TCB's Endless Day #10: Tig Notaro

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On this episode of the Commercial Break, Tig Nataro once did a whole show based on one chance encounter with singer Taylor Dane.

It helped to further her career and solidify her as a stand-up great.

She's publicly shared her struggles and successes both on and off stage.

She was once referred to as the heart of stand-up comedy by Brian.

Wow, Tig must have a big heart.

She agreed to come on TCB, or she just has empathy for Chrissy.

And so do I.

Tig Nataro is your penultimate guest on TCB's Endless Day.

I'll be back next hour with Brian and Chrissy to wrap it all up.

Let's start Tig's episode now.

The next episode of the Commercial Break starts now.

And on this very long day, Chrissy Tignitaro is here with us.

Welcome Tig to the commercial break.

Thank you.

Thank you.

It's such an honor to have you here and I do not say that tongue in cheek.

I want to start off by asking a serious question and we'll get to the funny shit later.

I

sense that your career, and I think you have said this, your career really kind of hits,

and you put some gasoline in the tank when you are at your most raw and vulnerable and possibly maybe even you would consider the worst moments of your life, the worst time of your life, 2012, Largo, you walk out there and bravely say, I'm Tig Nataro, I have cancer.

And like overnight.

And I saw that video and I was touched, confused,

awestruck, beshuxed.

I don't even know how you say it.

I was, I thought, wow, they really just went out there and let it all loose.

Did you have any sense in that moment in 2012, standing there on stage at Largo, that just being this vulnerable would lead to such a connection with so many people?

No, I had no idea.

I mean, I really thought,

I mean, just for

some more context, I had been diagnosed with pneumonia and then

an intestinal disease that is very deadly called C.

diff.

I had invasive cancer.

My mother tripped, hit her head, and died.

And my girlfriend and I split up, and that was in a four-month period of time.

And

I,

yeah, I went on stage just feeling like I had lost everything in the world.

And

there was no part of me that thought this is going to be anything.

I didn't even think the people in the audience wanted to hear about it, much less

the life that it took on.

Yeah, yeah, it went viral.

A lot of people were blogging and tweeting about it.

I remember that, yeah.

And then it was released as an album and became the number one selling comedy album of the year.

Yeah, yeah.

And, but yeah, there was not, I was just, I was as, I was stunned.

I was very stunned.

But I did, when I thought about it, I was like, wow, there are so many

elements to my story that people can relate to, whether it's health and a loss of a parent or loved one,

so many.

I mean, so many things.

Sickness,

feeling down, feeling breakups,

romantic breakups.

So I was going through it all.

And

but yeah, I didn't I didn't know what to think.

Can you

you know, as if you haven't given us enough, can you give us an idea of where you were mentally in that moment up there on stage?

Was this a moment of desperation where like,

I've heard you say before in other, let me preface this.

I've heard you say before in other podcast interviews and read that it's like, fuck it.

If I say this out loud and then I die tomorrow, well, then at least I said it out loud and somebody somewhere may get something out of it.

Was this like just a moment of pure desperation in your mind, or did where were you?

Were you mentally?

I'm curious.

I think it's taken me a long time to really understand

what was going on with me.

I think that,

number one, I love stand-up and I wanted,

I had seen how quickly life can slip away with my own health and my mother dying.

And I,

because I was so sick, I just thought, I don't know if I'll be able to perform again.

I don't know if I'm going to be alive.

I didn't know what was coming.

So I wanted to perform again.

And when I did perform, I thought, well, I can't do my regular observational comedy.

That's not where my head is.

And it kind of cracked me open in a new way,

sharing

so personally.

I had never, ever done that before.

And

yeah, I think I just felt like I had almost lost everything in life.

So why not just,

you know, go for it?

Yeah, just see what happens because it already looked pretty bleak.

So it's like if I have a bad show, I mean,

I have worse things going on.

That was a form of therapy, too.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I think there was a part of me that was kind of reaching out for help and support

because

even though I have incredible friends and family that were surrounding me, it was still,

I needed help, I needed support.

And it's, yeah, I think all the time about people that don't have the support that I had.

It's, it's really, after I went on tour, or I went on tour after I was in remission and

I

stood and talked to everybody that wanted to talk after the show because I was like, man, you guys listen to what I went through.

And

people lined up sharing their stories and their appreciation.

And

I'd never really done that before either after a show, after a tour or after, you know, any performances, like really sat there and connected with people for hours.

That was a real, I bet, sense of catharsis in a lot of ways.

I think sometimes,

I know this is kind of the sick, twisted mind of us as human beings, but I think sometimes in ways when we're able to connect with other people's pain, it allows us to vent our own, dull our own, but then say, you know what?

It's not as fucking bad as I'm making it out to be in my own head because this person or just like the simple connection that it, I feel bad, they feel bad, we're kind of in this together.

Did you, did you seek, I'm sure you did.

I mean, I can almost answer this.

I'm sure you did.

Did you seek therapy during this period of time?

Yes.

Yes.

And

I imagine that was helpful because the cancer alone is like you're facing the

empty chamber of a gun.

You're staring it down at all times.

You just don't know what's coming next.

And that's got to be really scary.

For sure.

