Comedian/legendary badass, Tig Notaro.

It was a throwaway line during the interview that summed up the ambiguous appeal of Tig Notaro’s comedy. “Have you been to Australia before?” I asked. “Yeah, a few times,” she replied, in her trademark deadpan. “The last time was maybe three years ago, just before I got sick and my life fell apart.”

I laughed, and immediately caught my reaction. Wait, was that supposed to be funny? Because it’s also very true and sad.

The New York Times recently called Notaro a “master magician, she gives the audience members the illusion of control, while pushing their buttons the whole time.” Testimonials from people who attended her now legendary show at LA comedy club Largo in 2012 – a set delivered mere days after she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and which went on to become her Grammy-nominated album, Tig Notaro: Live (it's a verb) – extolled on how they cried till they laughed and laughed till they cried. Louis CK – who first released the set on his website - famously called it one of a “handful of truly great, masterful stand-up sets” he’d seen in his 27 years of comedy.

“Tig took us to a scary place and made us laugh there. Not by distracting us from the terror, but by looking right at it and just turning to us and saying ‘Wow. Right?’”, he later wrote in a long note on his website.


We caught Tig – who’s touring Australia next month - on the phone the morning after her most recently lauded show: a gig at the New York Comedy Festival just last weekend, where she performed half her set topless, with her mastectomy scars on display, fearless as ever.

Daily Life: Your phone must be ringing like crazy this morning.

Tig Notaro: Uh… what?

Your phone… I’ve just been reading rave reviews and tweets about your topless show last night.

Oh! Uh, not really... I guess people are writing about it? I’ve gotten a few texts here and there from friends, but I’ve been driving all day so I don’t really know.

Yeah, it's already being called “legendary”. Can you talk me through it?

Yeah, um… I don’t know. The audience was really fun? It was kind of beyond what I expected, I think. They were WAY into it. I’ve been in a capsule, I’m telling you. My girlfriend read a couple of articles to me while we were driving, but pretty much we were just singing along to the radio, driving from New York to Philly.

Was it just a spur of the moment thing [to go topless] on stage, or was it a planned part of your set?

I did it one time before, in Los Angeles at Largo. I guess it was like three weeks ago. And then I did it last night. Largo is a smaller venue; it kinda feels like my living room and it’s a little more protected. This time it felt more like "Okay, this will probably leave the room." (laughs).

The New Yorker referenced Del Close’s motto ‘Follow the fear’ in their write-up of the set…

Oh yeah, there was definitely fear in there. I had mentioned it to a couple of people that it was something I was thinking of doing, and the majority of the response was oh my god, that’s amazing, you have to. And then a couple of people said things like I worry that you won’t be able to get people to focus again and that it would come across as a stunt. And my feeling is – yeah, it is a stunt!

I want people to talk about it and think about it. It’s about me coming to terms with becoming okay with my body, like ‘What is really happening here?’ I mean, I was sick, I had a surgery that caused me to be in remission now, and then my skin healed. If I had a scar on my face, nobody would tell me to cover that up. I wanted people to really think about how it’s not a big deal. And the thing is, it is a big deal initially - there’s surprise and shock and excitement, and then it dies down and it's just a normal stand-up show.

A lot of the feedback that came to me after that initial show at Largo was people going like, “God, the craziest thing was that like 30 seconds later I was just listening to your jokes; I totally forgot that your shirt was off and that you had scars on your chest.” It felt really empowering - that's exactly what I wanted, to make that point. And it doesn’t just apply to cancer, it’s about your body.

Right. And it also seemed to reference a few things that have been in the news recently, like that catcalling viral video and the #FreeTheNipple campaign. Were you aware of the connections?

Yeah, I was. But I mean, this was something I thought about doing as soon as I got out of surgery, two years ago. My friend, Lake Bell, who’s an actress who I did a movie with right before I got sick – she texted me today and called me a ‘badass’ - was over right after my surgery and, you know, I was just thanking her for the support she gave me and I said "God, it’s crazy, I just wanna go out on-stage topless!", and she was like, "Oh, you’ve gotta do it!" But I wasn’t sure if I was really going to; it was just exhilarating to think about.

But time passed and I’ve been working on my new material and building my new hour, and now that I’ve been out on the road it just felt like, "Alright, I’m ready to try this."

Do you see this as a continuation of that famous 2012 Largo set that eventually became Tig Notaro: Live? Like, further delving into your personal experience with breast cancer?

Yeah, to some degree. It just feels really electrifying and empowering to have people go with it.

You’ve mentioned in interviews that your earlier comedy was a bit different. Who were some of your influences back when you were getting started?

Well, I’ve always loved Laura Kightlinger, Paula Poundstone, Joan Rivers. And when I was growing up there was Richard Pryor, people like that.

And when did you segue into doing the longer, more personal bits you’re known for now?

I guess when I did my Taylor Dayne story a few years ago. That was a bit that even before it was on This American Life or televised, it seemed like people were talking about it. I would show up at dinner parties or I'd go in for an audition and people would be like, “Ah… I… Taylor Dayne!” (laughs).

And you’re on the road at the moment, right? What's the plan for the next set?

I’m gonna keep my shirt on (laughs).

Tig Notaro will be touring her new show 'Boyish Girl Interrupted' in Australia in December, performing in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. See her website for all details.