TRANSCRIPT
Office Ladies | Episode 268 – An Interview with Tig Notaro
Jenna [00:00:04] I'm Jenna Fischer
Angela [00:00:04] and I'm Angela Kinsey.
Jenna [00:00:06] We were on The Office together,
Angela [00:00:07] and we're best friends.
Jenna [00:00:09] And now we're doing the ultimate Office lover's podcast, just for you.
Angela [00:00:13] Each week we will dive deep into the world of The Office: with exclusive interviews, behind the scenes details and lots of BFF stories.
Jenna [00:00:21] We're the Office Ladies 6.0.
audio cue [00:00:26] [musical sting]
Jenna [00:00:26] Hello!
Angela [00:00:26] Hey there!
Jenna [00:00:27] I'm very excited about today's episode.
Angela [00:00:30] 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 [00:00:40] Well, yes, we are talking with Tig Notaro. Remember when we broke down "Test the Store" in season eight? We were not able to speak with her. And we got a lot of mail.
Angela [00:00:52] Yeah.
Jenna [00:00:52] 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." 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 stand-up comedian, and I was just so tickled to see her do such a great job on this show. Way to go, Tig!"
Angela [00:01:26] 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. As Abigail said: Tig is a standup comedian. She's an actress, a writer, a producer, a 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. She's on 'The Morning Show,' 'Star Trek Discovery,' and she is filming 'Star Trek: Starfleet Academy' series now.
Jenna [00:02:15] You asked her a lot about it, Ange. Angela really geeked out on this one.
Angela [00:02:20] I mean, this is a huge, huge show to be a part of.
Jenna [00:02:25] It's a big deal. And we also got a lot of mail from you all about it.
Angela [00:02:28] She was also in Justin Noble and Mindy Kaling's show, "Sex Lives of College Girls" on Netflix.
Jenna [00:02:34] 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 [00:02:43] When I went back and rewatched Test the Store's superfan episode on Peacock, Tig's scene has an extra couplet of dialog and it cracked me up. I thought we should hear it.
audio clip from The Office - Instructor [00:02:54] Now, if your attacker is willing to defile a corpse, you better stop playing dead right away and just make it known that you're alive.
audio clip from The Office - Tiffany's Mom [00:03:01] Forgive me for interrupting. I believe my daughter had an altercation with somebody here. Some fancy gentleman with a squeaky voice.
audio clip from The Office - Andy [00:03:09] I think you guys might have the wrong office.
audio clip from The Office - Tiffany [00:03:11] That's him. The guy I hit.
audio clip from The Office - Instructor [00:03:14] You've got to be kidding me.
audio clip from The Office - Kevin [00:03:16] Poor Andy. First you got beat up by a gang, and now she kicks your ass?
audio clip from The Office - Tiffany's Mom [00:03:22] What about the lady you hit with a pine cone?
audio clip from The Office - Tiffany [00:03:25] There, that chubby one.
audio clip from The Office - Pam [00:03:27] I just had a baby.
audio clip from The Office - Tiffany [00:03:29] Yesterday?
audio clip from The Office - Pam [00:03:29] Wow.
audio clip from The Office - Tiffany's Mom [00:03:32] Apologize.
audio clip from The Office - Tiffany [00:03:32] Sorry I kicked your ass in front of your thin girlfriend.
audio clip from The Office - Pam [00:03:36] How about we wait till next year after you have your kid?
audio clip from The Office - Tiffany's Mom [00:03:38] You know what? Tiffy's going to college.
audio clip from The Office - Andy [00:03:41] 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.
audio clip from The Office - Tiffany [00:03:47] Sorry I punched you, and I promise I'll take it off Facebook.
audio clip from The Office - Andy [00:03:52] It's on Facebook?
audio clip from The Office - Tiffany [00:03:54] There we go. God bless. Friend of mine uses your paper. You do good work.
Jenna [00:04:05] 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 [00:04:17] 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 dialog about the fact that her daughter had uploaded it to Facebook.
Jenna [00:04:31] Yes. Further humiliation for Andy. 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 [00:04:40] Yeah, let's do it.
audio cue [00:04:41] [musical sting]
Jenna [00:04:52] Hello there.
Tig [00:04:54] Are you talking to me?
Angela [00:04:55] We are.
Tig [00:04:56] Oh, OK. I wasn't sure if you needed to do a little something and then talk to me and then.... You know?
Angela [00:05:01] Oh, we'll do that, but we don't make you sit through it. We're like, "Hey, we've got a great episode for you today. Take us there."
Jenna [00:05:08] We did that already.
Angela [00:05:10] But we're super excited to see you.
Tig [00:05:11] I am very excited to be here.
Jenna [00:05:14] Tig, we asked our listeners to send in questions for you and we're going to ask you some of their questions. 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 [00:05:33] And we've talked to a lot of people, Tig.
Tig [00:05:35] Have you? This isn't episode one?
Angela [00:05:40] It's our new spin-off podcast.
Jenna [00:05:42] 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 [00:05:50] That's so nice.
Jenna [00:05:51] I thought it would be a good way to kick things off.
Tig [00:05:53] I hope it's a long letter.
Jenna [00:05:55] It's not.
Angela [00:05:56] It's a short one, but it's great.
Tig [00:05:59] Okay. I'll still hear it.
Jenna [00:06:00] It's from Rebecca D. in Edinburgh.
Tig [00:06:02] Hi, Rebecca.
Jenna [00:06:03] 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, cancer."
Tig [00:06:17] Very nice.
Jenna [00:06:18] That is the letter we got, over and over again (with slight differences)
Tig [00:06:23] But it was Rebecca every time?
Angela [00:06:29] I'm like, "Rebecca D. from Edinborough? Again?"
Tig [00:06:32] But with a different accent in her writing.
Angela [00:06:35] Rebecca, spelled a few different ways.
Jenna [00:06:38] You are beloved.
Tig [00:06:39] Oh, that is kind. That's very nice. Thank you for embarrassing me.
Angela [00:06:45] I know, how do you deal with praise like that? Cause I always say something. You're like, "Oh, your hair looks nice." I'm like, "I didn't wash it."
Tig [00:06:53] Or, "Nice Christmas pajamas." "Oh, they're clean, I think."
Angela [00:06:59] That's from an earlier off-mic convo. You guys, I dropped things off to the school this morning in Christmas pajamas, don't judge me.
Tig [00:07:07] 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 [00:07:16] We're here!
Tig [00:07:17] And I dropped swimsuits off for my sons today.
Angela [00:07:20] This is what you do.
Tig [00:07:20] That's what I do.
Angela [00:07:21] I know, yeah. We are so happy to have you here. During the strike, we broke down this episode that you're on, test the storage, and we couldn't talk to you then (because 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 [00:07:43] 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. I have friends that have TV shows, and then I ended up on them. Then it just kind of has kept happening. I'm almost, I'm like 25 years into acting and I still tell people, "Oh no, I am not an actor. I'm a stand-up 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 whirl." Then I got it, which is not typical. I usually get a job if I don't audition. Because I'm typically taking space, or taking a cop suit. So that's why I don't audition.
Angela [00:08:43] I like thinking of you like that now. I want to be like, "Tig's in the car."
Tig [00:08:47] Yeah, that's right. Circling the building.
Jenna [00:08:48] Tigs on a plane.
Angela [00:08:49] Yes. Well we know that Mindy is a huge fan of yours.
