REVIEW: Tig Notaro Comes From Out of Nowhere
06/04 @ The Egg, Albany
“There’s something about group laughter — even the excessively loud, shrill kind from just behind your head — that feeds the soul.”
To give you a little glimpse into how my week’s been, it was around 4:00 yesterday afternoon when I hit a wall. Could not keep my eyes open. “I need a Red Bull if I’m going to make it through the late show at The Egg tonight,” I thought, though it sounded more like groggy gibberish in my brain than a coherent stringing together of words. To make a short story shorter, I got some wings, I rallied and made it out of the house for a 9:30 p.m. performance from the great Tig Notaro.
The audience heard Tig’s voice before they saw her; from somewhere behind the curtain she was introducing her friend and opening act for her second show of the evening. Amy Burkman would be doing a live speed painting to auction off at the end of the night in support of ovarian cancer research. For less than 10 minutes, Amy was then on stage, painting furiously a portrait of the late great poet Andrea Gibson, the subject of the Oscar-nominated documentary, Come See Me in the Good Light, also produced by Tig herself. It was a fun change of pace for a comedy show, seeing a completely different artform take shape before our eyes. When the painting was spun around 180 degrees — oh yeah, she painted it upside down — there were audible gasps from the crowd as they recognized who it was. Amy thanked the crowd, introduced Tig, and we were off.
“Why did the lesbians cross the road?
…To get to my show.”
That was the first joke the audience was presented with, offered in Tig’s signature deadpan delivery. She said it was the funniest joke she’d ever written, with plenty of ‘wink-and-nudge’ in her voice.
From there, we were regaled with more lesbian stereotype jokes — Subarus and U-Hauls, galore — self-deprecating references to her non-binary appearance, and plenty of delightful stories about her two 10-year-old sons, including a great explanation as to why all their bedtime stories include the same family makeup of dad, mom, son, daughter, dog, cat, goldfish. I won’t spoil the punchline, but rest assured it was rife with all the insight a 10-year-old could muster.
There was also a good amount of crowd work, which may have overstayed its welcome (to no fault of Tig’s!) but yielded some particularly amusing exchanges including the “hilarious” way someone’s father died. It involved a dumpster and “trash truck people” — RIP Ed. Throughout the show, Tig was much more animated than expected, given her typically stoic demeanor. She even pretended to segway as her literal segue between stories, much to the delight of Dad joke fans in the audience, present company included.
Comedy shows hold a special place in my heart. More specifically, comedy shows at The Egg hold a special place in my heart. My first date with my now wife was seeing Steven Wright — another deadpan comic, if you’re noticing a theme — at the ovoid venue, which yes, was a bold move to introduce someone to a comic like that on a first date. Spoiler alert: it all worked out. But generally speaking, seeing a stand-up comedian allows the rare opportunity to be in a horde of strangers and just feel… good. There’s something about group laughter — even the excessively loud, shrill kind from just behind your head — that feeds the soul. Walking out of a performance like that, everything feels a bit lighter.
I woke up this morning in the best mood I’ve been in all week, not the least bit CANtankerous. It’s not because I slept better — I didn’t — and it’s not just because the end of the work week is upon us — I never stop working, anyway — so I have to attribute it to the fact that Tig Notaro spoonfed me some comedic medicine last night. It went down easy.
For more on Tig Notaro, visit www.tignation.com