And, you know, that's what was crazy about that time period was cancer is such a obviously well-known disease, but C.

diff isn't as known.

And it actually ended up killing my stepfather 10 years later.

And I was really suffering with that disease.

And I remember before I was diagnosed, I remember telling people,

God, if only I had cancer, people would understand

that I'm struggling.

And then I, meanwhile, I had no idea I had invasive cancer.

And I found that out like, you know, a month later.

What is C.

diff.

Can you explain to the audience for those who don't know?

Yeah, C.

diff is a bacteria that's in your gut and it's

it's totally supposed to be there and works with all the other bacteria in your gut but um if you

well I got it from taking antibiotics because because I had pneumonia and the antibiotics I had an adverse response and it cleared out all of the bacteria in my gut, but it leaves C.

diff

alone to thrive.

And it just like eats your insides and you just, you can't, you can't eat, you can't, it's so debilitating.

And

it's a super bug.

You know, when you see on,

what is it, the hand sanitizer that it kills 99.9% of germs?

The 0.9 is C.

diff?

It is C.

diff.

It's so hard to kill.

It's so hard to manage.

How long did you struggle with this for?

Like,

is this a long illness that takes a long time?

I imagine, because it's in your gut and you can't get rid of it.

Well, there's different levels of severity.

I mean, I was hospitalized.

I think it was, I don't even remember how long I was hospitalized.

It was maybe a week or something.

Some people have it and they're just quarantined at their house.

But

they thought they were going to have to remove a chunk of my intestines

and um

but

after I finally turned things around um

I still had a lot of pain and symptoms and struggled a lot with eating and um

and that was I had sharp stabbing pains.

I would just be my wife Stephanie when we first were dating she thought I was doing a bit because I would be talking to her and I'd be like, oh God, you know, and she would be like, what was that?

Yeah.

And I'd be like, oh, sorry.

I mean, it was truly like I was being stabbed in the gut periodically.

Random orgasm.

I'm sorry, it happens to me all the time.

But yeah,

I would say it took about a year for

the

severity of it to go away.

That is intense.

And then diagnosed with breast cancer, your mom dies.

The breast cancer, which is a diagnosis that so many women each year will receive.

My sister.

Yeah, Chris.

I just lost my sister to breast cancer.

Oh, I'm so sorry.

She had a double mastectomy and everything.

They thought they had it.

And about a year and a half later, so end of 2023,

she was having sharp pains actually in her stomach.

And they went to the doctor, did some tests, did some scans, and found out that it had metastasized somehow from the breast, and now she had liver cancer and

moved to her spine, and we lost her four weeks later.

It happened super quick.

And thank you.

And just to talk about therapy, I had to go through a lot of therapy after that.

It was so shocking.

She was 43 and my best friend with, you know, two small boys.

I am so sorry.

The speed at which the cancer took Kelly, if I can speak from where I was sitting as Chrissy's best friend for decades, was

intense.

It was hard to believe.

You couldn't wrap your head around it.

No, no, no, everything will be okay.

It'll be fine.

People don't die in a week.

That doesn't happen.

But that's what happened.

Yeah, we got her out to MD Anderson, even thinking that, you know, that somebody can do something.

And when they called, they said, there's nothing we can do.

I mean, her husband called and said, there's nothing that they can do.

You've got to get out here now.

Oh, my God.

And to watch her, too, go through the double mastectomy.

Yeah.

I was right there with her, saw the whole thing, helped her recover from it, and for them to think that it was gone and that, you know, then that is a nightmare.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But therapy has done a lot.

Professional therapy really has been a lifesaver for me because I, it was like I, I couldn't put that on my friends and the family that I had last.

My mom also passed suddenly in 2020.

So

yeah, so it was just all very shocking.

And I know that

therapy has really helped me.

And the podcast, which, you know, we had just started in 2020.

And

being able to, having to get up and go do that and, you know, come here to the studio and record and laugh, really.

Yeah.

Stupid things helped.

And I know that that had to have helped you too to be able to.

get up on stage and have that purpose and that connection with those people.

So thank you for that.

Oh, my gosh, absolutely.

I mean, I'm kind of doing it selfishly, and thankfully,

it is helpful to others.

But I am a firm believer in therapy, and

I'm still in it.

I've been in therapy on and off since I was 18, and

I feel,

yeah,

I feel very thankful for that outlet.

Yes.

Yeah, I think that

for those who wonder, there is no weakness in needing an objective ear because I think we are all at times crying.

Listen, life can be really difficult and it can be really shitty and we're all crying out in our own ways at times.

And sometimes,

I mean, I'm going to oversimplify this, but I think that's important to get it down to its base nature is that sometimes you just need somebody who's not in the middle of the storm

objectively so that if anything, you can just shout into the void and have someone shout back at you yeah i'm here and i hear you i can't fix it but i hear what you're saying yeah or give you the tools kind of help work to do that work through it yeah your brand of humor has largely i i for me at least uh watching you over the last decade has largely become this kind of stage catharsis you're very raw you're very open you're telling your stories you're a fantastic storyteller with such dry wit.

Sometimes it's the things you don't say, Tig.

There's a lot I don't say.

There's a lot.

Sometimes it's when you're not talking, Tig, that I laugh the hardest.