Tig [00:08:52] Well, I remember afterwards Mindy was saying, "Oh, when you came in to audition, I was like, 'Oh, we gotta hire Tig.'" So I don't even know if my audition really mattered. So maybe it was because Mindy liked me.
Jenna [00:09:06] What was your experience like, when you came to set then? Because this was early in your acting career. You'd done "Sarah Silverman," which is a little bit more sketch comedy, I guess. How was this?
Tig [00:09:20] [quiet laughter]
Angela [00:09:20] Because you were in the conference room with everybody staring at you.
Tig [00:09:23] I was, and I told you before we started that I wanted to apologize ahead of time for my experience on The Office.
Angela [00:09:32] Okay.
Tig [00:09:32] It was... Everybody was very nice to me.
Angela [00:09:37] [hesitantly] Okay.
Tig [00:09:37] This was all my doing. This goes back to me not really identifying with being an actor. I also wanna back up and explain something about myself that people always kind of roll their eyes and go, "It can't be.... Not really." But really, I don't follow TV and film, okay? I follow music and documentaries.
Angela [00:10:00] We've listened to your podcast, "Handsome," which is hilarious. And so we know this about you.
Tig [00:10:05] Thank you. It is very true.
Angela [00:10:07] I mean, you didn't know who Selena Gomez was.
Tig [00:10:10] Yes. It's true. I produced this documentary where my friend (who is a hardcore, like, hairy armpit activist in the mountains of Colorado) acknowledged on the documentary that they didn't who Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen were. My wife, Stephanie, said, "There's now 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 [00:10:51] [laughing] Mary-kate and Olsen?
Tig [00:10:52] Mary- Kate and Olson. Then 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 said, "Okay, so if I said that and I work in Hollywood... Chances are, my friend in the mountains does not know who Mary-Kate and Olsen are." So, anyway, I just wanted to give that backstory.
Angela [00:11:14] Okay.
Tig [00:11:14] And now comes the embarrassing, mortifying part.
Angela [00:11:17] Okay, you're on set.
Tig [00:11:19] 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, always. I go on to set. I hadn't ever seen The Office, okay? And now I'm on set, filming The Office. And as you said, I'm 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 [00:11:51] You didn't know who Pam was? You we're like, "I don't know who any of these people are."
Tig [00:11:55] I didn't know anybody was! And it didn't dawn on me, while I was learning the lines. Then when I walk in and I see everybody and I had to -
Angela [00:12:04] You see Andy, with the shiner.
Tig [00:12:06] I see everybody. I was directing my lines in the wrong direction and I was corrected and they're like, "You're looking over there." I was like, "Oh my god, get me out of this situation."
Jenna [00:12:23] You had so many options, of people to look at.
Tig [00:12:26] There's so many people and I was just going on a wild guess.
Angela [00:12:37] Well, now I will say this. 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 dialog. But now that you said it, because it's very fresh in my mind... At the end, you look out at everyone and you look at people and you go, "You make good paper here." You're looking at the accountants. Your gaze is kind of like a deer in headlights.
Tig [00:13:11] Oh, it was.
Angela [00:13:12] [laughing] Cuz you have no idea Who's making the paper.
Tig [00:13:16] 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. 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." I was like, "I find it hard to believe that they would take it so personally and be upset with me." And she was like, "Yeah, I'm sure it'll be fine." But this morning before I left, she said, "Make sure you let them know that you have changed and you've researched 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."
Angela [00:14:14] No, nobody knew.
Jenna [00:14:17] It reminds me of 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 monolog and it's now, and I don't know it, and I don't any of these people."
Angela [00:14:32] I've had that.
Jenna [00:14:32] I've literally had the dream that you lived.
Tig [00:14:34] I haven't had those, I think, because I don't identify with acting. So if there's not even that anxiety.
Angela [00:14:42] You have so much that you say on Star Trek. And it's engineer speak. One time auditioned for a sci-fi. I don't think it ever made it. I was so unbelievable. I loved your character because, I believe you.
Tig [00:14:59] Well, because it's Tig in space. Why wouldn't you believe me? It's me.
Angela [00:15:03] It is Tig in Space. I tried a new version of Angela in Space, and it didn't work. I had 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 tic-tac in sector four." Like, I still remember it. I did not get a call back.
Jenna [00:15:21] Oh, this was an audition?
Angela [00:15:23] Yes, it was an addition.
Jenna [00:15:25] Oh, for a show that now you think didn't go?
Angela [00:15:27] I don't think it went.
Jenna [00:15:28] I'm catching up.
Tig [00:15:30] Uh huh. I wasn't even listening.
Angela [00:15:31] Okay, no, that's not true, but I'm just saying you you do well with big speeches. You are an actor now.
Tig [00:15:38] I'm... Here's the thing, is I was on a show called "Star Trek Discovery."
Angela [00:15:44] Yes.
Tig [00:15:44] That wrapped up and ended. My character jumped over to a new Star Trek series that I'm currently filming.
Angela [00:15:50] Starfleet Academy.
Tig [00:15:51] Starfleet Academy, starring Holly Hunter.
Angela [00:15:53] I know, I know! I'm so excited about this. I have a question for you, go. I didn't mean to interrupt.
Tig [00:15:59] Paul Giamatti is the villain. Incredible cast. I have really struggled with Star Trek dialog. On this series, I have a bigger role; so there was more dialog. I was really feeling down on myself because I was like, "I'm struggling. And I'm on a show with these incredible actors." I was thinking, "I need to step it up." Stephanie said, "I'll put you through my boot camp. But you have to follow everything I tell you."
Jenna [00:16:32] What's her boot camp, memorizing boot camp?
Tig [00:16:34] She was saying essentially, "I'll teach you my process, but you have to do everything I'll tell you," 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) so intense and serious about doing this, making it work, and I have to say her process has changed my life. 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. I was struggling, and her process has made everything so much easier for me. 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 a regular show where you say, "Hey, see you at the party" and use her process because I even struggled with that kind of thing.
Angela [00:17:35] I can tell you, Jenna is geeking out right now. I haven't even looked at you but this one loves a process.
Jenna [00:17:39] I love a process.
Tig [00:17:41] I didn't care, but I would be on those Emmy panels with the morning shows and I'm up there with like Jen and Reese and Jon Hamm, all these people. And they're asking them about their process and then I used to try and kind of fake it and then 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 thing and I'm making jokes, and I thought for sure people were gonna be weird but they were all so amused, and they were like, "We're bringing you on every panel." Because after that first time, I stopped trying to pretend like I was... I can't compete with those actors that are out there.
Jenna [00:18:36] But now, when they put you on a panel you are not gonna be all joking.
Tig [00:18:39] I have a process!
Angela [00:18:40] You do.
Jenna [00:18:41] You do, you have a I have a process.
Angela [00:18:40] 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 show her process if it's special.
Tig [00:18:48] No, I'm happy to, especially if it helps somebody. She basically said that when you get your sides - For people that maybe don't know, it's just that scene that you're going to be doing. It's not the whole script, it's just your scene. She said to read it through and then write out (or type out) only your dialog. 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 dialog and you'll see that 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 to just learn only your lines. Get it to where you can say it basically as an entire monolog. Then once you have that down, then plug it back into the script. Then you're fully off book.
Angela [00:19:51] That's fantastic.
Tig [00:19:54] She said that 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." That helped me, personally.
Angela [00:20:04] Right, it's less daunting if you can just see what your part is.
Tig [00:20:08] 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 [00:20:15] I like it.
