Episode 81 - Tig Notaro
Guest:Lock the gates!
Guest:Are we doing this?
Guest:Really?
Guest:Wait for it.
Guest:Are we doing this?
Guest:Wait for it.
Guest:Pow!
Guest:What the fuck?
Guest:And it's also... Eh, what the fuck?
Guest:What's wrong with me?
Guest:It's time for WTF!
Guest:What the fuck?
Guest:With Mark Maron.
Marc:Okay, let's do this.
Marc:What the fuckers?
Marc:What the fuck buddies?
Marc:What the fuck nicks?
Marc:What the fucking ears?
Marc:I am still fighting.
Marc:What the fuck heads?
Marc:A lot of people are still suggesting names for the show.
Marc:What the fuck heads?
Marc:I got more respect for you than that.
Marc:It's Mark Maron.
Marc:You are listening to WTF with me.
Marc:Mark Maron back from Ireland, back in the garage.
Marc:A couple of things going on.
Marc:I want to say that a listener, a carpenter, who at some point will get me his website, built me a bookshelf for the garage, which I stained.
Marc:I stained the bookshelf myself, put it back in the garage, and now I am intoxicated with the fumes of stain.
Marc:Oh, why do I always leave that on?
Marc:But...
Marc:Yeah, I'm OK with it.
Marc:You know, you get it where you can when you don't drink or do drugs.
Marc:Thank you all for coming out in Ireland.
Marc:I really appreciate seeing you.
Marc:And I appreciate that I have some WTF listeners and what the fuck nicks out there in Ireland.
Marc:Had a pretty good time.
Marc:You listen to the podcast.
Marc:I do want to apologize to Ireland.
Marc:At the beginning of my podcast there, I did refer to myself as being in the UK, which is a big no-no, as Des Bishop said later on in that show.
Marc:I did have a lovely time.
Marc:Also wanted to get some business out of the way.
Marc:Dom Irera, one of the great comics who was on the show in Ireland, will be appearing at Harrah's in Atlantic City September 4th.
Marc:If any of you are around to go see that, I highly recommend it.
Marc:Also, I am going to be in San Francisco next week
Marc:The 18th and 19th, I believe.
Marc:Is that it?
Marc:Yes, the 18th and 19th at Cobb's Comedy Club doing the Bring the Rock shows with Greg Barron and Nick Thune and Grant Lee Phillips should be a great night.
Marc:It's an interesting show where we tell stories that are music-related, and then the band...
Marc:We'll play a song by the band we mentioned.
Marc:There's an outside chance that I will sing.
Marc:There's a good chance I will pray guitar.
Marc:Pray guitar?
Marc:Yeah, I'll pray guitar.
Marc:That's fine.
Marc:Neither might happen, but either way, the show will be great.
Marc:Go to cobscomedy.com for information on that.
Marc:Let's get this out of the way.
Marc:Hold on.
Marc:Pow!
Marc:Oh, I just shit my pants.
Marc:And thank God, you know, after a week of meat in Ireland, that was necessary.
Marc:I don't care where it happens.
Marc:Don't mean to be crass, but that is where I am at.
Marc:Justcoffee.coop, available at wtfpod.com.
Marc:If you get the WTF blend, they kick me a couple dollars.
Marc:Yeah, that's right.
Marc:They kick me a few bucks.
Marc:Few things are happening.
Marc:We have Tig Notaro on the show today.
Marc:Now, I've known Tig for years.
Marc:We worked together many years ago in Tampa.
Marc:I've always felt a little uncomfortable with her, but she kind of likes to do that.
Marc:I mean, comedically, kind of puts you off.
Marc:You enter the Tig time zone.
Marc:I'm curious about how the conversation is going to go, and I'm very excited to talk to her.
Marc:So look forward to that.
Marc:That is coming up.
Marc:Man, am I happy to be home.
Marc:And I got to be honest with you because I generally am.
Marc:I had a couple incidents on the airplane.
Marc:I was on the flight.
Marc:from Dublin to Los Angeles.
Marc:The in-flight movie was Invictus, which I didn't go see in the movies because I thought it would be cheesy.
Marc:All right, cut to me sitting in my plane seat crying.
Marc:You know, literally tears rolling down my face.
Marc:It was still light.
Marc:You know, it was a small TV screen up on the ceiling.
Marc:I had to arc my neck to watch it, and tears are running down my face in public.
Marc:There's a couple of teenage boys across the aisle, you know, looking at me, you know, trying to hide the crying.
Marc:It's a powerful movie.
Marc:It is what it is.
Marc:It was moving.
Marc:It had a message.
Marc:It was based on fact.
Marc:I had no idea about the story.
Marc:It was a great story.
Marc:Matt Damon, let me tell you, is one of the great young actors.
Marc:There's no doubt about it, that he can be in a movie that large and still be subtle.
Marc:He's just got some control, man.
Marc:He's beyond movie star.
Marc:That dude is a real actor.
Marc:And Morgan Freeman, of course, is Morgan Freeman.
Marc:So I watch this whole movie and it's moving to me and I don't really register necessarily.
Marc:I mean, there's a message, but it's a historical movie about South Africa, about the end of apartheid.
Marc:And I found myself, there was one black flight attendant, this guy who I'd seen a couple of times previous to me watching the movie.
Marc:And I did that thing where he's coming down the aisle, collecting the trash, the cups and the bottles and whatever.
Marc:And I kind of looked at him with that like, how you doing, buddy?
Marc:Yeah, I get it.
Marc:You know, I get it.
Marc:That's sort of like, you know, thanks a lot, man.
Marc:Thanks a lot.
Marc:I know it's just I mean, it was unnoticeable, but in my heart, I had to have been condescending on some level.
Marc:You know, your people, no matter where they are, have been through a lot.
Marc:And I just want to say, you know, much respect.
Marc:You know, that that was what was coming out of me.
Marc:I'm like, what the fuck?
Marc:Is what is wrong with me, man?
Marc:I mean, but it was an emotional thing.
Marc:It was just a carryover.
Marc:I don't know if it's a bad message, but is that is that racist or is it?
Marc:I mean, is that the message I was supposed to get?
Marc:Is that white person's guilt?
Marc:You know, or is it just me having experience?
Marc:I didn't blurt it out or anything, but it was a feeling that I had.
Marc:I talked about it on Twitter.
Marc:Someone said there should be a name for it and they should say it's racism, which I think is sort of funny.
Marc:I hate when these things happen, but that one wasn't really bad.
Marc:It was only because of a white person's guilt or whatever, whatever.
Marc:But this is the bad one.
Marc:So now I go from Dublin to Chicago.
Marc:I've been traveling like 15 hours.
Marc:I wait to get another plane from Chicago to Los Angeles.
Marc:At this point, I'm exhausted.
Marc:I'm tweaked out.
Marc:I'm sitting, you know, sort of where the flight attendants area is.
Marc:And about three hours into the flight, I got an hour and a half to go.
Marc:I see I go back to the bathroom and I see someone who I decide is a Arab or perhaps Palestinian, also Arab.
Marc:And, you know, he's waiting on line to go to the bathroom.
Marc:Then he stops waiting on line.
Marc:He looks me in the eye, which, you know, I judged.
Marc:And then he leaves the bathroom line.
Marc:He starts, he walks to the front of the plane.
Marc:And I sort of like, I leave the bathroom line to go sit in my chair to sort of monitor the situation.
Marc:So I see him go to the front of the plane.