I'd like you to know that.

I'm well aware that some of my funniest moments are my quietest.

The timing.

There's a musicality to it.

Do you know that?

I mean, you must know that, that there's a beat, a rhythm to what's going on up there with you.

Yeah.

I mean, a lot of comedians are musicians or want to be musicians and the same in reverse, you know.

You play piano.

Oh, yes, I do.

But I do play a little bit of drums and guitar.

And,

you know, but I do get asked if,

you know,

people will ask, how do I decide when to pause or hold on things?

And

it's not that calculated.

It's just, it is a rhythm within me.

And I might tell the story differently if I'm sitting around having coffee with somebody.

But when I'm on stage, there is this rhythm that

runs through me.

And that's how I deliver it.

I am not thinking at all, like, oh, hold three seconds here.

Yeah.

Not at all.

But I'm sure that's an exchange with the crowd also.

It largely depends on

how you're feeling with the crowd.

It's a back and forth, much like musicians will talk about.

I'll keep that guitar solo going an extra eight measures if I see that the crowd is enjoying what's going on.

Yeah.

End it quickly.

If not.

Yeah, absolutely.

One of

the things that I have found the funniest that you have done is your Taylor Dane story.

And I know you probably get this a lot, but this American Life where Taylor comes out at the end, I've only seen this on YouTube, so I don't really know.

Did you know she was coming out?

Because part of me thinks you knew, and then part of me thinks you didn't know.

Well, wouldn't you like to know?

I would like to know.

I know.

Actually, they just want you to say.

They actually just re-aired that.

Oh, they did?

Yeah, this last weekend.

Oh,

on PBS?

On This American Life.

On PR.

I'm sorry.

They just, yeah, that just re-aired.

It's a great story.

You can tell me off air, but I or I may never know.

I don't know.

But I would say you'll never know.

I can confirm right now, you'll never know.

It's one of the great, it's one of the great moments in comedy is when Ira Glass says, and now, ladies and gentlemen, Taylor Dane, after you tell the story.

And for those of you who don't know the story, go watch it on YouTube.

And I'm not going to try and retell the joke because it's hers and she does it so much better.

But multiple run-ins with Taylor Dane.

And you tell that story to

great effect.

And I think that story is like, when you tell that, it is,

I don't know, it's a prime example of where you are best is being your observational kind of

pregnant pause here,

you know, little nod to the crowd there.

And it's so funny.

What did you find funny as a kid growing up?

Where did you get this kind of sense of humor?

What was funny to you?

What's the first thing you remember being funny as a kid?

I mean,

I was definitely a class clown and I was all, I think I really liked the kind of,

I mean, I liked so many different

kinds of comedy and

whether I was chiming in and saying something weird

or I really liked the kind of, you know, long game of seeing a bit play out.

You know, I remember an art class when I was in like seventh grade, way too old to be doing this.

The art tables were round, and that was, you know,

I don't know, eight kids at each table or something, six kids at each table.

And we were doing some project with yarn.

And you know how art class is kind of chaotic and a little different?

Yeah, it's not very structured.

Yeah.

So I went underneath the

table because nobody noticed anything, and I took a huge string of yarn and I wove it in between

the other students'

shoelaces and I tied all of their shoelaces together underneath the table.

So, that kind of long game, like plant a seed and wait, and see how that plays out.

I love that kind of thing.

But my mother was very funny, and she was

a very big personality, really, really known for being funny and wild.

And then my stepfather was very,

just very contained.

And,

you know, just such

parents.

That was your parents?

Yeah.

And my dad was very conservative.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

But he was funny too.

My stepfather, he was.

He was very dry.

Yeah.

So I think I got a good mix of the two of them.

Yeah, my mom was, my mom, I think Chrissy and I imagine sometimes we have the same parents as best friends because my mom was this Midwestern loudmouth cigarette smoking on the phone till four o'clock in the morning, always good with a story, the story never the same twice, always good with a, you know,

always with a punchline, always funny.

But my dad was extraordinarily reserved and never gave a hug or I'm a proud of you.

But he would drop a bomb and leave the room.

He was that kind of jokester where someone would be talking about something and he'd throw a hand grenade in the middle, everyone would laugh, and he'd be out the room, right?

It was like he was one and done

kind of guy.

And I can see how you're telling the story now about your mom and your stepdad.

You're like a mix of these two personalities.

Yeah, for sure.

You have this reserveness, but then there is moments when there seems to be some absurdity

that comes out.

Who are some of the,

I always like to ask this of

comics who are I mean

really good have been doing this for a long time and are really recognized who are some of the comics that you enjoy watching now

now now in 2025 who who feels funny to you I love Maria Bamford okay yeah yeah

she is just

I just think she's extraordinary

I really like

this guy John Dore He is, talk about silly, he is real silly.

Um, uh, I don't even know actually if we were talking about silly, but um, he's out of Canada, okay, and um,

and then

uh, Aparna Nanchurla.

Oh, yeah, uh, yeah, I think she's incredible.

Uh, my old roommate, Chris Fairbanks, he is so painfully funny.

Yeah,

so

where, where do you um live?

Where in the world are you living?

Are you living out in LA?

Yeah, I live in L.A.

You live in LA?

