What: Tig Notaro
When: Friday, Nov. 11, doors 9 p.m. / show 9:30 p.m.
Where: The Whole, Coffman Union
Cost: Free
You may not know who Tig Notaro is âÄî yet âÄî but you can have her at your party.
In August of this year, Notaro released a DVD companion piece, called âÄúHave Tig At Your Party,âÄù to her debut comedy album (âÄúGood OneâÄú) that is the comedianâÄôs equivalent to the burning yule log. In it, she holds down one side of conversations intended to be played and spoken back to.
Fortunately, University of Minnesota students wonâÄôt need to dust off their DVD player just yet so they can host the pre-recorded Tig at their party. Soon they will have the real Tig at their college.
Tomorrow night, Notaro will be riffing at, and potentially on, The Whole; a location that poses a cozy contrast to her previous appearance at Ted Mann Concert Hall, a venue Notaro called âÄúSarah Silverman-sized.âÄù
If you only first saw her when she opened for her friend and colleague Silverman at Ted Mann last March, Notaro will tell you to see her this time, and then wait until you can watch one more performance before singing her praises or writing her off for good.
âÄúI always say you have to see a comedian three times before you judge them at all,âÄù Notaro said.
You may have already seen Notaro at least once before. She had her own Comedy Central special and was featured on âÄúThe Sarah Silverman ProgramâÄú as Officer Tig. This year she is at work on finding a network to broadcast her talk-variety show âÄúTig Has FriendsâÄú where, each week, she interviews a cast of a movie or show or members of a band. The show, for which Silverman is executive producer, has already featured the casts of âÄúParty Down,âÄù âÄúParks and RecreationâÄú and âÄúMad MenâÄú on its live stage in Los Angeles.
Notaro, who was a musician long before she became a comedian, felt too shy to perform music on stage so instead tried her hand at stand-up comedy.
âÄúI could no longer ignore the comedy bug,âÄù Notaro said, âÄúsomething has clearly kept me going.âÄù
Her dry humor and deadpan delivery lend themselves to NotaroâÄôs understated style, which is characterized by her tendency to slowly, but ever so surely, unfold a joke âÄî and almost always through deliberate and relentlessly sarcastic musings punctuated by carefully placed pauses.
âÄúCherâÄòs daughter, Chastity, is a man now and he changed his name from Chastity to Chaz. So basically he just kept the Chas,âÄù Tig says on track two of her album, âÄúand cut off the titty.âÄù
âÄúGood OneâÄù was recorded on the tour that brought Notaro to the University last March, and includes a 12-minute joke about her multiple encounters with âÄò80s pop star Taylor Dayne. Each time, Dayne has no recollection of previously meeting Notaro, and consequently Notaro recites the same scripted compliment to Dayne as she did before. The bit, which exemplifies NotaroâÄôs fixation on the cross-section between the mundane and the absurd, highlights her ability to parcel out obvious punchlines with unassuming wit.
The even-keel comedian doesnâÄôt punch up her jokes with crass commentary or edgy humor, but instead offers facetiously droll ruminations on social situations as she unravels them. Her tendency to use a verbal refrain for her jokes leads to a routine that may see âÄúno molesteâÄù or âÄúcan you believe it?âÄù repeated multiple times, as a point of pause, in a single bit.
âÄúMy show is over,âÄù Notaro announces to her live audience on the last track of her album, who, slightly thrown-off, begin to laugh and clap.
âÄúThis is one of those situations where youâÄôre a clown, and youâÄôre trying to cry for help, and nobodyâÄôll have it,âÄù Notaro says. ThereâÄôs laughter, a pause, and then sure enough, Notaro delivers her punch line, âÄúmy show is over.âÄù