Tig [00:20:15] Do you?
Jenna [00:20:15] Yeah, I do.
Tig [00:20:15] Okay.
Jenna [00:20:17] I might try it.
Tig [00:20:18] Yeah, 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 [00:20:40] But you are Tig, and you're Tig in space.
Tig [00:20:42] I'm Tig in space. I'm Tig in The Office and I'm directing my lines to all of the wrong people. That was just a nightmare. It's been a secret I've carried around for a long time
Angela [00:20:54] I'm so glad you could get rid of that. You're done with that.
Tig [00:20:58] 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, "OK, I am an actor. I'll say it. Fine." I'm an actor, especially now that I have a process.
Angela [00:21:14] Hell yeah.
Jenna [00:21:15] We got a fan question from Linda B in Riverside, California.
Tig [00:21:19] Hey, Linda B.
Jenna [00:21:20] Who wanted to know, "Were you a Star Trek fan before joining the cast of Star Trek?"
Tig [00:21:25] 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 five or something. Then my friend, Alex Kurtzman, 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?
Jenna [00:21:57] Mm-hmm.
Tig [00:21:57] At his company, I was an assistant there. He started out as an assistant and then became a show runner 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 Trek 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 that they'd probably use me once or twice and I'd 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 want,"
Jenna [00:22:47] [laughing] "It's okay."
Tig [00:22:47] 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."
Jenna [00:22:59] Oh no.
Angela [00:22:59] What?
Tig [00:23:00] No. Just, you know, a friend giving me a hard time. He also said, "and your character will never die. So that's not around the corner. So you're in."
Jenna [00:23:12] Buckle in.
Tig [00:23:12] Yeah.
Angela [00:23:13] Oh, that's so great.
Tig [00:23:14] Yeah. But now it's so fun to be in the Star Trek world.
Angela [00:23:18] Oh my gosh, I have to ask you about Holly Hunter. I just love her. You know, I'll never forget when she was on Inside the Actor's Studio. They ask everyone their favorite curse word, and people just sort of say "sh**" or "a**hole" and she just looked right at him and said, "'c**ksucker'." I was like, "What, that is brilliant!" And I don't even really know that I'd really heard anyone say that, like, out and about in the world.
Tig [00:23:46] You have not heard people say that?
Angela [00:23:47] At that time, I was young.
Tig [00:23:49] Oh.
Angela [00:23:49] And I just remember being like-
Jenna [00:23:51] How young?
Angela [00:23:52] I don't know, what, maybe early 20's?
Tig [00:23:55] And you had not heard anyone say that?
Jenna [00:23:57] Angela, we aren't buying it.
Tig [00:23:58] No, this seems...
Angela [00:23:59] I was not familiar. I mean, it was like,
Tig [00:24:02] Holly's not gonna buy that.
Angela [00:24:04] No, for real! I had heard a lot of curse words, but I was like, "**** sucker. I don't think I've heard of that one. That's, like, fantastic."
Jenna [00:24:16] It is a unique favorite curse word. I'll give you that.
Tig [00:24:20] You guys mentioned nerding out, and this feels kind of nerdy; about the way you're discussing that word.
Angela [00:24:26] Oh, yeah.
Tig [00:24:28] Like, you saying it and being like, "I hadn't really heard it that much," and you saying whatever you were just saying. It just felt very nerdy around an unnerdy word.
Angela [00:24:39] I know. Well, anyway, I just remember being so surprised by it. 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 [makes garbled mouth sounds]. And I just say something like, "I loved it when you said c**ksucker. She's going to be like, "What are you talking about?"
Tig [00:24:57] No, she would probably hug you for two minutes. She's very affectionate too.
Angela [00:25:01] Oh, I mean, she's the commander, right? She's the captain.
Tig [00:25:04] Yeah, she is the top dog and she is... Man, she's just incredible and she's also so fun. Before I left Toronto, we had gone out for a lunch that went five hours.
Angela [00:25:20] No.
Tig [00:25:21] Yes. Yeah.
Jenna [00:25:22] Yeah, that's so cool.
Tig [00:25:24] 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 is one of the most curious people I think I've ever met. This sounds so weird to say, because 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 crew's name, their jobs, speaks to everybody, sits down two inches from their face, so interested in their lives.
Angela [00:26:07] That makes my heart so happy.
Tig [00:26:08] Yeah, yeah, it's really a nice thing to come across, in this industry.
Jenna [00:26:14] [whispering with Angela] [in a whisper] We're gonna pivot. Hold on, we're pivoting.
Angela [00:26:22] [whispering] Well, we'll cut our whispers out.
Tig [00:26:24] [whispering] Why would you cut the pivot whispers?
Jenna [00:26:24] [whispering] I don't want anyone to know.
Angela [00:26:25] [whispering] Pivot whispers!
Jenna [00:26:29] [whispering] I don't want anyone to know we're pivoting. Oh, I got it.
Angela [00:26:31] [whispering] You got it? You found it?
Tig [00:26:36] [whispering] Is it the watch?
Jenna [00:26:39] [laughing/whispering] We're not at the watch yet. Everybody, we're gonna do it we're going to do a question about tig's watch, but we're not there yet. Stay tuned. Should I go to my full voice again?
Angela [00:26:45] [at normal volume] Yes. Okay, you found your pivot.
Tig [00:26:47] [whispering] I'm going to stay here. Yeah
Jenna [00:26:52] Tig, there is a thing about you that is famous, which is that you talk slow.
Tig [00:26:59] Yes.
Jenna [00:26:59] Yes, you even did a whole bit where you tried to get an auctioneer to train you to talk fast. Very funny. We reached out to Brent Forrester (the director of your episode, Test the Store) 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 [00:27:21] Should we have given you a heads up?
Tig [00:27:23] That's hilarious. Oh my gosh.
Jenna [00:27:27] You probably can see where this is going.
Brent [00:27:30] 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. After the first take, I walked up to Tig and I said, 'Hey, Tig, I have a thought," and she said, "You want me to talk faster?" I said, "Yeah, how do you know?" And she said, "Every time they put me on camera, they tell me to talk faster" and I said, "Can you talk faster?" And she said, "No. I can't."
Jenna [00:28:08] Do you remember this exchange?
Tig [00:28:10] 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 going to say?" But it's always getting to that of like, "Okay, and now let's do it faster." And, you know, and I try but...
Angela [00:28:44] I just think the beauty in your comedy is your pacing. I just love it. I feel like I couldn't imagine you tell a story not the way you tell it.
Tig [00:28:58] You know, there's a lot of talk about the connection between music and comedy. A lot of musicians want to be comedians, a lot comedians want to musicians. And so much of that, I don't know, is the timing. It feels like a rhythm and a song to me. The way I deliver my material, it's not thought out. It's just the natural beat and rhythm of the story. People have asked me, "Do you decide to pause there for two seconds or do you to decide to do this or that?" And I'm like, "No, there's no thought. It's truly just how I deliver it."
Jenna [00:29:47] Have you always had that cadence?
Tig [00:29:49] Um, 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 [00:30:09] I know, just back when I did a ton of improv, you would do a workshop and you would teach these young improvisers. I 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, for comedy, but timing is just something instinctual. I think, personally.
Tig [00:30:32] I do too. And it's a very different timing, on and off stage, as well. I think that it's just highlighted a little more.
Jenna [00:30:45] We got a fan question from Natalie L. in Boston,
Tig [00:30:51] Hey Natalie.