Do you still get a chance to go?

Like, I know you're probably working on comedy all the time, right?

That's your thing.

That's your gig.

Where do you go when you want to work out that set?

Do you stay local and do you just go out there and hit up, say, hey, I want to come in and do 30 minutes or I want to come in and do 15 minutes?

I don't know.

I've kind of, I'm not really that kind of comedian anymore.

I was just in Toronto filming this new new Star Trek series that I'm on.

And

when I had nights off, I would go out to the club, the comedy bar a couple of times a week.

Mainly because I was,

you know, I was in Toronto and was away from my family.

And so I thought, well, I should just work on my new material when I'm free.

But when I'm in LA, I have regular shows at Largo or a place called Dynasty Typewriter.

And I'll go in and do, like just last night, I was at Dynasty doing an hour and a half.

Like I won't bring an opening act and I'll just go on stage for an hour and a half and holy shit.

Work out stuff.

But you know, I think after getting married and having kids, that's my preference is to be home with my family.

And so

I'm not as

out in the clubs as a lot of comedians.

But when I do go out and work on material, I'll take about an hour and a half to do that.

And it's usually maybe

two or three times a month I do that.

That's incredible.

Well, first of all, you probably have earned the right.

I mean, you know, you've got a family and all that, but then you've earned the right to get up there and do an hour and a half.

That's you've carved your own path.

But at 90 minutes standing up there, you know, cutting your teeth on new materials.

Sounds very scary.

I mean, to me.

For us.

Yeah, for us.

I enjoy the comfort.

Yeah, we can hide behind the microphones here on the commercial break.

I'd love to go do stand-up, but I also have three children and a wife, and I'm a little bit longer in the tooth than a lot of the people out there that are doing it.

And I just don't think I would, I

know my wife wouldn't stomach the travel, but I don't think I could stomach the being away from my kids for that long.

Or I'd really start to enjoy it, and that'd be the problem.

It's like I'd start to enjoy being away from it.

I'd be like, it's nice to be away from the kids with room service.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, I, I, before I had a family, I was just totally fine bouncing around town to town, city to city.

And now it feels so weird to be gone for too long.

And yeah.

And I remember somebody telling me before I was married and had kids.

They were like, oh, you know, these are my favorite people.

This is who I want to be around.

Like about his family.

And I was like, interesting.

Those are your favorite people.

Huh.

And

then it's like, boom, I got married and I have, yeah.

And I'm like, these are my favorite people.

This is who I want to spend my time with.

Yes.

And it sounds,

you know, I don't know if it means, I'm sure some comedians would be like, well, then you're not a real comedian.

But it's like, I've been doing this almost 30 years.

I used to.

tour till I was, you know, blue in the face.

Yeah.

Fell flat on your ass.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And it's like, I'm still doing shows.

And aside from local gigs that I do when there's,

I haven't toured in the past year and a half, but when for the like a proper tour.

But if a gig that looks good comes in, then I'll take it here and there.

But I'm not actively trying to tour right now

because I really just want some time off and I'm enjoying being home.

You know, the funny thing that you talk about, like, these are my favorite people.

I have brothers,

you know, brothers in their

older.

They may or may not ever give my kids cousins, and hopefully they do, but they probably won't.

But they come over and I see their general irritation with the children.

Like they last 30 minutes, 30 minutes being good uncles, and then they get irritated.

They want to watch the football or the golf or whatever.

And, you know, then they egg me to come out for drinks and I'll go out and I don't drink anymore, but I sit there and then I'm kind of get itchy and I want to go home.

And they're like, oh, come on, man, we're going to go to the next place.

And I'm like, you know what?

I really want to be home with my family.

You've been there, Doctor.

My family.

And I I know it's so hard for you to see.

All you see is three little, you know, 15 little nightmares running around and irritation.

But to me, that is what feels to me like love.

That's what feels, that's what takes me away from the stress, makes me feel good.

That's my therapy is when I can throw my kids in the air or, you know, give them a hug, put them to bed, give them a shower.

Those are the type of things that make me feel like I have purpose and drive and love.

Absolutely.

I mean, my favorite time of the day is, I mean, Stephanie and I talk about this all the time.

Like, I

love

every night, you know, after Max and Finn finish eating and playing and whatever, they go take a shower.

And then

they discovered the show Friends when we were on vacation when they were five.

And so we would let them watch when we were on vacation.

They could watch that, even though they didn't really get half the jokes, the laugh track would kick in, they'd die laughing.

And then after this last

Christmas break, friends followed us home.

And

we now have it as part of our routine that after they finish their showers,

we get out popcorn and we all watch an episode of Friends Together.

This is every night

before bed.

And then we go upstairs and then we have reading time time as a family.

And we read for like 15, 20 minutes, and then we all discuss what we just read.

And then they go to bed.

And that part of the day is hands down my favorite time.

And it's like, why would I not want to be doing that?

Yes.

And be hanging out in a bar or in a club.

Like, I just, I like to go in.

If I have material.

That I want to work on or I want to do, I want to go in and do it.

And then I want to go home.

I, I, you know, I'd rather just see comedians that I'm friends with for lunch or something.

Yeah.