Marc:He disappears.
Marc:You know, it doesn't look like he's gone in the bathroom.
Marc:And I'm sitting there, I'm festering.
Marc:I'm like, oh, this, what's happening?
Marc:And this has happened before.
Marc:I've talked to you about this.
Marc:And in my in my heart, I've got nothing against Arabs, even if he was Arab.
Marc:But this thing is in my head.
Marc:I'm judging.
Marc:I'm stereotyping.
Marc:I'm making assumptions.
Marc:But it got bad.
Marc:I mean, I'm sitting on the plane.
Marc:I'm like, where is he?
Marc:It's been it's been five minutes.
Marc:And then I think I see the pilot's door open.
Marc:And like and no one's doing anything.
Marc:Right.
Marc:So in my mind, it was amazing how elaborate the fantasy became, because I'm thinking like, wait, he went through security.
Marc:Can't get a bomb.
Marc:I can't get a gun on.
Marc:He can't get a knife.
Marc:It's not going to work.
Marc:And, you know, there's two guys in there.
Marc:But then I decide that like he snuck little packets of poison that you put on people's skin.
Marc:That puts him into cardio arrest immediately.
Marc:So in my mind, he's in the cockpit.
Marc:He's just touched both the pilot and the co-pilot and maybe the third guy that's in there with the secret poison that gives people a heart attack.
Marc:And he's he's he's in control of the plane and I'm waiting for it to dip down and then it doesn't dip down.
Marc:So I think, well, here we go.
Marc:You know, we're waiting till we get into L.A.
Marc:and he's going to fly it into a building.
Marc:And this is this is fucking horrible.
Marc:I'm picturing, you know, going down, you know, toppling, you know, in the air.
Marc:Like I'm even going to have that much time to think about it.
Marc:Like, you know, of course, there's part of me that's like, you know, I'm holding on to my chairs.
Marc:I'm flying down with no parachute thinking, you know, I guess, you know, maybe there's a chance here.
Marc:Why did I have to be on this plane?
Marc:I mean, I went way out there, I think because I was tired, too.
Marc:And I have a fear-driven imagination.
Marc:But I get up out of my seat and I walk to look for him.
Marc:And I was focused on this horrendous racist fantasy in my head that I judged and made this big decision.
Marc:I'm focused to the point of panic.
Marc:And a flight attendant comes up to me and says, everything okay, sir?
Marc:And I'm like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:And then I sit down.
Marc:And, of course, flight attendants, if anyone...
Marc:reads panic you know they go tell all the other flight attendants so another one comes out to me goes are you okay i'm like yeah just a little panicky you know i've been up a long time just just a little panic and she's like are you all right sir and i'm like oh now i'm the fucking freak now i'm i'm the guy that's like you know the problem on the plane you know in my mind you know we're you know an hour away from from flying into the capitol records building
Marc:And this is going on, and I'm like, I'm losing it.
Marc:And then, of course, I'm sitting there.
Marc:The flight attendants are now aware of my psychological state and probably have told the captain already if he's not dead.
Marc:And then what happens is I see the guy walk back.
Marc:The Arab guy just walks back and sits down with his wife.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And then as we're landing, the flight attendant says, everything OK?
Marc:Are you feeling better?
Marc:I'm like, yeah, I just got something in my head.
Marc:You know, something was happening in my head that was not happening in reality.
Marc:And I feel bad about it.
Marc:And she says, well, you know, it's you know, it happens to all of us.
Marc:We have to be very aware.
Marc:I'm like, yeah, but I just you know, I manufactured.
Marc:You know, I was I was not just aware.
Marc:I you know, I already saw the printed headlines on most of the nation's newspapers.
Marc:I didn't say that to her, but I was like, okay, good.
Marc:I just felt so fucking ashamed of myself again with this shit.
Marc:I got to get past that.
Marc:You know, what fear does is unbelievable.
Marc:That's it.
Marc:I would like to extend my apologies to the black male.
Marc:flight attendant on my flight from Dublin to Chicago if I seemed racist in that weird kind of obsequious, too nice way.
Marc:And I'd also like to extend my apologies to the
Marc:the brown man who I decided was Arab or Palestinian, who has no knowledge of what I went through because of my stereotyping him and being blatantly racist.
Marc:I apologize to both of you and to the stewardesses or the flight attendants for causing them some discomfort in my panic.
Music
Marc:The truth of the matter is we've never talked, and you're one of the few people that sort of gets me sort of off kilter.
Marc:Not in a bad way, but I find when I've had interactions with you that I'm like, oh, it's TIG time.
Marc:I just entered the TIG time zone.
Guest:Oh, really?
Marc:Well, a little bit, because I think the first time we met, and by the way, in the garage here at the Cat Ranch TIG Notaro,
Marc:is here from the Sarah Silverman program and years of stand-up.
Marc:And we worked together, I think, for the first time in Tampa.
Marc:I don't even remember what year that was.
Marc:Do you?
Guest:I would guess it was maybe eight years ago.
Marc:That's it?
Marc:Eight years ago?
Guest:Maybe nine, something like that.
Marc:Yeah, and I had never seen you.
Marc:I didn't know who you were, and you were really funny.
Marc:And it was one of those things where it's like, where's this person come from?
Marc:Where did you come from?
Guest:originally mississippi really uh-huh so you got out of mississippi i did uh i was born in jackson and then uh my family is i have some family members still up there but then most of my family is in uh the gulf coast also new orleans baton rouge are you close with them
Guest:Pretty close.
Marc:So is it as bad as everyone thinks?
Marc:I've been accused of being hard on the South.
Marc:I've been accused of making, and I don't do it very often, but I think it's an easy mistake to make where you just say the South is full of idiots.
Guest:Yeah, I mean, it drives me crazy.
Marc:Is it full of idiots?
Guest:No, it drives me crazy.
Guest:When people do that?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I mean, because absolutely there's idiots, but it's like... There's idiots everywhere.
Guest:As a comedian, you have to have seen when you've toured that there are idiots in every city and town that you go to.
Guest:And I think in general, what it is more than a Southern thing is like a small town mentality.
Guest:Sure.
Guest:But my family in the South...
Guest:for the most part, are very open-minded, accepting people.
Guest:And so I give them way more credit than somebody that has gone and traveled the world and allowed themselves to be, you know, their mind to expand and meet new people.
Guest:And then they become accepting.
Guest:Right.
Guest:these family members of mine are in small town southern Mississippi and just out of who they are, like they are accepted and so they blow my mind more than big city people that are like liberal.
Marc:Right, because they're doing it because they think they have to whereas the people in your family perhaps came to it just by virtue of their human interaction with you or with other people or with the world.
Guest:Well, and it's not even that other people think they have to.
Guest:It's that you learn by meeting so many people and traveling to so many places.
Guest:And it's not that my family, that they haven't left the town.
Guest:But they certainly aren't right next to Manhattan.
Marc:Well, no, I think I think what you're talking about is the difference between tolerance and the difference between actual empathy and acceptance.
Marc:Yeah, I think that like liberals are basically sort of like, you know, I'm open minded.
Marc:It's a big tent.
Marc:Even if I don't like these people, you know, I accept them.
Marc:So there's not that sort of heartfelt connection.
Marc:I think that comes from from the history of the South, too.
Marc:I think that they've seen a lot of shit in general.
Guest:Absolutely.