Jenna [00:30:52] Who says, "I love you, Tig. Did you get to practice with the actress who played your daughter prior to the shoot day?"
Tig [00:31:00] Um, no, I did not. I was going to say that I wish I had, but I don't even know.
Angela [00:31:09] Did you even know she was playing your daughter?
Tig [00:31:13] I honestly don't think I knew anything.
Jenna [00:31:17] Yeah. Like, why is she stealing my thunder?
Angela [00:31:19] Why am I referring to her?
Tig [00:31:20] "Get out of my scene, kid." Um, yeah, no. I didn't run it with anybody. Is this upsetting to the Office fans? If somebody is like, "Oh, I hadn't seen it." You know what I mean? I know there's rabid fans, where they might be offended or something.
Angela [00:31:40] Oh, no.
Jenna [00:31:40] Oh, that you hadn't seen it before? No, no, 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 [00:31:53] Yeah, no and everyone's experience is completely different.
Jenna [00:31:56] You will not offend anybody.
Angela [00:31:58] You won't, you'll be fine.
Tig [00:31:59] 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 [00:32:12] Do they have a character that they most like? A lot of little kids like Dwight.
Angela [00:32:15] Yeah, I was gonna guess Dwight
Tig [00:32:17] Yeah, it was Dwight.
Angela [00:32:18] Yeah.
Tig [00:32:18] Yeah, and I know who Dwight is.
Angela [00:32:20] Rainn.
Jenna [00:32:22] You're not just saying, "Sure, sure. Yeah, it was fine."
Tig [00:32:24] No, for sure, for sure.
Angela [00:32:26] We also have this question from Colton S. in Vincent, Ohio.
Tig [00:32:30] Hey, Colton S.
Angela [00:32:31] Colton S. says, "Did you break at all during the scene? Did you crack up? If so, who made you break?"
Jenna [00:32:39] You might not know who made you break. Describe them.
Tig [00:32:45] No, I have to say, I'm always amused by Ed Helms. I mean, he is such a silly man. 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 deep tickle. 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 [00:33:30] Did you know, Ed, before you shot on The Office?
Tig [00:33:34] Yeah, not well. I think just through Largo; of him doing shows there. And I did as well.
Angela [00:33:44] You're right though, he is really silly.
Tig [00:33:46] He's so silly.
Angela [00:33:47] We used to do the stupidest bits. I know that I could call him right now and do the stupid bit and he would do it right back. 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 f***ing twat." Ed lost his mind and still to this day, we will say that to each other. He does it right back, the same way.
Tig [00:34:13] I'll have to do that to him next time I see him.
Angela [00:34:15] Oh my gosh, yes. [in a twangy southern accent] But you gotta do it like this.
Tig [00:34:19] Like I'm going down a country road.
Angela [00:34:23] Like, between cigarettes.
Tig [00:34:24] Mm-hmm. Even though people know he's a comedian, I still think it's surprising how silly, deeply silly, that man is.
Angela [00:34:40] Yeah, in the best way.
Tig [00:34:41] Mhm.
Jenna [00:34:42] Well, Ed Helms famously introduced you for your comedy set that you did, that went on to be nominated for a Grammy where you talked about being very recently diagnosed with breast cancer. When we broke down this episode, I didn't know that I had breast cancer. I had breast cancer, but I didn't know that yet.
Tig [00:35:04] Wow.
Jenna [00:35:04] So, when I listened to your special, I was so moved. I sat in my car, just weeping and laughing. It was this cathartic thing. Very shortly after that, I was diagnosed with breast cancer and I spent all last year fighting breast cancer. I am now in remission and cancer-free.
Tig [00:35:30] Wow. That's amazing.
Jenna [00:35:31] But I just have to say thank you for that, because I went back to it. It was your line where you say that comedy is tragedy plus time.
Tig [00:35:52] Mm-hmm.
Jenna [00:35:53] I thought of that so many times in the very early days because I was like, "No, I'm just in the tragedy."
Tig [00:36:00] Yeah.
Jenna [00:36:01] "But there will be time. And maybe, maybe there will be comedy again. One day."
Tig [00:36:09] Yeah.
Jenna [00:36:10] And so, yeah, what a crazy thing.
Tig [00:36:15] Yes and thank you for that. I'm so glad that you're doing well. I want to also make sure (and I tried to make it clear in the special) that that isn't my line. I just was repeating a line.
Jenna [00:36:32] Yes, that's a famous line, but to have you apply it to your recent diagnosis was so brilliant.
Tig [00:36:42] 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 nobody knows how life is gonna go, but...
Angela [00:36:57] 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.
Tig [00:37:09] Mm-hmm.
Angela [00:37:10] It was just really beautiful.
Tig [00:37:12] 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 stuff. I mean, when I was diagnosed, I thought I wasn't going to tell anybody. I remember calling my manager and saying, "I have cancer, and I don't want anybody to know." 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. That was in four months.
Angela [00:38:09] Oh my god.
Tig [00:38:11] It was actually shortly after I had met you. Cause I remember I was with my girlfriend at the time and we had all had a really fun time and exchanged numbers and then all of that happened. But yeah, when I went on stage, I just was highly aware of how quickly life and health can just slip away. Just. 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. It was terrifying. So when I went on stage, I thought, "I love standup so much and I wanna do it one last time." I didn't know what was gonna happen to me because my body was fighting so much simultaneously. I had no idea what was gonna happen with that. I had not intention of releasing that as an album. It just was all kind of a crazy experience, how it all went down.
Jenna [00:39:23] Did that change your approach to your comedy, moving forward? Did it become more personal?
Tig [00:39:29] Um, I mean, everything changed, but yeah. I opened up in so many ways. I was so private when I was hospitalized with C. Diff. Sarah Silverman only meant good, but she had shared pictures of me to another comedian. I was like, "Don't show anybody!" She was like. "Oh my God. I didn't even think about it. Because I would share that about myself," and I was so closed off and private. Whereas now, I feel like I'd be like, "Oh yeah, I looked like hell. I was on my deathbed." You know what I mean? Like, I don't care. When I was first with Stephanie I had a medical emergency and was in diapers, walking around in front of her. I kept joking about making a crinkle crinkle noise when I'm walking around.
[00:40:25] 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 TV show, there's a documentary about me. There's so many thing 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. So after that time period, I was so thankful and I went on tour and I met with everybody after every show and thanked everyone. I felt so supported. Then I also realized that I'm not really that personality; that can sustain this for this long.
Jenna [00:41:29] Mhm.
Tig [00:41:29] I do direct people to the stuff I've put out and also sometimes I'll share things, sometimes I won't. Sometimes I talk after a show and sometimes I'm just gonna go back to my hotel room. It's been a whole process of trying to figure out where I am and what I'm gonna do or share because I am an earnest person, but I'm also a very ridiculous person.
Jenna [00:42:00] 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.
Tig [00:42:12] Mm-hmm.
Jenna [00:42:13] So I've only just shared, like, last October. I sort of feel like I'm in that place that you're talking about, about the outpouring of support. Now I do want to talk about it a lot. In some ways, because when I was going through it, I wasn't emotionally processing it at all. I had to just one step in front of the other. Every time I got through one thing - Like, when surgery was over, chemo began. When chemo was over radiation began. So I now have my port out and I've done all the big things. I'm just on 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.
Tig [00:42:59] And because you're terribly indecisive.
