Tig Notaro will perform as part of our standup comedy showcase Saturday night.
Tig (affectionately named by her brother as a child) was born in Jackson, MS and raised by her single mother in Pass Christian, MS. During hot summer days, her artistic and free-spirited mother would feed the children all three meals at once, then hose down their diapered bodies in highchairs to cut back on cooking and cleaning, leaving more time for her to paint donkeys on the outside of their house. The family eventually moved to Texas, where they gained a new father who provided structure and alas...a house with no donkeys painted on the walls.
While serving time in a Texas high school, Tig failed three grades by entertaining classmates rather than entertaining the notion of a successful academic career. She decided to drop out of school in 9th grade at the tender age of 43 and move to Denver, CO., where she worked briefly in the music industry before moving to LA to lodge herself firmly into the always fun and always easy world of comedy.
Since getting her start in stand-up back in 1498, Tig has appeared in a number of television shows, including a recurring guest-hosting role on AMC's "Movies at Our House" and most recently as Officer Tig on "The Sarah Silverman Program." She has her own special, "Comedy Central Presents Tig," and guest-starred on Comedy Central's "Dog Bites Man." She has also performed on NBC's "Last Comic Standing," ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," NBC's "Last Call With Carson Daly," ABC's "Comics Unleashed," and Comedy Central's "Premium Blend."
But, most importantly, Tig was fired as the sidekick on E!'s "The Chelsea Handler Show" pilot and Fox's "Girl Least Likely" pilot.
In 2006, Tig and fellow comedian Martha Kelly started the innovative Crackpot Comedy Tour, a series of house concerts across the country in the living rooms, basements, rooftops, garages, backyards, lofts and barns of their fans. The tour features rotating guest comics and local MCs in each town with occasional surprise celebrity drop-ins. Look for the Crackpot DVD on Stand-up Records-coming soon. Tig also completed, "Have Tig at Your Party," her DVD that features Tig standing still for an hour and speaking infrequently into the camera, in hopes of blending into any party once you press play. A la the burning log in the fireplace video. "Have Tig at Your Party" also includes segments of her stand-up and an infomercial with testimonials from fellow actors and comedians about what it was like to actually have had Tig at their parties. Over the years, Tig has also worked on various short films funded by director Sam Raimi (Spider-man, Evil Dead, Simple Plan), and started the highly unknown and unsuccessful, "ZeroDollarsAndZeroSenseProductions" with her producing partner and childhood friend, Beth Schorr.
Sure, this all sounds pretty exciting and promising, but when all is said and done, you might want to know that Tig has never been invited to the prestigious Just For Laugh's Festival in Montreal. However, for whatever its worth, she will be appearing at Bumbershoot 08' in Seattle. In previous years, Tig has been to SXSW in Austin, The Chicago Comedy Festival, The Boston Comedy Festival, Toyota Comedy Festival in NYC, The Bridgetown Comedy Festival in Portland, Marshall's Women in Comedy Festival in LA and The Cat's Laugh Festival in Kilkenny, Ireland.
*On a side note, She has also been known to frequent county fairs. Totally unrelated to any and all of the above information.
These days, Tig performs regularly at the Hollywood Improv, the UCB Theater, and at Largo in her monthly show, "Tig Notaro and Friends"..... and of course, headlining clubs, colleges, theaters, and living rooms across the universe.
Tig currently resides in Venice Beach, CA, on the same street as Julia Roberts, but in a much smaller house.
Labels: Entertainment
