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All Music Guide:
Host of the Professor Blastoff podcast and a huge Taylor Dayne fan, standup comedian Tig Notaro was born in Jackson, Mississippi but launched her entertainment career in Denver, where she became a band manager and ran the promotion company Tignation. Working in music meant she'd have to move to one of the coasts, so Los Angeles became her home and her connection to the indie comedy scene. In 2006, she joined the unique Crackpot Comedy Tour, which crossed America and stopped at any living room, rooftop, barn, or other strange venue that fans had booked. She released a DVD called Have Tig at Your Party, which featured her staring forward and speaking infrequently, making it the perfect video replica of Tig at a party. Playing Officer Tig on The Sarah Silverman Program followed, and in 2011 she released her debut comedy album, Good One. It was followed a year later by the digital release Live, an album where Tig announced to the audience -- and later the world -- that she had been diagnosed with cancer. Fellow comedian Louis CK had released the digital download, while in 2013 the label Secretly Canadian issued a CD version of the set.
Wikipedia:
Mathilde O'Callaghan "Tig" Notaro (born March 24, 1971) is an American stand-up comic, writer, and radio contributor.
Early years [edit]
Notaro was born in Jackson, Mississippi and raised in Pass Christian, Mississippi, but later moved to Texas, where she attended high school. "Tig" is a childhood nickname. Her great-great-grandfather was John Fitzpatrick, mayor of New Orleans from 1892 to 1896. She dropped out of school and moved to Denver, Colorado, where she became involved in the music industry, setting up as a band manager, under the name Tignation Promotions.
Career [edit]
Her work promoting bands took her to Los Angeles, where she tried stand-up for the first time. Notaro has been featured on Comedy Central Presents, and on The Sarah Silverman Program as a lesbian police officer. She collaborates frequently with writing partner Kyle Dunnigan. With Dunnigan and David Huntsberger, she hosts the podcast Professor Blastoff.
In 2011, she released her debut stand-up album, Good One.
In 2012, Notaro appeared on the Conan television show and on This American Life. She has stated plans to move to New York City to work on fellow comedian Amy Schumer's new series, being developed for Comedy Central, to be introduced on the network in 2013. Also in 2012, Notaro announced plans for a Kickstarter-funded series called Clown Service, written by and starring Notaro.
On August 3, 2012 Notaro addressed her recent cancer treatments and other personal difficulties during her live stage show at Largo in Los Angeles. The set has been described as "instantly legendary," with many comedians praising her work. After seeing the set, comedian Louis C.K. said the next day, "In 27 years doing this, I’ve seen a handful of truly great, masterful standup sets. One was Tig Notaro last night at Largo." In October, C.K. made audio of the performance available for download on his site under the title Live until Notaro later released the audio (with booklet) on iTunes.
Personal life [edit]
On July 31, 2012, Notaro announced that she had been diagnosed the day before with cancer in both breasts. She underwent a double mastectomy, removing all the cancer. By September, she described a string of personal setbacks that had occurred:
I got pneumonia, and then I contracted this life-threatening, deadly illness called C. diff., and it's this bacteria that just eats your intestines. I was in the hospital for a week, lost 20 lbs...and then it was my birthday a couple days after the hospital.... A few days after that, my mother passed away unexpectedly...a freak accident.... I got off of a relationship shortly after that, and then I was diagnosed with cancer.... This was all in four months."Notaro sometimes discusses her romantic relationships in her act, but she has "tried to remain private about her sexuality." She joked that her 2012 life changes had led to a romantic predicament that would require a special person who "lies to me and herself." In 2012, it was announced that Notaro would play a lesbian role on Sarah Silverman's new sitcom in development. Silverman has described Notaro as one of her closest friends as well as a favorite collaborator, calling Notaro "one of the great comics working today."