Guest:And I think also there's a certain mentality of people in New Orleans and then also, you know, I have Cajun people in my family and there's a certain mentality that is just open and just join the party type.
Guest:Let's go.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:We're glad you're here.
Marc:Right.
Guest:We don't care what's going on.
Marc:Right.
Marc:And there's also those kind of people that are insulated in churches and are white supremacists and retards.
Marc:But, I mean, that is not really the bulk of the South.
Marc:The South is a very compassionate place.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And there's a sense of humor that's there.
Guest:It's like my family, sure, they go to church.
Guest:And the church that's not there anymore after Katrina, but the church that was there...
Guest:was this A-frame that was the exact shape of the church.
Guest:And my uncle referred to it as Jesus Christ super slide.
Guest:And to me, that's not a traditionally conservative.
Guest:Approach to Jesus?
Guest:Exactly, referring to the home of Jesus as Jesus Christ super slide.
Marc:Did you have family that lost property in Katrina or lost family members or anything?
Guest:There was severe damage and there was friends of the family that were lost and no immediate family members, but I thought they were all dead.
Marc:Yeah, I bet.
Marc:For how long?
Guest:Several days because there was no there was no cell phone service.
Guest:There was nothing.
Guest:The last anybody heard from my family was the night before Katrina.
Guest:Everybody had gotten into one house and it actually happened to be the highest point.
Guest:In the town.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And my brother talked to my cousin and my cousin couldn't even hear my brother.
Guest:All my brother could hear was him just yelling like, we're, you know, we're just cut out.
Guest:Oh, my God.
Guest:And the next I saw the next morning was I was watching the news and there was a helicopter.
Guest:Just going over, you know, there's so much attention to New Orleans, which is not where Katrina hit.
Guest:That's where the levees broke.
Guest:Katrina hit, actually, my hometown.
Marc:Which is?
Guest:Past Christiane, Mississippi.
Guest:And there's bayous that run up through the town, and so that's what continues the...
Guest:and strength of the hurricane so it just ran up through the town and just ripped it apart but the media was all over New Orleans and I remember watching the news and this helicopter going over Paschristian and they were like this is Paschristian, Mississippi and then the
Guest:News reporter was just silent and he was like, my God, it's gone.
Guest:And I was like, oh my.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:You know?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And then you couldn't get in touch with anyone for three days.
Guest:But I drove out there.
Marc:The day of?
Guest:No, I was like in fetal position.
Guest:I didn't even know what to do with myself.
Guest:I was just picturing like it was going to be mass graves or you know what I mean?
Guest:And so I just sent out like an email going, hey, I'm going to rent a U-Haul and throw a can of tomato soup and head down there like and try and, you know.
Guest:Wrangle up the crew.
Guest:Yeah, just I don't know what's going on.
Guest:and my email spread like wildfire, and my house turned into a three-day donation center.
Guest:There was outdoor lighting, every comedian friend, every person, people I'd never met.
Guest:I heard that Kim Deal had come by my house.
Guest:Oh, really?
Guest:Like all these people were coming over to my house and dropping off food and clothing and sending me a check for $1,000.
Guest:Like I'd never met Kathy Griffin, ever.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:check for a grand just shows up at my house.
Guest:Like just word of mouth just started going crazy.
Guest:And a production company gave me two trucks, two huge production trucks.
Guest:And I drove with the most random mixed people down in my hometown with $10,000 that we had raised and just packed with food, diapers, clothing.
Marc:And that was not even asking for money.
Marc:Or, I mean, it just showed up?
Marc:Or, I mean, how did it work?
Guest:At first, I was just asking for clothing and food or whatever, and it was actually a major life lesson for me because I was shy to ask for money.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And then I realized I was personalizing this in that it was as though I was asking for money, and then I was like,
Guest:I'm not asking for money, and if somebody thinks I'm going to take their money, I don't have time to argue about this.
Guest:Like, this is too elaborate of a, like, if you don't trust me, do not drop anything off.
Guest:I don't care.
Guest:And so once I shifted my mindset, then I just said, okay, we have plenty of formula, diapers, food.
Guest:We need money.
Guest:And so then people were like, just bringing over cash.
Guest:And some people even said, I don't care what you do with this money.
Marc:Yeah, just get it over there.
Guest:No, they even said like, even if you go get a massage with this, just go, here's the money.
Guest:Do you know?
Guest:And of course I didn't go get a massage.
Guest:But anyway, so it was just like a really intense thing.
Guest:But I got down there and yeah, my whole family was alive.
Guest:But the town, it looked like an earthquake had hit.
Guest:Like you could literally jump into the ground.
Marc:Wow, it just ripped shit up out of the ground.
Guest:I can't even explain to you.
Guest:I would have to show photos, and I was taking pictures, and at the time, I guess digital camera, I certainly, I have Amish ways about me, I certainly didn't have a digital camera then.
Guest:And I had just a regular camera, and I got doubles made.
Guest:And I realized when I was showing the pictures,
Guest:I was like, oh, this is where the deli used to be.
Guest:This is where the... I was just showing pictures of flat, destroyed land.
Guest:And I had doubles of them.
Marc:Yeah, yeah, and it all looked sort of the same, just rubble.
Guest:Yeah, and it was just nothing.
Guest:I was like, oh, and then I just looked at it, and I was like, oh, there's nothing there.
Marc:Oh, my God.
Guest:And I have two copies.
Marc:Okay, so you load the truck.
Marc:Did you have specific people in mind?
Marc:Like, you say diapers, and you say, I mean, were you like...
Guest:I was thinking of elderly and children.
Guest:I was thinking of people that were trapped out in the country.
Marc:Right.
Guest:Because people were just isolated.
Marc:So just anybody that you knew in the town.
Marc:You didn't have people in mind.
Marc:You just knew that your town was devastated.
Guest:Yeah, I didn't know.
Guest:I figured whoever I could reach because you couldn't get...
Guest:We started getting reports that the closer you got into town, people would be like, you can't get in, you can't get in.
Guest:And so I stopped at a friend of my family's that was further out in the country.
Guest:They had told us about this Baptist church that was open.
Guest:They were going to open their doors for us.
Guest:And me and everybody, we pulled up with the trucks.
Guest:We had been driving straight through.
Marc:How many people went with you?
Guest:I think five.
Marc:Comics?
Guest:No.
Marc:Just friends?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Uh-huh.
Guest:And so when we pulled up, I remember this one girl going, I do not feel like unloading these trucks.
Guest:And I said, do you really think when we pull up, they're not going to bust the doors open and unload this in three seconds?
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:And that's exactly what happened.
Marc:Really?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I mean, the trucks were unloaded within a second.
Marc:And they needed everything.
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Marc:completely unbelievable and you saw your family and were they like oh my god yeah yeah it was it was it was amazing uh to see them it's just cousins and the whole unbelievable yeah well i'm glad everybody's okay yeah i mean did they rebuild their home
Guest:Well, I mean, there was, you know, damage that was, yeah, redone, but they didn't, like, lose their house.
Guest:Right.
Guest:That's amazing.
Guest:But, I mean, their next door, all the houses up into my cousin's house.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:It stopped right at his house.
Guest:It was...
Guest:Crazy.
Marc:Like right there?
Guest:Right there.
Marc:I guess it's got to stop somewhere.
Guest:And it stopped at my cousin's house.
Marc:So he was one of the guys like, I guess God's working out for me, but my neighbor not so much.
Guest:Yeah, exactly.