Jenna [00:43:01] And I can't decide if I want this coat on.
Angela [00:43:03] You're like, "Is this the fit? Not the fit. Is this the fit?"
Jenna [00:43:06] 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 to me?"
Tig [00:43:23] Mm-hmm.
Jenna [00:43:23] So I'm doing that same thing, where I'm figuring out how much I want to talk about that publicly and how much do want to talk about it privately? I don't know. It's a lot.
Tig [00:43:34] For sure. I mean, it took me a long time. I was backlogged with emotional distress. Because I was so guarded in my life, I remember the news had come out that I was sick. 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. I'm moving along, everything's all right. And that was kind of how I was going through life. I took a job and I was working on a TV show. But meanwhile, my mother just tripped and died. Meanwhile, I still have incisions, like, stitches across my chest while I'm working on this new show. I don't have a primary relationship.
[00:44:32] 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. 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. You know what's crazy? This is also very odd to tie it all back. March 1st, 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.
[00:45:22] But I had gotten bronchitis, or something, and then it turned into pneumonia. Then I had gone to get antibiotics and that is what caused me to contract C. Diff. Then it just kept going and going and going, but March 1st, 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, when my life just started to slide away. My mother died on March 28th and I was hospitalized mid-March. 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."
Angela [00:46:20] The moment you got still is when it all crashed down.
Tig [00:46:23] I almost fell off the face of the earth. I truly was like, "What is happening?" I felt so unstable.
Jenna [00:46:31] Yeah. I totally get that.
Tig [00:46:33] Mm-hmm.
Jenna [00:46:33] I also had this desire, as soon as I told everybody that I was being treated for breast cancer, for everyone to know I was okay. I didn't want people to worry about me. 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 [00:46:55] Same. 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 manager and I said, 'Do not tell anybody" because I really was so scared that people would take work from me.
Angela [00:47:12] That's so sad, isn't it?
Tig [00:47:12] Yeah.
Angela [00:47:13] I know what a worry that was for you, Jenna, and she went to such great lengths. We had all these meetings. We were starting to meet with Audacy, which is who we're with now, for the podcast and we had all of these zoom meetings. Jenna created this wig hat, it's like a baseball cap with a wig.
Jenna [00:47:36] My hairstylist came up with it. It's almost like a mullet hat. I was like, "Why can't I take my old hair extensions and glue them into a hat?"
Tig [00:47:48] Yeah.
Jenna [00:47:49] And she was like, "You can."
Angela [00:47:51] What'd you call them? You had a name for them.
Jenna [00:47:52] We called them "wiggits."
Angela [00:47:53] A wigget.
Jenna [00:47:54] And I had four.
Tig [00:47:55] That's amazing.
Jenna [00:47:56] I had different colors, so I could switch them out. 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 awkward school functions where a hat wasn't really appropriate. But I wore it anyway.
Tig [00:48:17] Did you have any headphone wigs?
Angela [00:48:20] [laughing] For podcasting?
Jenna [00:48:22] I didn't. But that was perfect.
Tig [00:48:26] You show up to your kid's school and you're like, "Sorry, I'm running late. I had to record the podcast."
Jenna [00:48:29] "I just forgot. Oh, are these still on? Yeah. Well, I don't want to take them off now."
Tig [00:48:34] "No, because my hair will look weird. And it is my hair if anyone's asking."
Angela [00:48:38] "No one worry. Don't be concerned. This is all real."
Tig [00:48:41] Yeah, yeah, yeah. "Nothing to see here."
Jenna [00:48:44] No, but I would sometimes on Zoom, I would just put the camera in a way so that you couldn't see the top of my head, and then I could just wear the headband wig.
Angela [00:48:55] Then I started wearing hats and I'm not meant to wear a hat.
Tig [00:49:00] No?
Angela [00:49:00] It makes I just kind of look like a kind of a short budgie man. I don't know. My face is so round. Like, I put a hat on and I'm like a little tortoise.
Jenna [00:49:15] Why are you so hard on yourself? This is not true. She has a thing where she does braids with a hat and it's the cutest thing.
Angela [00:49:21] Because without the braids, I look like a little tortoise man.
Tig [00:49:24] A tortoise man?
Angela [00:49:25] Yeah, I'm a tortoise man.
Tig [00:49:25] I look like a tortoise man with or without a hat. I get called "Sir, oh... Ladies." Everywhere I go I'm called sir. Yes, I answer to "lady."
Jenna [00:49:38] We are not calling ourselves tortoise men on this podcast. We are going to be kind to ourselves.
Tig [00:49:45] We are Office Ladies, we are not tortoise men.
Jenna [00:49:45] Thank you.
Tig [00:49:47] That's the spinoff.
Angela [00:49:48] We're handsome ladies.
Tig [00:49:49] Yes, yes we are.
Angela [00:49:51] No, we did. We wore a lot of hats and I 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 [00:50:03] Yeah, you know, but that is what you do. 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?" And she said, "You hang up the phone with me, you drive over to her house, and you just sit with her." And I'm like, "OK."
[00:50:43] And I did and it was so hard, and it was so uncomfortable, and all of these things. But it changed my life. Man, do I live by that rule. I will be there. I will absolutely be there! And I always think any hard thing I go through, "I'm gonna be alive after this uncomfortable thing. I'm going to be alive after this hard phone call. I'm gonna live through this. It's just gonna be really hard. It's gonna be uncomfortable." But nothing feels better than hanging up the phone, driving over and just being with somebody that you care about. I had incredible friends. I don't know how you handled it or went through it, and whatever. But I was on lockdown. I didn't want any peripheral friends. I just wanted my people.
Angela [00:51:44] Your inner circle.
Tig [00:51:45] Yeah, and that was it. I really struggled with opening myself up, but I feel like I've done both. Aside from being there for people, allowing people to be there for me.
Jenna [00:52:02] Yeah, I had a really great group of very supportive friends, and those were the people that we shared it with, 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 moms at the school who didn't know, who just came up to me with school gossip.
Tig [00:52:30] Mm-hmm.
Jenna [00:52:30] You know? People who weren't talking to me about cancer and how I felt. So I love them for not knowing. I also did have some people who I told, who I thought would show up for me, and they didn't.
Tig [00:52:47] Yeah, same.
Jenna [00:52:48] They didn't have the capacity to come and be with me in this, and I forgive them. It's okay. It's just, some people have that and some people don't. 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 [00:53:07] I 1 million percent experienced the same thing. And it was that learning curve in life where you go, "I know they love me. And I know they're not able to do this for whatever reason." But I did, at first, get my feelings hurt.
Jenna [00:53:28] I did too.
Tig [00:53:29] 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 [00:53:41] 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.
Tig [00:53:54] It's really mind-blowing, when that happens.
Angela [00:53:57] It just puts everything under a magnifying glass, I would imagine, right? Everything becomes more in focus.
Tig [00:54:05] When people step in to a really messy, terrible, rough situation, and they're not... I mean, that's already a big deal, when it's your crew. Then when its somebody just a little outside (or even a lot outside) and then they're like, "I'm here. Let's go." It's really incredible.
Jenna [00:54:34] Well, switching gears.
Tig [00:54:36] As we do.
Jenna [00:54:38] You are such a multi-faceted artist and we got a lot of fan questions about your work.
Angela [00:54:45] Multi-faceted. I like that word. I want to be a multi-hat, like, what is it called on wikipedia when you have multiple paragraphs?
Jenna [00:54:53] Um, a multi hyphenate?
