Superlatives
A Vulture series in which artists judge the best and worst of their own careers.
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It also put Notaro on the radar of This American Life.
Unsuccessful joke you just cant quit
I have a story I try every now and then.
Its about a very well-known, legendary person in the comedy world who I PAd for so long ago.
It was a pilot for HBO.
There was a green screen, and he was in a green-screen suit that captures your motion.
I had to guess where he was going to go so I didnt tug on him at all.
He would turn and scream at me any time there was any slight tug.
He would just berate me in front of everybody.
It was so humiliating.
Years later, he reached out to my manager saying he was a fan.
I would love to say hello after.
I told my manager, Do not let him.
I wanted to move on.
I had just been telling the director this story.
So we went to this dinner party.
Its maybe ten people at a big table.
Theres one empty seat across from me.
He didnt look at me.
My wife, Stephanie, and I and the director were all nudging each other under the table.
He then turns to me and says, Good night, Tig and walks out.
He hasnt come to one of my shows since.
I dont say who it is.
I open it up for guesses, and it becomes a little fun moment.
But I have not ever worked that out onstage.
Favorite joke fromLive
The survey.
Her death was very unexpected.
I was so mad.
I was just deeply, deeply upset.
I wanted to talk to everybody at this hospital and every other person at every other hospital.
I couldnt even believe that something like that would land.
I cant remember that night.
I was shocked that I was getting laughs, because I was truly so down and out.
My pants were falling off, and my underwear was falling off.
I was so malnourished.
I was so sick.
I really cant listen toLivenow.
The interviewers would be like, Oh, Im sorry, it must be hard.
And Im like, No, its just that its not polished at all.
Im glad people enjoy it, but I dont want to hear this.
it was at the front of my mind.
Best impression
The clown horn.
Or do I just talk about what I want?
You see grown men getting just so giddy, and they want to hear it again.
I couldnt believe how long that satisfied them.
It was so perfect, because its the exact opposite of what they were expecting me to give them.
It was not the entirety of my existence and all the pain I experienced.
I thought,This little noise will work.
Joke that most reminds you of your mother
The Adele bit fromHello Again.
My mother pranked me and my brother and my stepfather and her friends all the time.
There was always something a little weird or off, and she wanted to see if people would notice.
She really inspired my comfort in awkward situations me being like,I dont care.
Ill go do that.
Ill go sing an Adele song with the worst voice in the world.
When I really did that at that party, I wasnt thinking,Oh, this is new material.
People were talking about it.Olivia Munn talked about it when she hostedEllen.
When I was doing it live, I was actually performing Hello with her singing.
There is an even sillier vibe to it when I was actually playing along with her.
And Im like, Who are you?
And he said, Im Adeles collaborator.
I write her stuff and produce it.
So he was my in, and everybody was trying to get it in there.
But, you know, maybe shes not a fan.
Most expensive joke
The closer ofBoyish Girl Interrupted, paying for the Rolling Stones.
I think it was a couple hundred thousand dollars.
I dont remember exactly how much it was.
and how he was so tough and cool.
I just loved to then play the beginning of You Cant Always Get What You Want.
I should have told the audience how much it cost.
They had no clue; they would see my body, and they had no questions about my scars.
They were pointing at my scars and they were like, And that is from cancer.
So I guess Im curious what theyll think about that moment I took my shirt off.
I Googled all these images of double-mastectomy scars.
I was so freaked out.
After my surgery, it took me a week to even look down at my body.
I just had faith in the audience that even if they were shocked, they could just move on.
The first time I did it at Largo, I felt a little insecure.
Because I, like my son Max, am modest.
This is not just about women or cancer.
This is about body image.
This is about being comfortable with the human body.
That really gave me more strength and power behind what I was doing.
It doesnt matter who you are or what is going on; this is about bodies.
Longest time you pushed the stool
It started in Seattle.
I moved the stool to actually get it out of my way, and it made a funny noise.
I had been having a terrible set, and that was what they finally laughed at.
I was like, Oh, thats what you want.
Okay, Ill push a stool around.
I pushed that stool real far in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
I started out onstage.
It was very up and down, as it always was:Oh, this is funny.
Im sure the people in the cars were like, Whats going on?
J.P. Buck, the booker atConan, was like, Okay, so what do you want to do?
He was like, Okay.
I trust you, but do you have a set coming up?
I can just come watch.
So he came and watched me push a stool.
I know it annoys a lot of people too.
I thought you were a nice person.
That was such an interesting take that this makes me not nice.
It actually was originally Jenny Slate I was going to introduce onstage.
I dont know where it came from.
I was having a mediocre set and I just said, You know what?
I feel like you guys probably want somebody else up here.
So lets bring out Jenny Slate.
And people started clapping.
I was like, Really?
Well, shes not here … Or maybe she is.
I just started toying with it in that way.
Then I ended up at a show that was a predominantly lesbian crowd.
I guess you could be like, Arent all your shows?
I could do that forever.
