Netflix’s Tig Notaro Documentary Premieres Today

Brittani’s Team Pick:

Let me start off by reminding you how great Tig Notaro is. She’s great. She’s very good. She’s incredible. She’s just so so so so funny and this was a lot of the reason I was afraid to watch Tig. Because when someone is that funny, you wonder how a serious endeavor like a documentary could do them justice. But this one does. In Tig we see the tragedies that she so eloquently divulged and found the humor in during Live once again. But where the documentary really grabs you is seeing what happens after the events you’ve heard about: her mom dying, the bacterial infection, the end of a relationship, the cancer, ya know…just normal run of the mill stuff. You get to see how Notaro pulls herself up, how her fellow comedians/friends hold her up, how she still has hope, and how she is still figuring out how to make the pain funny. And in between all that, you’re reminded that she really is so incredibly talented.

Tig could be interpreted as a testament to the healing nature of stand-up but I don’t know that it is. I don’t really think these traumas are things someone heals from. You’d just sort of get through them and then turn around and look at them and think, “well that was fucking ridiculous.” And that’s what we see Notaro do. She points at the past and revels in its ludicrousness. Tig is a story about losing love, family, and comedy and then finding them all again in places you never would’ve thought to look because Jesus Christ, you’d never want to. You can stream it on Netflix now and I hope that you will.

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Brittani

Brittani Nichols is a Los Angeles based comedy person. When she's not tweeting about white people or watching television, she's probably eating pizza. Actually, she's probably doing all three of those things concurrently and when she's not doing THAT, she's sleeping. Brittani also went to Yale and feels weird about mentioning it but wants you to know.

Brittani has written 328 articles for us.

46 Comments

  2. I am excited yo see this! Ty for the reminder, now I have to carve time into my weekend!

  3. I thought it was already out. In any case, I’m definitely going to add it to my already long queue of things to watch. That joke at the end of that trailer is both hilarious and sad at the same time. I’m glad she’s doing alright now.

    • Tig has released two movies pretty close together. This one, “Tig”, is a documentary about her and her life. Earlier this summer “Knock Knock, its Tig Notaro” was released on Showtime which follows her on a standup tour with Jon Dore. They had people all over the country apply to host a show; in their home, at an abandoned church, on a farm, etc. It’s not a typical One Hour Comedy Special but it is funny and sweet and unique.

  8. I’ve been looking for something new and good on Netflix, thanks for reminding me that this thing exists!

  11. Just finished watching it. Loved every minute. I feel like I should say something eloquent and witty about how good she is, but my eloquence appears to be out to lunch. So I’ll just stick with “You should watch this.” ‘Cause you should.

  15. I literally just read this, turned on Netflix, watched the doco, and now I’m back.

    Everyone, can you just watch it? It is excellent. Thank-you Britanni for drawing it to our collective attention. Netflix had rated it one star for my tastes (I rated it five stars), so thank-you.

  18. I want to watch this so much but also I know that I’ll be crying my little heart out because someone close to me just got through their cancer.

  19. Really the world can never have enough movies about lesbians, dead moms and cancer. V excited to watch this and then be exhausted by my feelings for several days.

  20. I haven’t watched it yet because Netflix thinks I will give it 1.5 stars. Now I’m offended and giving Netflix the silent treatment for a little while. Its like you don’t even know me!!!

    • I got the same prediction from them. Silly Netflix! So I made sure to rate it 5 stars. Maybe their algorithm will learn something from that.

      • ME TOO! why is netflix telling all the funny queers that they’re not gonna like a movie about a funny queer??!!!

  21. It’s been a while that I have really wanted to watch anything on Netflix, I can’t wait to see this. I’m gonna have my girlfriend sit down and watch it with me if I have to tie her down to get her to sit still long enough to watch it. I probably won’t but she’ll appreciate the thought.

  23. This documentary was beautiful! Plus there was a moment where Tig was driving and chugging a Kombucha cut with clips of Ira Glass speaking, and my heart sang.

  24. also ummm brittani’s cameo? or am i crazy and reading so much autostraddle that i’m seeing things…

  25. I love Tig and was excited to see this… and it still exceeded my expectations. There was some unexpectedly wonderful stuff that happens. Maybe it’s just me who was surprised by the direction it takes, but anyway, it was great.

    And I also got really excited when I saw Brittani playing basketball in the background.

    • I watched it and we freeze framed the movie and went “There’s Brittani from Autostraddle!!”
      Wow didn’t see that coming!!! woohoo :)

  28. Watched it, loved it, and was then wrapped up in a Tig YouTube Marathon for the rest of the day.

  29. i watched this last night, and i already liked tig notaro but now i feel the need to go find everything she’s ever been a part of.

    and even though i was sitting by myself in my hotel room watching this, i still said out loud “hey! that’s brittani!” when the basketball cameo happened.

  32. I thought it was great. My best bro-friend totally cried over the love and baby story; it hit him hard in the best way. I was a little more detached (probs b/c I have never wanted kids / marriage) but I really liked Tig and Stephanie’s story.

    I don’t think we ever heard the word lesbian or butch in the whole movie, right? I think that made it more about just Tig and Steph as people and as a couple, and not labels or norms and that made it more immediate and held my attention more.

    Also, Stephanie has a killer jump shot but I bet Brittani holds her own on that bball court really well.

  34. So I just finished watching this and it’s amazing. Also, joining the chorus of people who got did a double take and got really excited when Brittani appeared!

  35. This documentary was such a roller coaster. I couldn’t tell if my tears were from crying or laughing half the time. The ending was so satisfying, I’m excited to see what else is in the cards for Tig. Her and Stephanie give me hope for the future.

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