Tig Page #3

I've had as--

I've had it, like, maybe three times

in my career,

where the person going on

in front of you is so good,

you stop being the next comic,

and you become an audience member.

I texted my girlfriend,

I was sitting there watching,

and I texted,

"Tig is doing something

historic right now."

You know, I stood behind this piano

and Tig was there,

and Louis was behind that curtain.

And so, I'm looking at Louis

and he's crying.

And I was crying,

and we're laughing.

And then I could see

the audience's reactions, as well.

And the audience were, like,

standing up and clapping,

and then sitting down.

And then she was saying,

"Oh, don't be so sad."

And people were, like...

Didn't know really quite...

But everybody felt to be

into the spirit of it.

I remember turning around on stage,

and I almost started crying

when that guy just yelled out

for me to not stop.

They gave me a standing ovation,

but I had zero sense that that show

was gonna change my life.

I woke up the next day,

I had hundreds of e-mails.

My voicemail was full,

text messages would not stop.

I was like, "What happened?"

- It went viral overnight.

- And I was like...

"Okay. I didn't understand...

What went viral?" You know.

There was no video.

There was nothing there.

It was just the idea

that this show happened went viral.

All these huge publications

were wanting to talk to me.

Louis C.K. was saying,

"Everyone needs to hear that show.

You should release it as an album."

And there were book offers coming in.

I was thinking, "Am I even gonna be alive

to finish a book?"

Some days, I felt on top of the world

and, like, "I'm gonna beat this."

And then I would be in bed the next minute

or the next day in fetal position,

staring at my ceiling, just, like,

"What is happening, and I'm gonna die,

and I want my mother."

And it was just hitting me

that I was on my own,

in a massive way.

Do it, Todd!

- Who will do a set?

- Todd!

Do your Conan set.

Do it.

I'm riddled with cancer.

Come on, Todd.

Poor Todd.

Sarah, you get it going. Do a set.

Well, okay!

Oh, is this funny?

If I go like,

"Can I ask you something?

And be honest with me."

And the person's like, "Of course."

"Are you farting?"

I hope that's funny.

I think that's funny.

It takes a while to get there.

It's a thinker.

And a stinker.

Tig, you still got it.

- Sarah?

- I'm looking at jokes.

You didn't think

what I said was funny?

A stinker?

You said it was a thinker,

and I said it was a stinker.

I did think it was funny. I'm sorry.

I was thinking about me

and my laughs.

This show is awkward.

When I came out of surgery,

I woke up to my doctor saying...

"We got it all. You're gonna be fine.

It didn't spread."

And I was just like,

"Oh, my God."

Just the relief of,

"Wait, so this is over now?"

What is your latest prognosis?

- Well, I had--

- 'Cause you had the surgery.

I had surgery, I did.

Yeah. Double mastectomy.

Who's your doctor, the Fonz?

They got all the cancer

and it did not spread.

And my prognosis is great, so...

Best news anybody here

has heard in a long time.

When the album came out,

I was getting e-mails from Louis,

like, every hour.

Just clearly giddy.

5,000, 10,000, 25...

You know, it just kept growing

and growing, and I was like,

"That is so crazy."

You had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

You were diagnosed with cancer.

Things really blew up for you

with this one show at the Largo.

You had a deadly colon infection,

your mother passed away,

then you were diagnosed with cancer.

- There you go. Great.

- Awesome.

This is Live.

- I'm pronouncing this correctly?

- Yeah.

I like the idea

that people will always think

it's Tig Notaro Live.

And...

I'll always have to correct them and say,

"No, it's Live."

I also had breast cancer

and had a bilateral mastectomy as well.

It's not that cancer or breast cancer

is not serious,

it's not that losing your breasts

is not serious.

All of it sucks.

Hey.

It was just so nice to hear somebody

make a joke about it.

My mom had cancer.

I just wanna thank you

for the example you were

of just being real about life.

- How're you feeling? You good?

- Scared.

Meanwhile, underneath my shirt,

the non-glamorous side of things is...

I have scars across my chest

and no nipples.

And my mother got up

to probably go to the bathroom.

She's dead.

The press was amazing

and the people were great.

But the hype definitely stressed me out.

Well, again...

Getting interviewed

several times a day

and being asked, in every interview,

"What is your comedy like?

Are you a different comedian?

What is your material? Who are you now?"

It's pressure, like,

"Gosh, I don't even know."

Hi. My name is Tig Notaro.

I had cancer

and now people take my picture a lot.

Even after my scars healed

and I was in remission,

I couldn't process

everything that was happening.

So how does that work? Comedians,

like, when you release an album like that?

Do you, like, do a tour,

where you kind of go around?

I mean, typically...

'Cause obviously you're not

gonna repeat the show.

Yeah, no.

Do you go on a little tour

at least just to promote it?

I mean, typically, I would.

But now, I'm in this weird place

where I can't really go on stage

and be like, "Hi, I have cancer."

You're right.

So I'm just trying to write new material

so I can start touring again.

Right.

Um, I'm in a very unusual situation.

There's no way to follow up that album.

I had started to feel so insecure.

As a comedian,

I didn't know what I was saying.

My album was number one on the charts,

but my confidence was at an all-time low.

I had to somehow make up

for what was missing now.

And I didn't know

what to do or where to begin.

Pass Christian is

what I consider my hometown.

It's where my family is from

and where I spent summer vacation.

Just this is where

my brother and I both

identify in that way

of it being our hometown.

I think it being my mother's hometown...

I can adjust to my body being different

and I can adjust to eating different.

That's all fine.

It's just losing my mother isn't fine.

I was feeling very alone.

This next street,

that's my cousin's street.

- Put your hat on.

- On Tig.

- Tig, put your hat on.

- No.

Just come on.

So how are you doing

after the cancer? Like, it's gone?

I mean, as far as we know.

I do start treatment soon.

My cancer is fed by hormones,

and so I have to block my hormones

for five years.

So will your voice go down more?

- Maybe?

- What do you mean "more"?

It may.

It may.

- What do you mean "more"?

- See, it would. Like that.

You look like Tom Cruise

on Top Gun right now.

Doesn't she?

Seriously.

I can't believe you've brought

another human into this situation.

He's so wonderful.

Look at those legs.

Family's always been

important to me.

I've always wanted a child and a family.

Right before I was ill,

I was a step away

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