Angeles, where she tried stand-up for the first time. She said that although she imagined doing stand-up as a kid, "I just didn't understand how people became comedians. I kind of thought it was something you were born into."[4] Notaro said "[c]omedy was a secret want, but it wasn't anything I pursued."[4] Until she moved to Los Angeles and started doing open mics.[10]

Notaro has been featured on Comedy Central Presents, and on The Sarah Silverman Program as a lesbian police officer. She collaborates frequently with writing partner Kyle Dunnigan. With Dunnigan and David Huntsberger, she hosts the podcast Professor Blastoff. In 2011, she released her debut stand-up album, Good One. In 2012, Notaro appeared on the Conan television show and on This American Life. She worked on fellow comedian Amy Schumer's series, Comedy Central's Inside Amy Schumer. Also in 2012, Notaro did a Kickstarter-funded series called Clown Service, written by and starring Notaro.

Cancer battle

On July 31, 2012, Notaro announced that she had been diagnosed the day before with cancer in both breasts.[11] By September, she described a string of personal setbacks that had occurred:

I got pneumonia, and then I contracted this life-threatening, deadly illness called C. diff., and it's this bacteria that just eats your intestines. I was in the hospital for a week, lost 20 lbs...and then it was my birthday a couple days after the hospital.... A few days after that, my mother passed away unexpectedly ... a freak accident [she tripped and hit her head].... I got off of a relationship shortly after that, and then I was diagnosed with cancer.... This was all in four months.[12]

On August 3, 2012, Notaro addressed her recent cancer treatments and other personal difficulties during her live stage show at Largo in Los Angeles.[13] The set has been described as "instantly legendary," with many comedians praising her work.[14]

Comedian Louis C.K., who was there that night along with Ed Helms, Bill Burr, Mary Lynn Rajskub[2] tweeted the next day, "In 27 years doing this, I've seen a handful of truly great, masterful standup sets. One was Tig Notaro last night at Largo."[15] He called Notaro the next day telling her he wanted to release the audio of the show,[2] but it took Notaro time to feel comfortable, as she did not know if people would understand. But then she said she started to think it would help people, and put her own fears and concerns aside.[16]

In October 2012, C.K. made audio of the performance available for download on his site under the title Live (as in to live a life, not a live recording)[14] until Notaro later released the audio (with booklet) on iTunes.[17][18] Live ended up selling more records than Kiss,[19] which Notaro said, as a fan of Kiss when she was a kid, she never would have imagined that it could happen.[16]

She later had a double mastectomy with no reconstructive surgery.[20][12] Notaro opted out of chemo but decided to continue treatment with hormone blocking.[2]

In November 2014, as part of the New York Comedy Festival, Notaro did a set at Town Hall in New York City where she performed part of the set topless.[21][20] The New York Times described it: "She showed the audience her scars and then, through the force of her showmanship, made you forget that they were there. It was a powerful, even inspiring, statement about survival and recovery, and yet, it had the larky feel of a dare."[20]

After a show in Philadelphia, Notaro was hospitalized because of a "'massive' cyst that burst and caused internal bleeding."[22] She is slowly healing from the required surgery.[23]

As of the fall of 2014, Notaro is writing a memoir for HarperCollins imprint Ecco[24] and there is a Showtime documentary[25] being made about her life.[2]

Comedic style

On her approach to comedy (and if she considers herself a dark comic): "I'm always going to do whatever I think is funniest. If something's dark, I'll do it. If it's a sock puppet, if it's a stool, I'll do it. There's no preconceived idea of who I think I might be now."[4]

Notaro said that the shift for her, since the cancer diagnosis, has not been to do darker comedy, but instead, to do more personal comedy. Previously she was more distant and observational, but now she reflects on her childhood and her life now, "kind of anything that happens."[2]

Personal life

Notaro sometimes discusses her romantic relationships in her act, but she has "tried to remain private about her sexuality".[26][27][28] She joked that her 2012 life changes had led to a romantic predicament that would require a special person who "lies to me and herself".[29] On growing up in the South and realizing she was gay: "I never ran into a single problem with any friend or family member."[4]

Notaro met her fiancée,[30] Stephanie Allynne, on the set of the movie, In a World...[2][31]