Do I know you just turned 28 again, but do you, like me, do you find that

being an older parent, I think I realize more that these moments are fleeting and that I need to

I need to be in the moment, soak them in and be aware of what's going on.

Like every, I want to eat every moment up because like you, we have our routine.

We play tickle monster.

My young, my youngest calls it Ishel Monster.

I don't know why she calls it Ishel Monster, but she does.

And we run and scream.

And as, you know, people are banging their heads and sometimes they're stripped to hospitals.

But those are the moments that we, those are the moments that we, and I have insurance, might as well use it.

They, those are the moments that I just, I'm so lost in a sea of, this is incredible.

And every moment I want to enjoy it.

I think if I was 22 years old, Defax may have my children if I'm 22 years old and have kids a little bit older.

And so I have this

appreciation that I don't think I would have had had I had children younger.

Do you, do you get that sense?

Is that somewhere in your head?

Oh, it's everywhere in my head.

I'm just like, and not just that.

Yes, I'm, it's,

it's, there's positive and negative of being, you know, 54

with

two eight-year-olds.

But, um, but it, I feel like,

you know how you see when parents turn into grandparents, they become more chill and relaxed about things and um and i feel like i got to be a parent at grandparent age you know um

and um

and i also

am so thankful that stephanie is my partner because she is so

phenomenal she is such a great mother and she really

the decisions that she makes and the ideas that she has, I'm like,

wow.

I would have done that all wrong.

I would have done that all wrong.

Yeah, you can't.

And like you make a great team.

Yeah, I'm like,

I am the luckiest person that you could possibly the luckiest, unlucky person, I like to say.

Everything you've said resonates so much with me.

First of all, it's heartwarming.

Second of all, it all resonates with me because with my wife, it all falls apart.

Then I am just the tickle monster raising my children on Doritos and skipping school every third day because I can't wake up on time to take them.

Second of all, yeah, I think older, like I told my dad one time, I remember having this like touching conversation with my father probably about two decades ago.

We had a complicated relationship like a lot of sons and fathers do, and daughters and fathers, quite frankly, and parents and children have, right?

Complicated relationships with weird things that happened and misinterpretations and miscommunications.

He comes from a different generation and he wasn't the most loving.

And and I was creative and I don't think he understood that.

And

I, like you, had a hard time in school.

So I decided that wasn't my thing.

He didn't appreciate that.

And I remember having this conversation in my 30s with him where I started talking to him in a car.

And

for some reason, I just felt the need to say to my dad, I want you to know that I love you for everything you are and everything you're not.

And that, and I'm going to, this is going to give me chills.

This is going to make me upset.

And he had to pull over the car because he also got teary-eyed and said, I made so many mistakes and I'm so proud of who you became.

It was like the first time I'd ever heard my father say that.

Wow.

And

you can't anticipate that your children aren't going to feel the same way, but you can hope that you do it a little bit differently and better.

But one of the greatest joys of my entire life is watching my father be a grandparent to my kids because he is the father that

he is the father that I never had with my kids.

And I, that's just incredible to watch that

he gets it.

He got it.

He gets it.

Right.

And

so in being older, I think now I

have softened, the edges have softened.

And now I get to try and hopefully be that father to my kids that I never had.

But then they also have their grandfather that is being the father that I never had either.

And that's just amazing to me.

Did your, did Did your parents get to see I know your mother died right before Largo?

Yeah, was there any

did you feel like your mom was proud of you?

Did you feel like

she had a great deal of support?

Yeah, she thought my mother was an artist, and she was, like I said, so funny and like life of the party kind of person.

And

my stepfather

was not,

wasn't any of those things.

And

But I am very thankful for

what he contributed to my life, even though there was like really, it was really rough.

He was in my life since I was two.

And he just,

you know, he was

just so rigid and buttoned up.

And

my mother was really my biggest cheerleader.

And I had a similar experience

when my mother died.

We had buried her in Mississippi and we were driving away.

My stepfather and I were driving away.

And

he said,

you know,

I owe you an apology.

And I was like, oh, for what?

And he said,

for when I told you that your career was a waste of your time and your intelligence.

And I said, oh,

you know, I was, first of all, surprised that he,

I was devastated when he told me that because I failed three grades, I dropped out of high school.

And

I, I was proud of myself because I had

made a life for myself in comedy.

And I was probably more successful.

making more money than most people that I knew that went off to college.

Even though I was just doing comedy clubs, I was still making really good money.

And

I think I had made up in my mind that Rick, my stepfather, was

proud of me and thought I had found this loophole.

But he

told me he thought it was a waste of my time and intelligence.

And so when he apologized for that, I was so surprised.

And he got choked up, which I had never seen before either.

And he said, Um, I had projected onto you

the idea of what, and this is coming from, I mean, truly the most robotic man.

And he was, he was crying.

And I was sitting there thinking, how is my mother missing this?

Like,

we buried her, we're driving away.

But I still think, like, if my mother,

you know,

knew that that happened, she would would feel like it doesn't matter when it happened, just the fact that it happened is wonderful.

And he said, you know, I had projected all of these ideas of what you were supposed to do, the path you were supposed to take, and

it didn't line up with the map that I was looking at.

And he said, and I realize now

that it is

not the child's responsibility to teach their parent who they are.