Marc:But when I worked with you eight years ago, I'd never really seen you before, and I don't know what your comedy history is.
Marc:Did you start out in comedy?
Marc:I mean, in terms of like how long you've been doing it and where'd you come from?
Guest:I think I'm almost 12 years into it.
Marc:Oh, that's a lot.
Guest:And I started in LA.
Guest:I'd always wanted to do it.
Guest:And when I lived in Denver was when I was really, it was really starting to come up for me.
Marc:Right, what were your jobs before?
Guest:I worked in pizza delivery, childcare, up to working for Sam Raimi for years.
Guest:Really?
Guest:Just so many different coffee shop.
Guest:Childcare.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:because i needed a job i dropped out of high school yeah and i was like i need a job and i took a job in child care and that's just not the job you go get because you just dropped out of high school yeah yeah it's like really involved like what kind of child care just like a daycare type you know and so you had many kids yeah like kids crawling on me i had long hair at the time they were wanting to braid my hair i don't want to be rude but you don't strike me you know outwardly as being a kid person
Guest:Mark, that's so rude.
Guest:No, of course.
Guest:But actually, that job, I'm so glad I took it because I was so uncomfortable around kids because they just want to hang on you and hug and kiss and braid your hair.
Guest:And I was just like, get off of it.
Guest:I'm like, what are you doing?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And then the more I was around them, I understood how to be with them in my way.
Guest:And I actually just talked to them like they're a grown up.
Guest:How'd that go over?
Guest:Were they confused?
Guest:Oh, really?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Like how old were the kids?
Guest:I worked with anywhere from, like, 3 to, like, 12.
Marc:Yeah?
Marc:You know?
Marc:And you just treated them with this sort of the take distance?
Guest:Yeah, just kind of like, listen, I don't know if you really want to make the choice you're making.
Guest:It seems like a poor decision to me.
Guest:You know?
Guest:But it was... I couldn't...
Guest:inauthentically be nurturing yeah yeah i mean but i did love them and that was the crazy thing was like i i started to think even as a high school dropout i failed three grades and dropped out of high school and then after working with kids i started to think i think i might want to work with kids
Guest:Really?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:You think you got a handle on this?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:It was such a bizarre twist in my life.
Marc:Well, then you went into comedy, which is similar.
Guest:Yeah, exactly.
Guest:And now I tour and do colleges.
Guest:That's the other funny thing is I didn't go to college and then I'm going to Princeton.
Marc:Do you find that they're kids too?
Marc:Like the weird thing, I don't do a lot of colleges, but my recollection of who I was in college and my recollection of what college is supposed to be is not really what it is.
Marc:I mean, they're kids.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:I mean, it's when I see like there's some part of me, I think that never grows up.
Marc:Like there's some part of me when I go back to Boston, which is rarely.
Marc:And I see kids walking around college kids.
Marc:I'm like, I think they're wearing my clothes.
Marc:I think I think I am that guy.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And it's not until I'm really standing next to an 18 or 19 year old that I'm like, holy shit.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:I'm not that anymore.
Guest:Well, my moment when I realized that I was not that was when I was on a layover in Atlanta.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And the flight was delayed.
Guest:And there were these college kids sitting around playing cards.
Guest:And they were trying to get a bunch of people together.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But they didn't ask me.
Guest:Yeah.
Yeah.
Guest:And that was kind of, I was waiting for them to ask me, even though I was going to say no.
Guest:Right.
Guest:Then I realized, oh, I'm not that age anymore.
Guest:I'm a grown up.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Oops.
Marc:You're not even on their radar.
Marc:No.
Marc:It wasn't even like, not her.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:They looked right past me.
Marc:Oh, yeah.
Guest:And I was like, oh, shoot.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:When did that happen?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:That was that one moment where I was like, I have aged.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:It's kind of rough.
Guest:Molder now.
Guest:But yeah, doing colleges, it's so bizarre to when they come up and talk and want to get pictures and whatever.
Guest:I'm just like, you look like an infant.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:They look so young.
Guest:It's bizarre that they're in college and learning things.
Marc:I'm not sure they're learning things.
Marc:I mean, I think they're in college.
Guest:Okay, but that they're being taught, that that information is being spewed out towards them.
Marc:Right, right, right.
Guest:Whether they're, yeah.
Marc:They're being confronted with the information.
Marc:Exactly.
Marc:How they react to it is up to them.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I would never look at a face that looked that young and think, here, I'm going to give you this equation to solve or theory.
Marc:Right, right, right.
Marc:I guess you have friends who have kids now.
Marc:Right?
Marc:Some?
Marc:Yeah, some.
Marc:Yeah, it's weird because I don't have that many and I don't find myself socializing with a lot of kids.
Marc:And I know there are people my age that literally have kids that are, you know, in high school.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:And when you don't have kids, like that time doesn't, time doesn't pass the same way.
Guest:Right.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:It's the most fucked up weird thing.
Guest:Well, yeah, I guess when I'm thinking back to friends that are in like Mississippi or Texas or whatever.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:They have kids.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:When I'm thinking about my life here, it's like a few, you know, you have some.
Marc:And they keep them hidden.
Marc:They're taking care of elsewhere.
Guest:But I was I was just in Utah.
Guest:That's a weird place.
Guest:Yesterday or two days ago.
Marc:We're in Salt Lake City.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:And to do a show.
Guest:Uh-huh.
Guest:And everybody was married.
Marc:I think it's a law there.
Marc:You have to be at least married to one person, at the very least.
Guest:But, I mean, have you spent much time there?
Marc:I was there once.
Marc:I did a weird show.
Guest:Do you only go everywhere one time?
Marc:Uh-uh.
Marc:I did a Jewish community center, of all things, in Salt Lake City.
Marc:I'd never met a more sort of cloistered bunch of Jews because it's really a functioning theocracy.
Marc:Right.
Marc:But I recently talked to somebody, Tracy McMillan, a writer who was on the show, that said that there is a teeming, sort of very vibrant, you know, underworld to Salt Lake City.
Marc:And that makes sense to me because if you're living in what's essentially a theocracy, I would imagine the resistance to it, though it may be small, is pretty active.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But I've only experienced... I feel like when there's a... There's always the flip side of, you know, Salt Lake City.
Guest:That's where...
Guest:such a huge punk scene is.
Guest:Right.
Marc:Because, yeah, they're living in Mormon land.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:What was your experience there?
Guest:Well, I just, I couldn't, the crowds were really great.
Guest:I had really fun shows, but what I noticed, every person I looked at, the openers and the open micers that were just coming to watch the shows.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:all of them had wedding rings on and their wives were with them and i just you know 18 year olds and then when i went to the when i realized that pattern and and then i was at the airport and when i was leaving town i was just looking at everyone's hand just looking for wedding rings and i was everybody really married married and not just early 20s like 18. i
Marc:19.
Marc:I don't know how you get closure in that area of your life at that age.
Marc:I mean, I've been married twice, and I wasn't good at it, but it always amazes me because I'd like to think, there's some part of me that thinks, well, they're well-adjusted, they made a decision, but really what they've chosen is a way of life that is different than ours.
Marc:I mean, that's it.
Marc:I mean, it doesn't mean that they're any better or any more well-adjusted.
Guest:Well, no, but I was just staring at people that were married and that young and just...
Guest:Just in awe.
Marc:Were you thinking, why?
Guest:Or how?
Guest:Not why.
Guest:Like, I get why you would think to do that or if you're conservative and maybe that's your ticket to have sex.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But, like, how...
