--- title: Tig Notaro 'Live' and What Comes Next description: Last summer, comedian Tig Notaro did something unusual: she went on stage at a club in L.A. and told the audience, a group of people... canonical: https://time.com/archive/7118356/comedian-tig-notaro-looks-back-and-forward/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2013-07-11T11:20:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-25T05:55:25.877Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Comedian Tig Notaro Looks Back—And Forward og:description: A year after a groundbreaking stand-up set, Notaro talks to TIME og:url: https://time.com/archive/7118356/comedian-tig-notaro-looks-back-and-forward/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta1e799057630fa8f/698a8ea5cabb1d40c9e59c84/tn.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: 2011 SXSW Music, Film + Interactive Festival - Comedy Showcase: Late Saturday og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Comedian Tig Notaro Looks Back—And Forward twitter:description: A year after a groundbreaking stand-up set, Notaro talks to TIME twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta1e799057630fa8f/698a8ea5cabb1d40c9e59c84/tn.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) # Comedian Tig Notaro Looks Back—And Forward > Sponsored content. 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WireImage—2011 Cassie Wright by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Jul 11, 2013 11:20 AM UTC Last summer, comedian Tig Notaro did something unusual: she went on stage at a club in L.A. and told the audience, a group of people who were probably expecting a stand-up set of her deadpan jokes, about what had happened in the last few months of her life. She had nearly been killed by a bacterial infection. Her mother died. Her relationship fell apart. And, not long before she went on stage, she learned she had breast [cancer](http://topics.time.com/cancer/). The next unusual thing she did was to release the recording of that set as a digital download that would then be one of the most successful comedy albums of 2012\. That album, _Live_ (the verb, not the modifier), will be available on CD for the first time on July 16—with a companion piece, a free preview of which is available at the bottom of this post. And, almost a year after it was recorded, Notaro is healthy and doing well. This week’s issue of TIME takes a look at what comes next for a comedian known for bad luck when everything is finally going great. **_(To read Lily Rothman’s profile of comedian Tig Notaro, who made cancer and death funny,_** [**_subscribe here_**](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2147274,00.html?pcd=pw-edit)**_. Already a subscriber?_** [**_Click here_**](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2147274,00.html?pcd=pw-edit)**_.)_** But, when Notaro stopped by TIME’s offices, that question wasn’t the only thing she talked about. **So the** **_Live_** **set was almost exactly a year ago.** August 3rd. **Does it feel like a year?** It feels about six months. I guess it’s one of those tricky things where it feels both long ago and — yeah, probably six months. **And you’re writing a book about your experiences. How’s it coming along?** Slowly but surely. It’s happening. It’s not just a silly memoir but there’s comedy and there’s the realness of what happened. **Was that the original idea for the book, in your proposal?** There wasn’t a book proposal. They just basically said ‘we’ll take your book.’ There was a bidding war! I woke up from my surgery, my double mastectomy, and had a book deal. My deal went through that day. The auction was going on while I was under the knife. **Were you still woozy when you heard about it?** I was pretty drugged up for several days. I remember that my book deal had gone through and they had gotten the cancer. There were a few points that I remember, that people told me, but in general I was _highly_ drugged. **What’s your take on the state of women in comedy?** I don’t think about it until somebody asks me. People would say when I started doing stand-up, that it’s a guys’ world, and guys are jerks out there, and the road’s tough. And I just didn’t have a problem. I just did stand-up and focused on it and it got better. And I got on the road and people were really friendly—audiences, other comedians, club owners. I don’t want to do it again, but I really don’t have a complaint in the world about being a woman or how I’ve been treated. If people didn’t like me I never blamed it on any particular thing. I just figured they didn’t like me. (**MORE**: [Aisha Tyler on the Value of Failure (and Embarrassment)](http://entertainment.time.com/2013/07/09/aisha-tyler-on-the-value-of-failure-and-embarrassment)) **How would you describe the way** **_Live_** **has transformed your career?** Doors open a lot easier. I have more money. I don’t know. It’s not like I’m driving around a Lamborghini and buying sprawling homes or anything. I’m not an extravagant person. But doors open a lot easier. More money. Doors open easier. Still no Lamborghini. There won’t be a Lamborghini. **Never?** Eh, there’ll probably be a Lamborghini. …No. **In terms of your non-professional life —** It barely exists. **Is your health something that’s still a daily-basis issue?** I have doctor’s appointments. I started exercising again. I’ve always eaten pretty well but when I eat I’m aware of what I’m putting into my body. **Are you dating?** Uh-huh. I am dating. **That’s nice.** It is nice. It’s funny because I thought that when I was diagnosed—plus, before that I had had \[a bacterial infection called\] _C. diff_ and I was 20 pounds less. And I was just a wreck, and I was in a relationship, which ended—I just couldn’t imagine that I would ever be attractive to anybody again. Or that I would be alive, really. It oddly didn’t skip a beat. My health turned around and I’ve had a very busy dating… — I was going to say dating _career_, but I’m actually not making any money. **And if you were you probably wouldn’t want to tell me.** Yeah. I guess that would put me in a legal-area thing. But I’m not a prostitute. That would be amazing if I finally confessed that that was what was going on. “My career’s taking off but I’ve also been dabbling in prostitution.” But yeah. I have a fun dating life. **And you’re in the movie** **_In a World…_** **, which is coming out August 9\.** I collapsed, I think, the day after that wrapped. That began the beginning of the end. **Was that pneumonia?** I had pneumonia and I had _C. diff_ and I didn’t realize it. I collapsed the day after and went to the emergency room. **Wow.** Yeah, so when I watch that movie, it’s interesting for me because I’m thinking, first of all, _You don’t know what_ C. diff _is and that you’re about to lose all this weight and that your mother’s about to die and your relationship’s going to end and that you have cancer_. I had no idea. It was so weird to watch. But now I don’t feel that way when I see it. I’m excited. **Is there any medium you’re** **_not_** **working in right now?** I’m not going to sing. I’m not gonna put anyone through that. But working on stand-up, a book, a TV show, movies, one-person show. It’s a lot. I was just thinking back to your dating question. I don’t want to make it sound like I’m some whore about the town. I just mean like… **You’re not sitting at home alone.** No. **_(To read Lily Rothman’s profile of comedian Tig Notaro, who made cancer and death funny,_** [**_subscribe here_**](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2147274,00.html?pcd=pw-edit)**_. Already a subscriber?_** [**_Click here_**](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2147274,00.html?pcd=pw-edit)**_.)_** Download a free preview clip of Tig Notaro Live at the Moth: ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7118356/comedian-tig-notaro-looks-back-and-forward/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7118356/comedian-tig-notaro-looks-back-and-forward/"},"headline":"Comedian Tig Notaro Looks Back—And Forward","datePublished":"2013-07-11T11:20:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-25T05:55:25.877Z","description":"Last summer, comedian Tig Notaro did something unusual: she went on stage at a club in L.A. and told the audience, a group of people...","url":"https://time.com/archive/7118356/comedian-tig-notaro-looks-back-and-forward/","keywords":["Comedy"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta1e799057630fa8f/698a8ea5cabb1d40c9e59c84/tn.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta1e799057630fa8f/698a8ea5cabb1d40c9e59c84/tn.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2011 SXSW Music, Film + Interactive Festival - Comedy Showcase: Late Saturday","caption":"2011 SXSW Music, Film + Interactive Festival - Comedy Showcase: Late Saturday","creditText":"WireImage—2011 Cassie Wright","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/archive/7118356/comedian-tig-notaro-looks-back-and-forward/","name":"Comedian Tig Notaro Looks Back—And Forward"}}]}] ```