Filmography

Films

Television

TV movies

TV shows

Shorts

Audio

Other

References

  1. ↑ "Mathilde O. Notaro - United States Public Records". FamilySearch. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 King, Larry (September 29, 2014). "Tig Notaro" (VIDEO INTERVIEW). Larry King Now. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Mathilde "Susie" O'Callaghan Cusack". Find A Grave. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 Brownstone, Sydney. "Tig Notaro: You'll Laugh, You'll Cry". Mother Jones (May/June 2013). Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  5. ↑ Allen, Sandra (August 9, 2013). "Tig Notaro And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad, Yet Somehow Completely Amazing Year". BuzzFeed. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Person: Renaud Notaro". Earwolf. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  7. ↑ Rapa, Patrick (September 14, 2011). "Tig Notaro: Don't Rush Me". Magnet. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
  8. ↑ McCarthy, Sean L. (October 19, 2009). "Interview: Tig Notaro talks about her show-biz career, and curating The Bentzen Ball in D.C.". The Comic's Comic. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Root, Cate (October 7, 2014). "Tig Notaro brings 'Boyish Girl Interrupted' tour to New Orleans Oct. 12". The Times-Picayune. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  10. ↑ Grigoriadis, Vanessa. "Survival of the Funniest". Vanity Fair (January 2013). Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Tig Notaro Has Breast Cancer: Comedian Announces Illness On Podcast One Day After Diagnosis". The Huffington Post. August 4, 2012. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Notaro, Tig (September 20, 2012). Conan. Interview with Conan O'Brien. TBS. Burbank, California.
  13. ↑ Gross, Terry; Bianculli, David (July 26, 2013). "Tig Notaro On Going 'Live' About Her Life" (AUDIO INTERVIEW). Fresh Air (NPR.org). Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Edwards, Gavin (October 5, 2012). "Louis C.K. Selling Tig Notaro's Instantly Legendary Comedy Set". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2012-10-08.
  15. ↑ Anderson, Kyle (October 5, 2012). "Tig Notaro's 'Live' lives up to its Louis C.K.-fueled hype". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Tig Notaro: Comedian" (VIDEO INTERVIEWS). Makers. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  17. ↑ "About Tig Notaro". Louis CK. October 5, 2012. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  18. ↑ "LouisCK.net: FAQ". Buy.louisck.net. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
  19. ↑ Eakin, Marah (October 17, 2012). "People Still Buy Comedy Records: Tig Notaro sells 75,000 copies of Live, is technically more popular than Kiss". A.V. Club. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 Zinoman, Jason (November 7, 2014). "Going Topless, Tig Notaro Takes Over Town Hall". The New York Times. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  21. ↑ Marantz, Andrew (November 7, 2014). "Tig Notaro's Topless Set". The New Yorker. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  22. ↑ Puente, Maria (November 11, 2014). "Tig Notaro explains medical crisis: A burst cyst". USA Today. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
  23. ↑ Puvanenthiran, Bhakthi (November 17, 2014). "Comedian Tig Notaro cancels Australian tour due to illness". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
  24. ↑ Holland, Jessica (October 20, 2012). "How Tig Notaro turned tragedy into comic gold". The Guardian. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
  25. ↑ Goldberg, Lesley (July 2, 2013). "Showtime Sets Tig Notaro Documentary". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  26. ↑ Bond, Nick (April 12, 2012). "Xena, Joan Jett and me". Star Observer. Archived from the original on April 17, 2011. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  27. ↑ Bendix, Trish (September 17, 2012). "Tig Notaro gets personal". After Ellen. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  28. ↑ Shapiro, Gregg (September 22, 2011). "Lesbian comic Tig Notaro coming to Wisconsin". Wisconsin Gazette. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  29. ↑ Goldman, Andrew (August 29, 2012). "Tig Notaro Has Cancer. Go Ahead, Laugh.". The New York Times. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  30. ↑ Notaro, Tig. "190 Tig's Love Life Update Stephanie Allynne". http://professorblastoff.com''. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  31. ↑ Brekke, Kira (September 9, 2014). "Tig Notaro Opens Up About Finding Love: 'She's My Utmost Priority'" (VIDEO INTERVIEW). Huffington Post. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  32. ↑ Comedian Tig Notaro Plays Not My Job. Wait Wait…Don't Tell Me (Radio broadcast) (NPR). July 20, 2012. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
  33. ↑ Sagal, Peter (December 19, 2013). "Comedian Tig Notaro Plays Not My Job". Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! (NPR). Retrieved February 23, 2015.

External links