Angela [00:54:56] Yes. That.
Jenna [00:54:57] You're a multi hyphenate.
Angela [00:54:59] I want to be that.
Jenna [00:55:00] You are.
Tig [00:55:01] You are. Both of you are.
Jenna [00:55:03] We've got some hyphens.
Angela [00:55:05] We do.
Jenna [00:55:06] We do!
Angela [00:55:06] We have one or two,
Jenna [00:55:08] not as many as you.
Tig [00:55:08] You're hyphenates.
Angela [00:55:09] No, you're super hyphenant, though. OK, back to you.
Jenna [00:55:13] Emily P. in Indianapolis said,
Tig [00:55:16] Hey Emily.
Jenna [00:55:16] "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 wanna know what Tig enjoyed the most or is most proud of."
Tig [00:55:37] Well, it's sadly not The Office.
Angela [00:55:40] [laughing] What? How dare you?
Tig [00:55:43] I was proud to be on there, but I was not proud of my work. What's so crazy is that some people only know me from The Office.
Angela [00:55:52] Do you get recognized a lot?
Tig [00:55:55] 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?" But it's also that obviously, that show is so enormous. You know Kate Micucci and Ricki Lindhome? They were Garfunkel and Oates, a musical comedy duo.
Jenna [00:56:15] OK, I don't know them.
Tig [00:56:16] OK, well, very funny. They're no longer performing as Garfunkel and Oates anymore.
Angela [00:56:22] Can we find them on the internet?
Tig [00:56:24] Yes.
Angela [00:56:25] Is it delightful? I can't wait.
Tig [00:56:26] It's so delightful. Because they're both fresh, sweet faced and singing not so fresh sweet faced stuff. 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. When I got there the poster said "Tig Notaro from Garfunkel and Oats." 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 [00:57:22] Oh, way to go, buddy.
Tig [00:57:23] It's like no offense, IFC, I don't even know if that exists anymore. But I'm certain maybe 50,000 people watch IFC. Anyway, I was very excited to do The Office. I was flattered, I was honored but I just did not do anything I was proud of. What have I enjoyed? That is really a hard question.
Angela [00:57:53] It is.
Tig [00:57:53] It is really hard. 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...
Jenna [00:58:06] I love her.
Tig [00:58:07] She is a freak of nature. Her talent: between drama and comedy, I can't even stand it.
Angela [00:58:16] I love that.
Tig [00:58:18] You know, I do have a lot of pride. Even though I struggle through my lines doing Star Trek. As I mentioned before, I'm more excited to apply myself. Now that I have a process.
Angela [00:58:35] And that fandom. That is, I mean...
Tig [00:58:38] It's like The Office.
Jenna [00:58:39] That rivals The Office, yeah.
Angela [00:58:40] No, it's bigger. Because it's just been around for so long and you're part of that universe now.
Tig [00:58:45] I mean William Shatner is almost 100 years old. I think he's 95 and he still jets off every weekend to a convention. Have you seen this guy talk?
Angela [00:58:58] Yes, I saw him (I forgot the late night talk show) but he was doing bits and had his jokes.
Tig [00:59:06] This guy has no clue that he's almost 100. Like, somebody needs to tell his face this because he's just walking around like he's not 95.
Angela [00:59:14] You can take the weekend off.
Tig [00:59:15] Truly. You can put your feet up. Also, I have a small part on The Morning Show and it's really fun to do just a dramatic show.
Angela [00:59:32] Fast talking drama.
Tig [00:59:34] 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. A part of what I enjoy about acting is (this really highlights how much I'm not an actor) when they say cut and then I get to talk to people.
Angela [00:59:51] You get to chit chat.
Tig [00:59:51] Then I get to talk to my co-stars.
Jenna [01:00:01] That is one of the best parts of being an actor, just existing with all these incredibly creative, funny, interesting people. I mean, artists and actors are interesting.
Tig [01:00:09] So I don't know, those are the two things I'm working on these days that are fresh in my mind and I'm enjoying them.
Angela [01:00:17] Those are decent, they're not too shabby.
Tig [01:00:20] Yeah I've really enjoyed everything. There's been some rotten people in the mix here and there but in general I've had a really great run.
Jenna [01:00:32] Can I ask you about the watch now? So in your new comedy special,
Tig [01:00:37] "Hello Again."
Angela [01:00:37] Directed by your wife.
Tig [01:00:39] She was nominated for an Emmy.
Angela [01:00:41] Stephanie Allen. Fantastic.
Jenna [01:00:43] I loved your special. I couldn't help but notice that you have on a fantastic watch.
Tig [01:00:49] Thank you.
Jenna [01:00:50] I asked you when you came in, I wanted to hear about the watch. You said there's a great story about this watch.
Angela [01:00:57] And I'm sorry I didn't notice the watch.
Tig [01:00:59] Oh, that's fine.
Angela [01:01:01] I thought the lighting was beautiful.
Tig [01:01:02] Well, thank you. I was like, "Oh, there's a story," because I was thinking how it ties in also to cancer. 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. I hadn't been diagnosed yet, but we were at a table read together.
[01:01:53] A friend of ours was doing a Broadway play and wanted us to read through this script with her. 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 it turns out there was something between us and then I was diagnosed in the middle of that. 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. Now just buzzkill, I just got diagnosed with cancer." She was so good to me during that time and helpful. Then I had my surgery. I didn't have reconstructive surgery. So I do still just have scars on my chest. I remember also feeling very insecure about my body for a while. 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? Well, I got something to offer you."
Jenna [01:03:05] "I got scars!"
Tig [01:03:06] I got scars all the live long day. I was like, "You like scars?" And she was like, "Yeah, I love scars." 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 watch, it's a Rolex watch. We had exchanged watches. She had a Rolex. I had a Timex, just one of those little plastic digital watches. So we exchanged watches while we were having our fling, or whatever was going on. Then when it ended, I went to give 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." So I walked away with a Rolex.
Jenna [01:04:03] Wow. That is an amazing story!
Tig [01:04:06] And she does like scars, I will confirm. She's really into scars.
Jenna [01:04:11] You got the gift of this person being completely, truly turned on and attracted to you in this new form that you were so insecure about, and you got a luxury watch out of this relationship. I don't think it gets better than that.
Tig [01:04:26] No, and I am not somebody that... I'm just I never would have bought a Rolex. I realized driving here. I'm in a... Not a flannel... What is this? A thermal?
Angela [01:04:41] A ribbed long sleeve thermal.
Tig [01:04:42] Yeah, that's inside out.
Angela [01:04:45] You know what? When you sat down, I thought "It's either inside out or that's the fashion."
Tig [01:04:49] No, it's inside-out.
Angela [01:04:52] My sons always wear their shirts inside-out.
Tig [01:04:55] On purpose?
Angela [01:04:56] No.
Jenna [01:04:58] But there is a look. There is a fashion, where the shirt is made to look inside out. That could be it.
Tig [01:05:03] Well, that's not what's happening.
Jenna [01:05:05] 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 [01:05:15] And let me just tell you, I will be 54 on the 24th of March. When's your birthday?
Angela [01:05:21] June 25th, I'll be 54.
Tig [01:05:24] Well, my sons, their birthday is June 26th.
Angela [01:05:27] Hey.
Tig [01:05:28] Hey, we got to that point.
Angela [01:05:30] We got birthdays. I still get excited about stuff like that. So you're going to be 54?