Guest:It blows my mind when somebody meets and I, but then, you know, actually it makes sense when you're that young and you have your first love and you think, yeah, I'll be with you forever because you don't know that things change.
Marc:Right.
Marc:Or maybe you can stay in that thing.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:I mean, if you're, you're vigilant enough.
Guest:And when people do, that's one of the things that just, it blows my mind when people meet somebody.
Guest:The only time I felt that in my life was with my writing partner.
Guest:And so I've written with people and I've bounced around ideas and whatever, but it just happened to be this guy that I wouldn't have thought in a million years
Guest:Uh, cause we've run into each other here and there, but we did this really bad pilot that we were laughing so hard and making fun of the entire time.
Guest:And we just, it was that magical, like, yeah.
Guest:And, uh, he was like, you want to maybe write that?
Guest:And I was like, yeah, sure.
Guest:And, and then now like for me with him, I was like, that's it.
Guest:This is it.
Marc:This is the equivalent.
Guest:I could be with him forever creatively.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:He's who inspires me and makes me laugh so hard.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Do I know him?
Guest:Kyle Dunnigan.
Marc:I know Kyle Dunnigan.
Marc:Okay.
Marc:Kyle Dunnigan, the cow swapping Kyle Dunnigan?
Guest:Yes, this, that guy.
Marc:Yeah, he's a funny guy.
Guest:Yeah, he's a funny guy.
Marc:He's like a puppet almost.
Guest:Yeah, he's very animated and silly.
Guest:And so when we write, it's funny because his style is very kind of cartoony, silly.
Guest:And then I have a more... Minimalized.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And then...
Guest:But as we get closer to each other, meaning like in a script or a joke, we get to that last moment and that's when the tension starts because he goes a little more that way and I go a little more that way.
Guest:And it usually, it feels like the way we decide on which way to go is whose original idea it was.
Guest:Oh, really?
Marc:Not which makes you laugh more necessarily?
Guest:Well, sure.
Marc:Absolutely.
Guest:But if you're really down to the wire and you're about to hang up on each other and lose your mind, it's like, all right, you know what?
Guest:This is your thing.
Guest:Maybe you're seeing something I don't.
Marc:Right.
Marc:And then you just sort of balance it out with the next one's your thing.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I mean, in general, but he's really good.
Marc:Does he live here?
Guest:Yeah, he does.
Guest:And that's the thing is he's not like a very social guy.
Guest:We were both in this Comedy Central competition called Laugh Riots, like in my first year of stand-up.
Guest:And we were like in the finals in The Nation.
Guest:And I laugh now and say to him that like, I said, you know that when we were in the green room at the El Rey Theater, the most we said was like, we probably just turned to each other and went,
Guest:Hey.
Guest:Hey.
Guest:And now I spend every waking hour with this guy.
Guest:What are you working on?
Guest:We just wrote something for Funny or Die.
Guest:And we're not like... We're just...
Guest:We're not trying to become staff writers or anything.
Guest:We're just kind of learning how to write different things together.
Guest:We've written an internet series.
Guest:We've written a spec.
Guest:We've written an original thing.
Guest:We've written a late night pack.
Guest:We're just trying to do everything together.
Guest:And then ultimately in hopes of selling an original thing together.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Big payoff.
Yeah.
Guest:Yeah, and if not, I honestly, I would be happy to do stand-up and just always have that going with him.
Marc:It's important to have relationships of any kind that are fulfilling.
Marc:Absolutely.
Marc:I mean, I have a housemate here that we're not romantically involved, but we get along great, and it's so nice.
Marc:It's so nice to have somebody in your life in some capacity that feels solid and fun and
Guest:Well, but I also think it's important to have relationships, whatever they are, because I feel like when people, especially comedians, when we're touring, we're isolated and we don't have to answer to anybody.
Guest:I know.
Guest:Exactly.
Guest:But I think it creates this monster, though.
Marc:The monster that lives in hotel rooms and goes out and does bad things and eats bad shit?
Guest:Well, I mean, there's that, but I mean, there's also just, you, you don't have the ability to negotiate anymore, you know, when you're isolated.
Guest:Right.
Guest:Because you get set in your ways.
Marc:And you always win.
Marc:Yeah, exactly.
Marc:Because you're the only one.
Marc:You're negotiating with yourself.
Marc:Exactly.
Marc:That rarely ends well.
Guest:Right.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:It's, it's horrible.
Marc:So how long you've been in LA now?
Guest:About 12 years.
Marc:And when you came out here, you wanted to do comedy, so you started in LA.
Marc:That's a rare thing, huh?
Guest:Yeah, that's not why I came here.
Guest:My friends that I grew up with, they moved out here because they wanted to work in television.
Marc:In a general way?
Guest:Well, my friend wanted to produce.
Guest:And so we all moved out here.
Guest:And as soon as I got here, I opened up the LA Weekly or something, and I saw all these opportunities to do stand-up.
Guest:And I was like, oh, my God.
Guest:Because in Denver, there was like...
Guest:Two places.
Guest:Two places, and that's what's amazing.
Marc:Comedy Works, did you work there?
Guest:Yeah, and then also, there was like a Mexican restaurant that you could do an open mic at, and when people say it's more intimidating to start stand-up in Los Angeles or New York, I don't agree, because I was more intimidated with only having limited options in Denver, and I know that at Comedy Works,
Guest:you had to sign up on a waiting list that would last two or three months, then you get on stage and you get two or three minutes and they watch you and if you do okay, you can come back.
Guest:If not, you go back into that long rotation.
Guest:And to me, that was like... That's a point.
Guest:Yeah, that's why I never felt like I wanted to really go through with that.
Guest:And then when I got to LA and I saw the options, I was like, oh, well, I could just fly under the radar.
Marc:Yeah, well, that's the trick in LA is that it's so hard to be under the radar.
Marc:Not in a laundromat.
Guest:I was doing open mics in laundromats.
Guest:I'm saying you can fly under the radar to start out, which I did for two years, a year and a half.
Guest:I was just doing coffee shops and an open mic at a laundromat.
Marc:Well, that's interesting because you completely started within that sort of alternative comedy, comic produced world.
Marc:You avoided the club thing until you got good.
Marc:And now you tour more than most people.
Marc:You do regular comedy clubs.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:That's great because a lot of people who come out of the alternative comedy world never leave it and they never get a sense of whether or not they can perform in front of real audiences.
Guest:Well, and I love the, what's called the alternative comedy world.
Guest:Sure.
Guest:But, you know, like,
Guest:Kyle Dunnigan's not in that, and I adore him.
Marc:No, I'm not saying as individuals.
Marc:I just find that if people get locked in the circuit of comic-produced shows where they're just performing for other comics, they never really get to find out whether or not they can do the job.
Guest:And that's the thing is I really am not, and I've never wanted to be a comedian that only did comedy death ray or some, that didn't appeal to me.
Guest:Although I love doing those shows.
Guest:But I also love going into a regular club or doing a theater or a college.
Guest:And I think it's really a challenge to take
Guest:who you are if if you have something a little different right um or you know and and try and go into those places and um see if it works yeah you have a style you have a you have a stage persona that that's specific and it's not but it's not um specific to a certain group of people which is good
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I mean, I hope it is.
Guest:Well, you're doing well.
Guest:Yeah, I'm enjoying it.
Guest:It's tough for you gals.
Guest:No, it's not.