It is the parent's responsibility to learn who their child is.

And I did not do that, and I am sorry.

And I was like, That's incredible.

Oh my God.

I was stunned.

I was absolutely stunned.

I have such chills right now because that's like a life lesson that I think every parent needs to hear.

I mean, truly.

And that's how I try to see my children:

who are you?

Who are we unwrapping here?

Because

I really,

really

want to support and nurture whoever these little guys are.

And

what was really amazing is similarly to you,

when I became a mother,

I saw a side of my stepfather.

I mean, he went shopping for them, for clothing, for toys.

When they were, you know, newborns, he just, you could give him any list and he was out the door.

He and my brother were out diaper shopping and

getting bottles and formula.

And they just, and I would see him on the floor with a fire helmet on playing with my kids.

And I was like,

wow, I did not get this.

I did not get this version.

But it's such a joy.

And there's this painting that somebody made of Max and Finn hugging each other.

And I gave it to him.

And when I went to visit him, one of the last times that I saw him and I walked in his house and that's the first thing you see when you walk in his door is this painting of Max and Finn.

Oh that's that just that just touches me.

Yeah, I didn't expect this conversation to get so emotional.

I mean I knew I was excited but I didn't know I was gonna have a tear in my eye.

Yeah it's it something about

having another life form.

And I imagine it like a lotus flower that just kind of unfolds, right?

You're watching these personalities and these human beings develop.

And I'm just here to make sure that

the flower gets watered.

It's got good soil and it gets watered and it's got a roof over its head during a stormy day and then let it unfold because, you know, the universe is a funny bitch, right?

And she has a funny way of

playing around with us.

And I imagine that my kids are going to give me just as much trouble as I gave my parents.

And that's just the way it is.

But I'm here for it because that is what life is all about.

And, you know, and I want them also to know, you know, like kind of wrapping this back into mental health, I also want them to know that good, bad, or indifferent, which is not what I sometimes felt with my own parents or my own dad, especially, good, bad, or indifferent, my love is not conditional.

It is not conditional upon who you love or who you

date or what you do or, you know, how you style your hair or whether you wear a dress or shoes or pants.

I don't give a shit about any of that.

My personal choice might be different, but it doesn't matter because that's your personal choice and I love you unconditionally.

That's huge.

And that's huge.

And I think a lot of us, especially of our age, we did not get that because our parents grew up with parents that were so much different.

They were almost like, you know, apes

out in the woods, out in the jungle.

You know, they threw them to the wolves and just let them, you know, just God bless you.

And, you know, like, almost like little soldiers, stamping them out and getting them to school and making sure that they didn't do anything wrong.

And there was no limit to the punishments and all that other stuff.

But we've learned.

And so, you know, I know a lot of us suffer some form of PTSD from the way that we grew up or from the parenting or lack thereof.

And so it's important to, you know,

reconcile with that at some point so that you can be a better parent or human moving forward.

Do you get like a vulnerability hangover sometimes sometimes

from being out on stage and telling your life story?

And

I think I'm in a place where I'm finding a balance in my comedy because after

or before 2012, I wasn't vulnerable, really.

I was pretty much mainly observational.

And then I, of course, had that took a left turn at Albuquerque.

Yeah, yes, I did.

And

then I realized, like, there is, you know i do love silliness and i love observational comedy and i love and i love sharing intense stories about myself but i i i really have decided i'm i'm gonna share what feels right when it feels right i'm i'm not gonna give the audience

what they want because i realize what they want is what i want you know i have to be happy i have to be up there wanting to really tell these stories and jokes

because that was kind of a fear of mine after my album.

It's called Live.

And after that came out.

I remember I was in backstage in Iowa City.

It was my first time to perform on the road after that album and after I was healthy again.

And I was standing backstage going, oh man, I'm going to let this audience down.

They're all here.

It's a sold-out theater.

You know,

my turnout had bumped up to where I was now doing theaters.

And I just thought, I don't have any bad news to tell them.

I just,

you know, what if, you know, what if they only know me for having cancer and all of that stuff?

And I walked out.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But I just thought, well,

I just have to go out and do what I want to do, and hopefully they'll follow.

And they were incredible.

And it was such a fun show.

And I will always be so thankful to Iowa City because I really thought this was where I was going to kind of

slip off, you know, because I wasn't going to give them what they wanted.

And that's when I really realized like they just, they want me, you know, if they're a fan, they want me.

And this is where I am right now.

I'm not, I don't have cancer.

I, I, I'm happy and I'm healthy and I have other things to talk about.

So,

yeah, so I'm just finding that balance of what I'm sharing.

You know, the comic Neil Brennan?

Yeah.

Yeah, so we had him on one time and I think he said something very similar.

He said, I did depressed.

I did that for a while, but that's not me.

I've turned a corner.

I have something else to say.

Yeah.

Yeah, but if people love you for you and they want to see your evolution.

Right.

I remember years ago, a friend of mine, a comedian, telling me that she noticed that this one stand-up had really painted himself into a corner because of his,

I don't know,

whatever his

stage persona was, his shtick, all of that.

And she was just like, just make sure you don't paint yourself into a corner, that you're trying new things.

If you want to do something new as a comedian, do it.

