Tig Notaro Live (I'm Just Now Catching Up...)

This was a big story last year, but I just now heard the routine (thanks, library!), so this isn't nearly as timely as it should be... but hey, with Thanksgiving right around the corner, maybe it is.

Tig is a stand-up comic, and prior to a show, she learns she has breast cancer. Suddenly, the jokes she'd planned to tell that night seem shallow, even pointless compared to what she's experiencing in her life. So she dives off the deep end, ditches her prepared material, and instead talks that night about what's on her mind, the cancer, the recent death of her mother, the recent illnesses, the recent romantic break-up (tough few months!) -- basically, using the audience as therapist -- a recipe for disaster, right ? The recording isn't easy to listen to, but it's not depressing, it's ultimately about survival and being supported by your audience, about facing the worst and taking it and sharing it and getting through it.

You really have to hear it to understand how it's NOT depressing. It's certainly not 'funny', but there are laughs, and I actually teared up at the moment Tig apologizes for not doing her usual material, and asks "Should I just go back to telling jokes?" and a guy from the audience responds "No, this is f**king amazing!" (well, that's my best recall).

The second (shorter) disc in the package is worth a listen, but it's not the revelation that the main show is. So, bottom line: I wouldn't listen to this in the car on the way to Grandma's, but we sat down and listened together as a family for the 30+ minutes and had a moving experience. Maybe you will too.