Guest:I hope you're kidding.
Guest:Yeah, I am.
Guest:Okay, good.
Guest:Because I cannot stand that, you know, when people say that.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I don't even like to hear women say that.
Guest:Oh, it's hard.
Guest:What's your reaction to it?
Guest:It just drains me.
Guest:I feel like they just started the world's most boring conversation, you know, because I feel like if you are funny, that's going to be the driving force that's going to get people's attention.
Guest:Like, you know, Laura Keitlinger was one of my...
Marc:I just had her on the live one.
Marc:She was great.
Guest:She is brilliant.
Guest:And before I got into stand-up, that was who Dana Gould and Laura Keitlinger were people that blew my mind, that I had seen on TV.
Guest:And Laura was somebody that would go on stage in a short skirt and go-go boots.
Guest:And she was an attractive person that was doing this dark...
Guest:just amazing, real comedy.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:That was clever, funny, well-written, just so, I was, you know?
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:And so you, when people are like, oh, well, it's hard, you know, when you're hot or, you know, people don't take you seriously.
Guest:And I always go, look at Laura Keitlinger.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:You know?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:That excuse does not work.
Guest:If you are funny,
Guest:You're funny.
Marc:So you don't think there's any obstacles for women in standup?
Guest:I think if you go in with that mentality, but I mean, I really don't know.
Guest:All I know, obviously, is my experience.
Marc:Well, in your experience in going to clubs, when you get off stage, you don't ever get that, you know, you're pretty funny for a girl or you're, you know.
Guest:I get that.
Guest:Absolutely.
Guest:I get that.
Guest:But I don't take that on.
Guest:Right.
Guest:I think I just think you're a ridiculous idiot.
Marc:Right.
Marc:But I guess that's my question is that some of the parameters of stand up club audiences are dictated by ridiculous idiots.
Marc:And I think that some of the reaction that women have or women who want to do it or what they've experienced on the road is that audiences approach female comics differently.
Marc:Right.
Guest:Well, yeah, maybe.
Guest:Yeah, it's not your experience.
Guest:I really don't know.
Guest:I remember when I was in Seattle doing a club and the club owner's wife said there was like some women's comedy night and where they taught comedy or nurtured female comedians or something and that she had told like...
Guest:I don't know, but she had told like the female comedians to come down and talk to me and ask me questions.
Guest:And first of all, that write-off kind of scared me a little bit.
Guest:But they did come up and they were like, you know, young girls and pear-shaped housewives and just different women coming up and being like, hi, you know.
Guest:how many times a week do I get on stage?
Guest:And where can I go that's safe?
Guest:And, you know, this and that.
Guest:And I was just like, what are you talking about?
Guest:Like, where can you go that's safe?
Guest:Well, I'm a girl and I just don't want, you know, guys.
Guest:And I was like, this is so the wrong place for you to be.
Guest:Like, if you are looking, like, go to a women's shelter or something.
Guest:I don't know.
Guest:Because that's the last place you want to be is in a safe environment to do stand-up.
Guest:Right.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And it's not something, nor is anything that you're passionate about something that you set aside two to three nights a week to do.
Marc:I think that's true.
Guest:You are driven like a maniac to get on stage.
Marc:No matter what.
Guest:No matter what it is.
Guest:And you don't go, okay, I'm going to go Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and I'm going to work on my craft.
Marc:Right.
Guest:I'm going to sit down every morning for one hour, and I'm going to do... No.
Guest:No.
Marc:Not a bad idea, but I understand everything.
Marc:Right.
Guest:I'm just saying, if there's a robotic way.
Marc:Yeah, what you're saying is that people that have the hunger for it have no choice.
Marc:That if you're sitting there going, I wonder if I should, then you're already halfway done.
Guest:Yeah, no, no, no.
Guest:And so when people are like, yeah, it's hard as a girl and this and that, the most empowering thing would be walking on stage, being this smoking hot woman dressed so femininely and just kick people in the teeth with their comedy.
Guest:Which I think somebody like Natasha Leggero does.
Guest:You know what I mean?
Guest:She figured it out.
Guest:It doesn't hold her back that she's this attractive person.
Marc:Yeah, and she's a unique person.
Marc:Totally.
Marc:And over the years, she's really developed this voice and this character, and she intimidates me.
Marc:But my ex-wife was a comic, briefly.
Marc:I mean, she's not anymore, but she came out of modeling.
Marc:And her big complaint was, you know, like, they look at me and they think, you know, what does she have to complain about?
Marc:And then you think, like, well, why does it have to be about complaining?
Marc:I mean, you know...
Marc:Funny is funny.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:But how do you explain the proportional difference between women comedians and male comedians?
Marc:It just seems to me that when I'm- What, that there's fewer women doing it?
Marc:Many fewer, much fewer.
Guest:Right, but I don't think it's just by nature something that women are driven to do.
Guest:I don't think by nature, like by droves of women.
Marc:So you got to have a particular bug in your brain.
Guest:I mean, just to be a comedian in general.
Guest:Yeah, I think that's true.
Guest:But I don't think it's just out of the gate.
Guest:Like a woman is like, I just want to get up there and, you know, start out driving in a car from one horrible show to another and live off of French fries and get heckled.
Guest:And then hopefully this will go better.
Guest:You know, hopefully down the road.
Guest:They'd rather do that with men.
Guest:But I mean, you know, I just don't think it is in general.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:A woman's choice.
Guest:I just don't think in general.
Guest:I'm not saying women can't do it.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And that women don't do it.
Guest:I just don't think...
Marc:And also, like you were saying, there's not a large variety of role models in comedy in terms of women.
Marc:I mean, like I can think of them, I can think of a few in my head historically, but even historically, you have someone like Laura Keitlinger, you have Maria Bamford, you have Natasha now.
Marc:There were people like Gilda Radner, Lucille Ball, you have some other sketch people, but there's not a shitload of stand-up comics
Guest:I mean, before I got into stand-up and before I got really, you know, it's like you think you like something and then you see a whole different level and you go, oh, wait a minute.
Guest:You know, it's like before you're a comedian.
Marc:Before the drain starts to crumble a little bit.
Guest:But, you know, before you're a comedian, maybe you just think comedy is comedy on some level.
Guest:They just stand up there and be funny.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Stand up is stand up.
Guest:Right.
Guest:Stand up is stand up.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And then your taste gets so refined.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:That only one specific thing is going to make you laugh for the rest of your life.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And so, you know, when I first got in or before I got into stand up, even...
Guest:before I knew who Laura Keitlinger was I liked and I still like Paula Poundstone but I I liked Rosie O'Donnell I liked Ellen DeGeneres and I I um I just loved stand-up yeah and so those women I really did like yeah but then as time went on and then I saw HBO or you know yeah that was the woman that stood out to me it was Laura Keitlinger right that spoke
Marc:more to your place my my i i went oh oh this like i thought i loved that but this is wow you know yeah i was so excited oh that's great yeah good story yeah so and now you're you know you're sort of aligned with in terms of uh working with uh one of the most popular female stand-ups sarah silverman did you like how how did that relationship start were you a fan of hers
Guest:I knew who she was, and I don't even know how familiar with her stand-up I was when I met her.
Marc:What's your character's name on the show?
Guest:Officer Tig.
Marc:Oh, okay.
Marc:Good.
Marc:That's a good name.
Marc:It's a stretch.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:But, yeah, I knew who Sarah was.
Guest:I knew what...