Tig [01:05:38] And I am somebody's parent and I walked out of the house and circled the block like this. Can I just tell you, unrelated but related to being someone's parent, this morning our son was called out to speak at the school. Like, at the assembly. He got interviewed in front of people at the assembly and Stephanie and I were there this morning. They said is there a woman in your life is inspiring to you. And he said, "My two moms," and I'm always scared I'm not gonna be included in that because, you know, I go on tour and...
Angela [01:06:27] Well, you've told so many funny stories, like, you come home and they're like, "Oh it's her."
Tig [01:06:34] Oh, yeah. Well, this is the other one. OK, yeah, but I was like, "I was included in that?" It was so sweet to hear him say "My two moms, I love them. And I love being a part of our family." Stephanie turned to me and she said, "Did that make you cry?" And I was, like, "Yes, I didn't think I was going to be included." So anyway, I had to throw that in. It such a nice that's all moment this morning.
Angela [01:06:59] All that matters are those moments. That's it, that's all you think of, in the quiet times, are those moments.
Jenna [01:07:06] Yes, whenever your kids do that thing, or a version of that thing. It just... I'm a puddle.
Tig [01:07:13] Mm-hmm, same.
Angela [01:07:16] Alright, I would like to ask you, Tig, our call sheet questions.
Tig [01:07:20] Okay.
Angela [01:07:21] These were questions that were on the back of our call sheets.
Jenna [01:07:24] And different crew members would get asked each week and then we'd get to read their answers. It was really cool.
Angela [01:07:30] Find out a little something about people that we worked with. Okay. Number one, what was your first entertainment job?
Tig [01:07:38] Well, before I got into stand up... As I mentioned before, I'm really into music. I play music, but also my first girlfriend had a band. I started booking her band.
Angela [01:07:58] You were like an agent?
Tig [01:08:00] I was a booking agent. I also worked for a record company when I was living in Denver, as a local person who would promote their bands that 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 [01:08:25] I love it. I didn't know that.
Tig [01:08:26] Well, now you know.
Angela [01:08:27] Now I know yeah. I have a song I would like to play. Maybe you could get behind me.
Jenna [01:08:37] This is a pretty easy segue into our second question, which is, do you play a musical instrument? You said you do.
Tig [01:08:44] 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. If a guitar is 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 [01:09:11] Do you play the guitar or anything for your kids?
Tig [01:09:15] I mean, we have instruments at the house and I've played stuff. We also have a drum set and it seems like they're more interested in the drums at this stage.
Angela [01:09:25] Yeah, that tracks.
Tig [01:09:25] It's kind of easy to bang around. 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." For the listeners, if they would like to see me play the drums.
Angela [01:09:45] I'm writing it down. I do our social media tag, so I'm going to put a little swipe up to that. Our next question is, what's a place you've been to that you absolutely love?
Tig [01:10:01] There's so many places. Stephanie makes fun of me because I've toured... 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. There is not a place that I don't love. I mean, really. Where are you from?
Angela [01:10:25] I was born in Louisiana, but my family's from Louisiana and Texas.
Tig [01:10:29] Oh. OK, yeah, I hear it.
Angela [01:10:31] But I grew up in Indonesia, so it's weird.
Tig [01:10:34] It is weird.
Angela [01:10:34] I know. You're like, "It is weird. It is. I confirm."
Tig [01:10:41] Yes. I mean, just the other day, Oklahoma came up. And I was like, "Oh, I love Tulsa." And Stephanie was like "What?" Then Indiana, it's like, "I love Bloomington." There are so many places that I love. I do not write any state off, or little town, because of anything. I'm originally from Mississippi.
Angela [01:11:09] 501?
Tig [01:11:09] 601.
Angela [01:11:09] I was close.
Tig [01:11:12] Yeah, you were.
Angela [01:11:12] My aunt was in Mississippi and my dad always called her "601."
Tig [01:11:18] I'm a 6-0-1-er. But I remember leaving, I was in Jackson getting some award from the governor. I was with my stepfather and my brother and we were walking out of this restaurant. This guy ran out of the restaurant, chases me down and he thanks me for representing Mississippi in a positive way. He said, "We're not all like... What people think." He was just so genuinely thankful and it was such a reminder that there are incredible people everywhere. 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 in the towns that you think. "Oh, it's there's nothing going on here." 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 [01:12:27] Do you do this thing, because wherever we go, my husband teases me about this. It doesn't matter where we go. I immediately am on Redfin. I'm like, "Okay, how do people live here? Where do they live? What do the homes look like?" I'm so curious.
Tig [01:12:40] Yeah and then you find those towns where you can get an eight-bedroom house and it's like, "What on earth?"
Angela [01:12:47] The ones that have, like, a barn and an orchard, yeah. I know.
Tig [01:12:52] I also I'm a vegan person which shifted after I got sick. I've changed my diet and that's part of the fun of touring for me, as well. I have this app called "Happy Cow" and you just put in wherever you are, and it tells you the nearest vegan restaurants.
Jenna [01:13:10] Really?
Tig [01:13:12] When people are like, "Well, I live in this place and I can't get vegan stuff." I'm like, "No, no. No, I have Happy Cow." Because it gives you vegan options. Then if there aren't any, it goes to vegetarian. So it kind of goes down the line. So I can always find something somewhere.
Angela [01:13:28] Happy Cow?
Tig [01:13:29] Yeah, Happy Cow.
Angela [01:13:30] You heard it here.
Tig [01:13:31] But it makes touring so fun for me, to find new vegan restaurants and options.
Angela [01:13:39] That leads into our next question.
Jenna [01:13:41] It does?
Angela [01:13:43] Number five. Oh no, it doesn't.
Jenna [01:13:45] Number four.
Angela [01:13:46] Never mind, it doesn't.
Jenna [01:13:48] Hold that thought.
Tig [01:13:48] Well, can't we do five and then do four?
Angela [01:13:51] No!
Tig [01:13:51] Oh, I see.
Angela [01:13:52] No, I'm kidding.
Jenna [01:13:53] We could. Do we want to do that?
Tig [01:13:55] That's insane.
Jenna [01:13:55] Do we wanna shake it up?
Angela [01:13:57] Shake it up.
Jenna [01:13:58] Alright. Question number five. What's your favorite midnight snack?
Tig [01:14:04] Well, I am rarely awake at midnight.
Angela [01:14:08] Yeah, I know.
Jenna [01:14:10] This could be your favorite watching TV snack, too.
Tig [01:14:17] Well, that's what I was going to say. I mean, it's not a crazy indulgence, but our sons (and I'm not saying this because I'm sitting here with you two) and I understand "Friends" is not The Office... 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, for some reason, after this last summer it 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 bed. 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 it and that's because their grandfather is into The Office and he's who started showing it to them when they were four. So now that they're watching iconic sitcoms, The Office is our next in line to plow through.
Angela [01:15:21] If you need Pam and Angela to wish them a happy birthday,
Jenna [01:15:24] We will.
Angela [01:15:24] We will make a video.
Tig [01:15:26] That would be amazing. Yes.
Angela [01:15:29] Alright. Number four. What do you like to do on the weekends?
Tig [01:15:37] Because my career is so all over the place: recording my podcast and doing shows and acting and whatever, a weekend is kind of a weekday. There's no break.
Angela [01:15:50] "What is the weekend?" As the Dowager says. "Downton Abbey" anyone?
Tig [01:15:54] No.