If you want to try writing or acting or directing, just try everything.

And I never thought about that for myself.

I just thought, well, I'm I'm just a comedian.

I'm going to tell jokes.

And

I'm so thankful that she said that because I would have painted myself into a corner.

I would have been like, no, I'm not those things.

This is what I do.

And it's, you know, it's, it would have been a bummer.

Two things.

Number one, you said something, and I forget where it was because I've been headlong in TIG for a couple of weeks, but one, you said something that you got fired from one of your first jobs as like a comedy club host, like a host, you know, you got a week-long gig, and you went up there and bombed the first set.

And they said, Hey, thanks anyway, but we're gonna

go.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, emergency fill-in comedian.

Comedian, yeah.

But then you walked outside, and a friend of yours was pulling up, and she said, They don't get you, and they get me, but you're gonna thank your lucky stars that they don't get you.

You're gonna find the people who get you, right?

Well, you found the people that get you, and I think they're on, they're along for the ride, they're they're not here for the one the one note wonder but this brings up an interesting because you're not just a comedian you're also uh very much my uh my wife who's venezuelan has no idea who you are and i would i have enjoyed your comedy for a long time and so i got so excited when i saw you pop up on the morning show

with uh john hamm and uh jennifer aniston and i was like that's tig that's tig and she's like oh wow that's tig and i'm like that's tig um why

Are you, is there,

were you so excited to be a part of that project?

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, for sure.

What's up?

No, go ahead.

Oh, I was just going to say, I had, I've been friends with, I mean, all of them, actually, John Hamm before he was ever John Hamm.

And he's so funny.

He's so, he's so funny.

He's so talented.

And Jen and Reese.

And

I remember Jen had told me, I think, first season, that there was some role that they were going to use me for.

And I was so excited.

And then it didn't pan out.

And I was like, oh, well.

And then sure enough, they did bring me in.

And then I'll be actually back this season too.

Oh, that's great.

But when we were going on the

awards tour,

you have to do all like the QA for the Emmys and globes and all that kind of stuff.

And

I would be asked all the time, is it so

nerve-wracking to be on set with these huge actors?

And I'm like, actually, no.

They're all old friends of mine.

And it should be an intimidating job to have.

But I'm more intimidated.

Like, I had a recurring role on

Sex Lives of College Girls,

HBO series, this last season.

And

I was uncomfortable because I didn't know anybody there.

And I always feel like an imposter because I don't really identify as an actor.

But like, put me on the morning show,

Rhys, Jen, John Hamm.

That's nothing.

Every A-list star in town is on that show.

Tig is like, I'm good.

I just happen to know them all from different things.

I'm like, this is awesome.

This is so fun.

I saw a wild reel this morning, or was it yesterday?

John Hamm on some cheesy 90s dating show with like long surfer hair.

And he was like one of the three guys where the girl was asking the question, you know, one of these just like a you know, stereotypical 90s dating shows.

It's the girls in some boostie, and the guys are, I'll take you out for a date and lick your toes, or something like that.

Who knows?

Whatever.

Anyway, it was funny.

And he wasn't, he was one of the only gentlemen on there, by the way, just to let you know.

So he's maintained that.

And you just, you were sharing with us, you just produced

the Sundance Film Festival Award-winning.

Is this a documentary?

So tell us about this.

I'll let you share.

Yeah.

My friend of 25 years, Andrea Gibson, is

a

non-binary poet from Colorado.

I mean, originally Maine, but Colorado.

We met in Boulder.

And

Andrea is also the poet laureate of Colorado, a real talent, has published eight books, toured the world, sold out theaters everywhere.

And

Andrea has stage four ovarian cancer.

And

our mutual friend, Steph Willen, and I were talking one day, and Steph was like, this would make, I feel like Andrea, Andrea's life right now would make a really great documentary.

And man, I haven't seen something so clearly in my life.

It was one of those projects that was like just green lights the whole way through.

We found the best filmmakers to make the film.

They did the Pamela Anderson documentary.

Oh, that was a brilliant documentary.

Yeah.

And we submitted to Sundance.

I've been to Sundance four or five times.

This movie got in unanimously.

Everybody,

unanimously, it got in.

And then

it was really wild because we all rented an Airbnb at Sundance and went out there for the premiere.

And because Andrea's not doing great,

we were very specific and targeted with our time of going to premieres, doing whatever press we had to do.

We weren't hanging out at parties and events and like the previous Sundance experiences I had had.

We all went back to, we were calling it snuggle down, and we would sit by the fire, have tea, and just spend time together.

And we knew that, man, this really screened well, but that's that's all we knew.

And we just knew, yeah, yeah, and we were like, well,

this is amazing.

And we left and I was, I went back to Toronto where I was filming.

And I got this influx of texts and phone calls.

And I got emotional because I was scared something happened to Andrea.

And I called Stephanie, and I was telling her I was so scared to call back, and she was like,

You just have to, and it's going to be okay.

And so, I'm like, so emotional, scared to hear bad news.

And I call Meg, who this movie is also about, that's Andrea's partner, who is also a poet.

And

I call, and

Andrew, Meg answers, and she and Andrea are on speakerphone.

They're like, Did you hear?