Guest:I don't know how much of her I'd seen.
Guest:I remember this friend of mine, Nancy in Boulder, who's a standup.
Guest:And she had seen Sarah on stage.
Guest:And she was like, oh, Tig, I just saw somebody you have to see.
Guest:You're going to love her.
Guest:And she was like, it's Sarah Silverman.
Guest:I was like, oh, yeah, I know that.
Guest:But I don't think I had met her or seen her really.
Marc:The full Sarah Silverman experience.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:And then we, oh, eating it in New York at Luna Lounge years ago.
Marc:Yeah, I had to originate that show.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:We were both on the same lineup.
Guest:And when I got off stage, she came up and she was like, oh, my God, you're so funny.
Guest:And I was like, oh, thanks.
Guest:And that was the first time I think I had really seen her, too.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And so we were both just kind of like, wow, you're really funny.
Guest:That's great.
Guest:And then I left and then like a week later, I was at the improv in Hollywood and I was walking out of the showroom and she was like, hey, it's me, Sarah.
Guest:I met you last week.
Guest:And I was like, yeah, I remember you, Sarah Silverman.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I mean, she, of course, wasn't the household name that she is now, but she was still like Sarah Silverman.
Marc:She's a pretty big personality.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And especially as a comedian, you know, you've heard of Sarah Silverman.
Guest:And so she was like, hey, do you want to...
Guest:get lunch or something?
Guest:Can I get your number?
Guest:I was like, yeah, sure.
Guest:And then I remember thinking that she was going to be some flaky Hollywood type.
Guest:And like two days later, she called and was like, it's Sarah.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Let's go get lunch.
Marc:She's genuinely like that.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Because whenever I've known her since she was like, you know, 19.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:And I always thought like, this has got to be a put on.
Marc:But then after a certain point, it's like, oh my God, she's genuinely like excited and pretty clear headed and happy.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And just let's, let's go be friends.
Guest:And she's, she's very, you know, like when she's like, Hey, let's go hike tomorrow or let's go grab lunch Tuesday next week.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:She calls, you know, it's amazing.
Guest:Like she, she's a very consistent, um, good friend, loyal friend.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:The people she likes, she treats well.
Guest:Right.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:So, um, I don't know.
Marc:Were you part of the creative building of that show?
Yeah.
Guest:No, just only in the way that everybody's kind of to some degree themselves on the show.
Guest:I remember like one of the first episodes I was doing, I was trying to act like a cop.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And she pulled me aside.
Guest:She's like, Tig.
Guest:No.
Guest:First and foremost, she's like, the reason you're on this show is because of who you are.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And she said, so number one, you're Tig.
Guest:Yeah.
Yeah.
Guest:Number two, you're a cop.
Guest:That's secondary.
Guest:And so I was like, oh, she goes, so just like handle every situation like you would just how we are when we just hang out.
Guest:And I was like, oh, okay.
Guest:So I'd have to like arrest her how I would arrest him.
Marc:You were just hanging out.
Guest:And, you know, and that, I mean, that was the biggest, that is an amazing experience to do.
Guest:be on that show regularly and uh it was still hard though because i don't have training with acting yeah i just when i would get uptight or one of the and i still have learned from this and i use it with any other uh acting that i've gotten is uh i got so nervous and my throat dried up and i couldn't remember my lines and you know because
Guest:I'm a stand-up, and then I just show up on set, and all these cameras swoop into my face, and I have makeup on, and I have guns, and I didn't know what was happening.
Guest:And in Video Village, you have all the producers and writers and Comedy Central's watching you on screens, and you're just like, oh, my God.
Guest:And I couldn't remember my words.
Guest:Sarah kept, in this one scene, kept opening the door, and she was like, Tig!
Guest:And then I just...
Guest:I'm sorry, I don't know what I'm supposed to say.
Guest:And then she's like, okay.
Guest:And then she shut the door, and then she's like, Tig!
Guest:I was like, I'm sorry, I don't know what I'm supposed to say.
Guest:I learned my words, and I can't swallow.
Guest:I'm about to pass.
Guest:I was so uncomfortable.
Guest:And then she was like, she called, like, whatever, a break, or I don't even know the terminology, and she took me into her office, and she was like, what are we going to do, recast Tig?
Guest:You know?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:She's just like, this is you.
Guest:The whole script is written around you.
Guest:She's like, so just loosen up.
Guest:And she just grabbed my hands and started like making me jump up and down with her.
Guest:And she's like, whee, this is fun.
Guest:We get to be on a show together.
Guest:Yay.
Guest:And she's like, just act happy and excited and then let it translate.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And just loosen up.
Guest:She's like, this is not an intense thing.
Guest:This is like a fun thing we're doing.
Guest:Right.
Guest:So just...
Guest:And so, and then she ran my lines with me like repeatedly.
Guest:And so, so now if I get an acting job and I'm in my trailer and I'm nervous, my trailer will be rocking because I'll be jumping up and down going, this is fun.
Guest:I get to do this.
Guest:And, and, and then I walk out of my trailer like, hi, yeah, I need to go.
Guest:I can't even see you doing that.
Yeah.
Guest:It makes me happy that you do.
Guest:That is my acting lesson.
Guest:And then also she made me read my lines really fast.
Guest:She was like, that helps me, so you can do it.
Guest:And so we just read my lines really fast and then jumped up and down and yelled, we.
Marc:I think that's good practical advice for anybody because I think so many of us get sort of paralyzed by fear and forget that we're doing what we want to do and that it should be fun.
Marc:And if we allow ourselves to have fun, you know, it's possible.
Marc:But there's some of us that just like that line to cross over.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Realize like, you know, I'm doing what I want to do.
Guest:Yeah, it's such a crazy cage to put yourself into.
Marc:Well, I think stand-ups, when you're a stand-up, you get very insulated in the fact that like, you know, once you know how to get laughs, that buzz of like, you know, the validation buzz sort of gets tempered by, you know, just you get hung up on like, you know, whether a joke works or whether an audience is good.
Marc:So you sort of lose that initial, you know, like, this is great.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And it becomes more about the craft and about doing the job.
Marc:And I just think that because we're so used to doing it ourself and having complete control, and we know that, you know, this is my mic, this is my stage.
Marc:You're the people.
Marc:There may be a few of you or a lot of you, but this is all my game.
Marc:That, like, for me, when I get into an ensemble situation, there's a lot more pressure.
Marc:Because then you start thinking, like, you know, I'm not the only one part of this.
Marc:You know, what if I'm the fucking, you know, I'm the cog that fucks up?
Marc:Hmm.
Marc:And then your brain just starts spinning all that shit.
Marc:And you just want to disappear.
Guest:For me, even though there was a safety of working with Sarah, there was also a pressure because I think the world of her.
Guest:And so I...
Guest:i want i want to do well you don't want to let her down yeah because like she's given me such and that that would make me feel constricted because i'd be like i want to do i want to be so great for her you know what i mean and then and uh so at times it was like i could loosen up and at times i was like i want to be so great that i'm not doing very well
Guest:right now I can feel it and it just would frustrate me and then and it's you know it's the Sarah Silverman program make no mistake she created wrote starring in and hired me right you know and so there's like I want to do I want to do right by you yeah you know and and you did and
Guest:Yeah, I mean, I think I did my best.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:You know, so.
Marc:That's great.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And from that, do you find that on the road when you go out that that is the primary place where people know you from?
Guest:Absolutely.