Angela [01:15:55] No? "What is the weekend?" Okay, never mind.
Jenna [01:15:59] She's saying it for a different reason, though. She's saying it because she lives a life of leisure.
Angela [01:16:04] Right, she doesn't know what the weekend is.
Jenna [01:16:05] So every weekday is a weekend.
Angela [01:16:06] That's true. It's true.
Jenna [01:16:07] This is the opposite of that.
Tig [01:16:09] Yeah, true. I have my relationship and children and then I'm just a person alive on the planet, too. So I have my own things I want to do. So I am busy. But because I'm not on tour and because I am not filming right now, my favorite thing to do is walk around the house singing, "I'm a normal person, just having a normal day, just doing normal things. I'm normal person." It's the most uncatchy song, but I love being home. Just going to baseball and basketball practice and then having a snack and shuffling around the house. I am in heaven. Then I just start singing the un-catchy song. I love it. So it's like weekends are weekdays. But when I'm not 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 have to go, and then I have leave for the airport. When it's like that, I'm really trying to step away from that chaos.
Jenna [01:17:17] That pace, it's hard to keep up.
Angela [01:17:19] It's really hard to keep up and yet I find sometimes, we set boundaries and we're not going to get sucked into it and then we do. And then we're like, "Ah, how did we get sucked in?"
Tig [01:17:28] Well, because you have weak boundaries. That's how it happened. [singing] But I'm a normal person. I'm at home doing normal things because I'm normal and I'm loving my life.
Angela [01:17:40] Oh, Tig, we love you.
Tig [01:17:42] And I you.
Jenna [01:17:43] Thank you for coming and talking with us.
Tig [01:17:45] Thank you for having me.
Jenna [01:17:47] One thing we didn't talk about is your podcast, "Handsome."
Angela [01:17:51] That's what I was about to say.
Jenna [01:17:52] Which we love.
Tig [01:17:52] Okay, well you're both yelling at me.
Angela [01:17:55] No, but we do. I mean, Cassi is wearing a baseball hat right now that says "Little Cowboy."
Tig [01:18:01] It's a silly show.
Angela [01:18:02] 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. I love her on the Insta, I keep up with her there.
Jenna [01:18:18] Same.
Tig [01:18:19] Yes, silly, silly.
Jenna [01:18:23] I just love listening to you guys chat.
Angela [01:18:24] Chat, yeah.
Tig [01:18:25] Well, thank you. 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." So that's what sparked Handsome. We're not a political show. Sometimes we have genuine questions that come in from people, and you guys should submit a question as well.
Angela [01:19:05] Oh yeah, we'll do that.
Jenna [01:19:06] We'll submit a question.
Tig [01:19:07] Yeah, please do. It just really runs the gamut of the questions that we get from people. Mostly we spin it into nonsense, but sometimes, we'll ride an authentic genuine wave of a response.
Angela [01:19:28] Yeah, we should tell everyone listening: when you go check it out, because it's fantastic, you guys have banter at the top. Then you have a question that has been sent in by someone, Jimmy Fallon or whatever. There's people from all over that send in questions. Then you guys all just kind of riff on what your answer would be to that. It's really, really fun.
Tig [01:19:48] And then we play the answer at the end, because the guest also answers their own question. But it's very freeform chat.
Angela [01:20:03] Yeah. By three hilarious people.
Tig [01:20:04] Oh, well thank you.
Jenna [01:20:06] One of the benefits is you guys all have very distinctive voices. It's very easy to tell who's talking.
Tig [01:20:12] Yes. Yeah. Also, May is in their 30's. Fortune's in her 40's. I'm in my 50's. I have kids. I mean, I'm married with kids. Fortune's married. May is single and really getting out there mingling. There's a lot of differences.
Angela [01:20:36] And cultural references that one of you will know and the other won't, and Cassi was mentioning that before you got here. That she liked that the three different voices were in different places in their lives.
Jenna [01:20:47] Oh, Tig, one more thing before we go. Will you please tell us about the documentary you produced?
Tig [01:20:54] 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. 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, Sarah Bareilles, Brandi Carlile. Everybody's just massive Andrea Gibson fans. 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 screen. The funny parts, it could be a Will Ferrell movie. People are laughing so hard.
[01:22:07] 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, and sit by the fire. We'd hang out with Andrea and their partner Meg, who is also a poet in the film as well. We went to the screenings, we weren't going to the parties and the events and then we'd leave. We we're just like, "This went so well, it screened so well." I get home, to Toronto, and my phone is exploding. "Can you get on a call?" Meg called me directly as well, Andrea's partner, and I immediately was like "Oh, God. This is bad." I call Stephanie, and I'm like, "I'm so scared to return this call."
[01:23:00] She'd be like, "Just call back." I'm on the edge of losing my mind. I'm so scared to return this call, and I call Meg answers the phone. Meg and Andrea are like, "Did you hear the news?" And I was like, "What?" "We won the Sundance Festival!"
Angela [01:23:17] Oh, my god.
Tig [01:23:19] Not just in documentaries. It won the top award of Sundance this year.
Angela [01:23:24] Oh my gosh.
Tig [01:23:27] I, then, was in tears of joy. I was so confused because we didn't get a vibe of how the movie was going.
Jenna [01:23:33] Yeah, you were in your little sanctuary away.
Tig [01:23:36] We were calling it Snuggle-Down. We were just having Snuggle-Down. That was all we were doing. Our director who did the documentary, "Pamela," (I don't know if you saw that) about 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 sold and it'll be coming out later this year, but it's such a beautiful film.
Angela [01:24:00] Oh, I can't wait to see it.
Tig [01:24:01] It screened at the Boulder Film Festival and it just won that festival, as well.
Angela [01:24:06] Wow.
Tig [01:24:07] 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 [01:24:20] Wow.
Angela [01:24:21] Amazing, amazing.
Tig [01:24:23] Anyway. Thank you for having me.
Jenna [01:24:24] Thank you.
Angela [01:24:25] Thank you so much, Tig, for being here and just being you. We're so happy to have this time with you.
Tig [01:24:32] Same and I'm glad you're doing well and I hope you're doing well.
Angela [01:24:36] I am.
Jenna [01:24:43] [whispering] Now we're gonna end in a whisper. It just feels like we should.
Angela [01:24:51] [whispering] Yeah okay.
audio cue [01:24:51] [musical sting]
Angela [01:24:51] Well, a big thank you to Tig Notaro for coming in the studio to chat with us, and thank you everyone who wrote in today, such great questions for Tig.
Jenna [01:24:58] 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 [01:25:09] So funny.
Jenna [01:25:10] There's also her podcast, Handsome, and of course, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.
Angela [01:25:15] Since we recorded this interview, Tig's friend and poet Andrea Gibson very sadly passed away over the summer. This episode was recorded back in March.
Jenna [01:25:24] 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 Plus on November 14th.
Angela [01:25:35] 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 [01:25:42] See you then.
Angela [01:25:52] Thank you for listening to Office Ladies. Office Ladies is a presentation of Audacy and is produced by Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey.
Jenna [01:26:00] Our executive producer is Cassi Jerkins, our audio engineer is Sam Kieffer, and our associate producer is Aynsley Bubbico.
Angela [01:26:08] Audacy's executive producer is Leah Reiss-Dennis.
Jenna [01:26:13] Office Ladies is mixed and mastered by Bill Schultz.
Angela [01:26:15] Our theme song is "Rubber Tree" by Creed Bratton.