Eight years after the comedian brought a semi-autobiographical account of her life to Prime Video at age 40 with A Mississippi, Tig Notaro is back on Prime with his first solo stand-up special for the streaming giant. So that’s one way for her to say “Hello again” to Amazon subscribers. But she also has “Hello” by Adele in her head and provokes us with the piano. Will there be a song or even a surprise or two? Can we stay tuned to find out? Can she?
TIG NOTARO: HELLO AGAIN: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
The essence: It’s been a dozen years since Notaro broke through with her Grammy-nominated album, “Live,” in which she revealed to her audience the breast cancer she had just been diagnosed with. Since then, it’s been an exciting time for Notaro, releasing two stand-up specials for HBO, another for Netflix, and starring in two separate documentaries about his personal and professional life, along with the aforementioned one. A Mississippi. Most recently, Notaro replaced Chris D’Elia in Zach Snyder’s Netflix zombie film. army of the deadjoined the cast of The morning program on Apple TV+ and landed roles in three other streaming movies: Your place or mine, we have a ghostand instant family.
With his wife, Stephanie Allynne, they co-directed the feature film. I’m fine?coming to Max later this year, and Allynne directed Notaro in this special.
He may find himself attending more star-studded parties these days thanks to his continued work, but Notaro also finds plenty of reasons and ways to humble himself, whether at those parties or even at home with his wife and two young children. And somehow he’s still figuring out new ways to get to the ER, although there is a happy ending and some surprising revelations to laugh at along the way.
Memorable jokes: Amazon has put the first few minutes on YouTube for you to try, but not the opening joke, which juxtaposes the hype about Notaro’s comedy with the reality of his deadpan, dry existence in real life.
Despite his rising star in Hollywood, Notaro is quick to remind us of his place in his own home, where his wife “is by far… the most popular in our family,” while Notaro herself is an afterthought. or an obstacle for Max and Finn, their songs that are already eight years old. And that’s when Notaro is in top form.
As he joked a couple of years ago for Netflix Highlights: an LGBTQ+ celebrationAn unexpected medical emergency prompted an even more unexpected reaction from the comedian when a muscular, mustachioed firefighter came to the rescue.
She retells that story here, but with more flourishes and more labels imagining her life in a nightgown, and she wants us to believe that since we’re already okay with Notaro going on the show or watching her online, we’re probably the type that people understand why Notaro reacted the way he did in this situation. Although it may not seem plausible on paper, or definitely within the realm of possible outcomes for his wife.
As Notaro has turned 50, he’s also experiencing some hearing loss, leading to hilarious misunderstandings both at the airport and when he’s in production meetings with one of his most famous co-stars, Reese Witherspoon.
She’s also dealing with back problems that ruined her to the point where she ended up taking medications she was allergic to, leading to another series of unintended consequences.
The final section of her special takes a completely different turn, when the crew brings out a piano as if she’s going to play and sing for us. But does she even know how to play the piano? Can she sing any tunes?
Our opinion: Notaro continues to make the most of her series of unfortunate medical circumstances, but she’s also discovered plenty of ways to turn her sexuality (and specifically our expectations or labels about it) into another comedic asset. Not only with the firefighter story, but also with a woman waving her hand, disparagingly describing Notaro as “whatever,” when in reality she reveals herself to be just an ordinary lesbian with a surprising taste in men.
But the movement of that woman’s hand, much like the movement of a stool or the blowing of a clown horn in Notaro’s earlier fragments, becomes a useful act for many callbacks.
As much as Notaro likes to repeat a phrase or physical action over and over again to get as many laughs as he can, he also has a penchant for long, drawn-out taunts. Is he joking or not? To the point where in the final part of it, he manages to keep the audience guessing if he will start singing or if he might even introduce one of her famous friends or acquaintances on stage to do a duet with her.
He’s done it before with the Indigo Girls. Could I do it again with Adele? The answer may or may not surprise you.
Our call: TRANSMIT IT. Toward the end of her set, Notaro apologizes not for her piano playing, but for the idea that someone might have bought a ticket or clicked to watch it without knowing what her comedy is about. When he then requests hearing requests, several screams drown out each other, even if none of them receive the response they expected. “We came here for the hits, Tig,” Notaro jokes in response. This hour offers some hits as well as some B-sides and deep cuts. In short, it is the classic Tig.
A side note: Now that Amazon has introduced ads to most Prime Video subscriptions, it’s pretty jarring, even if you grew up watching stand-up comedy on basic cable with Comedy Central, to see Amazon break into Notaro’s performance twice with commercials . How quickly we have become accustomed to transmitting our stand-up uninterruptedly.
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