Guest:I mean, there's people that, there's little pockets.
Guest:Like there's comedy death ray pockets.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:You know, that just follow comedy death ray and a special thing.
Guest:Comedy nerds.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And like in Utah, there was a pocket of guys that were repeating things that I had said on comedy Death Ray.
Guest:Oh, really?
Marc:On the radio show?
Guest:Yeah, on the radio show.
Guest:And I was like, wow, you know, that always kind of throws me off a little bit.
Marc:It's kind of interesting where you realize that these people have a relationship with you.
Marc:It may not be the real you, but with me, because I'm so candid, they know a lot about me.
Marc:They know as much as my mother knows, if not more.
Marc:And how you approach that, you have to be gracious, but there's that moment where you're like, yeah, you do know me.
Marc:And then you realize, I don't fucking know you at all.
Marc:Yeah, at all.
Guest:Well, and I have to say, those guys, like, I thought that they would be, I mean, they were laughing and yelling out, like, not being obnoxious at all.
Marc:Right.
Guest:They, when the show was winding down, they made some references to Comedy Death Ray and things I'd said, and I was like, oh, hey.
Marc:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:Have you ever had that experience where you sit in a comedy club, like, and you're just sitting in a chair, like, not in the back of the room, but, like, you sit where the audience sits, and you have that moment, it's like, I can't believe people come here.
Guest:Yeah, I was having that in Utah.
Guest:I was trying to picture myself being like, well, let's make plans.
Guest:Let's go see a show.
Guest:Yeah, right.
Guest:But I did that in Denver one time.
Guest:I went and saw just a comedy show.
Marc:Yeah, I like doing it.
Marc:Now, as I get less cynical and more appreciative of other people's work, I can sit through a whole show.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:like who was i talking to uh maria bamford was like she and jackie cation are setting aside time on the weekend to go see other headliners do full sets because we never see each other do full sets yeah ever yeah it's like this dirty secret we have when we go out on the road and we do our real show yeah and we come back here and do these 12 minute things yeah yeah for our friends that aren't even us like you know really doing it so i thought that was kind of endearing i should do that more often
Guest:yeah that is that's that's wild that they're doing that yeah jackie and maria are just hilarious yeah too much yeah maria is a genius yeah she's yeah when i'm around her sometimes i'm sort of like be careful around the angel yeah exactly yeah i mean i think the world of her yeah where do you what do you got coming up where are you going anything you're looking forward to
Guest:I do this monthly show at Largo.
Marc:Oh, yeah.
Marc:Like a taken friends?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:That I haven't been on?
Marc:No problem.
Guest:Well, it's not a stand-up show.
Marc:I can do anything.
Marc:What's required of me?
Guest:I'll bring on, like, casts of TV shows.
Guest:Oh.
Guest:And what I'll do is I come out and I do stand up for about 10 minutes.
Guest:And then after that, I bring up individually different cast members from TV shows.
Guest:And it's like a hidden talent type moment.
Guest:Oh, interesting, yeah.
Guest:So you get to see people, you know, read poetry or tap dance or play guitar or whatever you don't normally get to see them do when they're doing their thing.
Guest:When they're on their sitcom.
Marc:Well, like who's been on?
Marc:Like what has been some surprising...
Guest:Well, I mean, a fun show in general that I had recently was the cast of Parks and Recreation.
Guest:And it was so ridiculously fun.
Guest:My head was about to explode.
Guest:Because beyond the, that's just so small, what people do or what people, the hidden talent part.
Guest:Because after that, then you sit down, I sit down with the cast and I do just kind of an awkward interview with them.
Guest:And then I go out and I call it Phil Donahue, the place.
Guest:And I do a Q&A, but it's not like a sterile Q&A.
Guest:Right.
Guest:riff off of their question i riff off of the cast member's answer i maybe sit on a lap of a person or you know i just it it's it becomes very interactive right and um so sarah is executive producing it and um she we're we're shooting it and it's great yeah and it's it's just a really really fun show that sounds fun
Guest:And my next one is with Party Down.
Marc:It's a very popular show.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So that's what I'm doing.
Guest:That sounds like a great project.
Guest:Yeah, it's fun.
Guest:And I'm always touring.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:What's your website?
Guest:Tignotaro.com.
Guest:There's also Tignation.com.
Marc:Wow.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:You have two websites?
Yeah.
Guest:Well, it started out as Tig Nation, because before I did stand-up, I worked in music business.
Marc:What did you do in the music business?
Guest:I worked for record labels, and I promoted, and just did, I don't know.
Marc:Were you like a rock girl?
Guest:I mean, I love rock.
Guest:I love music.
Guest:Ronnie James Dio, I was bummed when he died.
Guest:I love heavy metal.
Guest:But I also love singer-songwriter.
Guest:I love country music.
Marc:And why'd you burn out on the music business?
Guest:I didn't even burn out on it.
Guest:It was one of those things where I thought I was happy.
Guest:I thought I liked it.
Marc:You were promoting and did you manage?
Guest:Yeah, I did kind of everything.
Guest:And I thought like, wow, I'm enjoying myself.
Guest:And I think I was for the most part.
Guest:But as soon as I got into stand-up, I was like...
Guest:Oh, it was that when I first saw Laura Keitlinger, I was like, oh no, this is what I was looking for.
Guest:I thought I liked just stand up, but it's more specific.
Guest:And so my happiness became more... So what is Tignation now?
Guest:It just directs you to the same thing.
Guest:TIG Nation.
Marc:Oh, either one.
Guest:Yeah, it is TIG Notaro.
Marc:Well, if you want to see TIG or know what's going on with TIG, there you go.
Marc:Thank you so much for talking to me.
Guest:Thanks for talking to me.
Marc:It's awesome.
Marc:Okay, that's it.
Marc:That's Tig Notaro.
Marc:Why did I just say Tig Notaro?
Marc:Tig Notaro.
Marc:Pleasure talking to her.
Marc:Glad she stopped by the garage.
Marc:I'm glad y'all people... Wow, I can't even talk.
Marc:I'm glad... Wow.
Marc:I'm glad all you people are listening.
Marc:I hope you're enjoying the show.
Marc:I have a couple of things to say before I split here.
Marc:WTF pod shop dot com, which you can also link to on WTF pod dot com now has available our first premium episode, which is a live episode from comics.
Marc:It's got Greg Giraldo, Todd Berry, Morgan Murphy, Janine Garofalo, John Mulaney, Tom Shalhoub.
Marc:It was a big one.
Marc:That's up.
Marc:I'll reiterate my upcoming dates this weekend at San Francisco.
Marc:It's Greg Barron, Bring the Rock at Cobbs, and that's CobbsComedy.com.
Marc:That's going to be a fun show.
Marc:There's four shows, Friday and Saturday.
Marc:And...
Marc:Please go to WTFod.com and enjoy.
Marc:Get on that mailing list.
Marc:That's been picking up a lot.
Marc:We're doing them at least once a week.
Marc:We've got pictures.
Marc:We've got links.
Marc:We've got things I'm thinking about what's going on in my life and also about the performers on the show so you can get a little more information on them.
Marc:Thank you for listening.
Marc:Have a great workout, a great day, a great hike, a great drive, a great life, and thank you for all your emails.
Marc:There's a lot of emails.
Marc:I do read them all.
Marc:I'm sorry if I don't get back to all of you.
Marc:Okay?
Marc:All right.
Marc:Talk to you later.