And I'm like, and I'm about to cry, and I'm like, What?

No, what?

And they were like, We won the festival.

We won Sundance.

And I was like, What?

And then I'm like emotional in the other direction because we didn't have any clue or vibe what our movie was doing.

And it took home the top prize.

And it wasn't just of documentaries, it was scripted everything.

And

our director was like, Man,

movies like ours never take home this prize.

And so it was pretty incredible.

And the following festival was the Boulder International Festival, which was like a real homecoming for the film.

And it happened to be right after Sundance.

And again, won best documentary, won the top prize.

And

Ryan, the producer, his partner, his producing partner, Jess,

Meg, Andrea's partner, and my friend Steph, who originated the idea, were all on stage for the QA.

I didn't go out because I wasn't feeling well, but at the end of the QA, and I'm so bummed that I missed this, they said,

and Andrea was there, but was sitting in the back of the theater because they weren't doing well.

And

they announced, you know, Andrea is here, and they're sitting in the back of the theater.

And Steph said the entire theater stood up, turned around, facing Andrea in this thousand-seat theater, and gave like a three-minute standing ovation.

That's incredible.

Yes.

Yes.

I can't wait to see this movie.

Yeah, it's called.

It's Can See Me in the Good Light.

I'm sorry, I cut you off.

No, that's exactly it.

And I mean, there's a chance, and it was purchased.

It'll be on a streamer and available later in the year but we'll give out that information when we're available to and hopefully that'll be today as this heirs but if it's not uh we will let everyone know the day that it's announced it is it is a very powerful and also

andrea is deeply funny deeply funny and if you hear poetry and you're like poetry this is

this is poetry that is so accessible and it just hits you like a ton of bricks whether it is deep, touching, hilarious, it is so beautiful.

And this film, you walk out of a screening and you just really want to get living your life.

And it's definitely sad, devastating, but it's also a deeply funny movie.

I think part of what has been

so amazing about funny to me, whatever that looks like, whether that's stand-up comedy or or your favorite show or practical jokes or whatever, poetry, whatever that is, what has been so amazing to me and what I have realized, especially in the last couple of years of my life, is that funny is a bridge that can get us from point A to point B

and connect us in ways that we never expected.

Just like music and a lot of other things in our life and love and passion,

funny is one of those

tendons that is out there that keep us together and pull us in close when times get tough.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

You are a living testament to that.

And I

want to let you know that your comedy has both touched me and made me laugh out loud.

And I'm here for the ride.

You found your people.

I really appreciate it.

And thank you so much for having me on your show.

Nataro,

you are a

gift to us all.

You're a national treasure, Tig.

Thank you.

Welcome back on the show anytime.

Thank you for joining us on the 12 hours of TCB.

This has been enlightening and emotional, which I didn't expect.

You get it.

Five years, 1,000 hours, 750 episodes of the commercial break.

I have yet to shed a tear, and Tig got me to.

So there you go.

Look at that.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Tig.

We'll put all the information in the show notes.

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That's 10.

10 in the bucket, kids.

Whoa.

The penultimate episode of TCB's Endless Day is in the can.

Thank you very much to Tig Nataro.

Handsome the podcast.

Available everywhere you find podcasts.

It's a really funny podcast.

It really is.

With another TCB friend, Fortune Fimster.

And Mae Martin is also on the show.

We haven't gotten her on the show yet, but we need to work on that.

We'll work on that.

Tig was wonderful.

It was an emotional time for everybody.

Please excuse all the crying but you know hey listen it's dignatar

she's like a legendary comedian and then she comes on and she acts like you're like your big sister what are you gonna do i know you just want to cry on her shoulder she's got that kind of personality she's been through it are you going through it if you're going through it may is mental health awareness month any day of any month of any year you can dial 998

or Google the National Alliance on Mental Health Illness.

There are free resources all over the place.

Text or call at 998.

If you're in a mental health crisis or you're having an emergency, or you're really off, you're really in bad shape, you're not alone.

There are professionals that can help you regardless of the resources you have available.

Money-wise, you can get the help that you need.

Reach out to a friend, reach out to a family member, reach out to emergency services if you're in that kind of situation.

But don't go through it alone.

Please, we're begging you.

We've all been there.

We have all been there.

The tides will turn.

Things will will get better.

No matter what's going on.

All right.

5 Hour Energy is our sponsor bringing you this with a limited commercial interruption.

It's been a great day so far.

We want to thank them very much for all the product they sent us and the sponsorship dollars to make this happen.

It's been a great partnership with 5 Hour Energy.

And here's to hoping it happens again.

Maybe not 12 episodes, but on the next thing that we decide to do, here's to hoping all of TIG's information is in the show notes.

Check out Handsome the Podcast.

I want to thank all of the people at Handsome also for running promos for us.

212-4333-TCB.

Questions, comments, concerns, contents, ideas, at thecommercial break on Instagram and youtube.com slash thecommercial break for all of these episodes.

Over the next couple of days, we'll roll out on video.

But Tiggs is out right now.

Okay, Chrissy, one more to go.

I love you.

I love you.

Best to you.

The best to you out there in the podcast universe.

Until we wrap this up at the top of the hour, we will say, we do say, we must say.

Goodbye.

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