If you are like this writer than you are asking the all important question “who is this comedian to warrant an HBO special?” I guess perhaps we will collectively learn that answer soon enough. You know, HBO back in the day was great with its Young Comedian Specials, often hosted by Rodney Dangerfield, to make us aware of the up and coming talent. That show if it was still running today is where I’d likely learn of Tig Notaro. This gal is a 43 year old woman who works in the observational comedy vein but for not all that long. She started in 2010 and had an album released in 2011. An HBO Press release helps us out with more detail.
Tig Notaro will star in her first HBO comedy special, it was announced by Michael Lombardo, president, HBO Programming. To be taped later this year, the exclusive presentation will feature the Grammy nominee in an all-new standup performance before a live audience. “Tig Notaro is a ‘comedian’s comedian,’ whose uniquely fearless and always funny voice has won acclaim from critics and fans alike,” said Lombardo. “I’m so happy that we will be able to introduce this remarkable performer to a larger audience.”
Notaro draws on highly personal experiences in her stand-up work, most notably turning a traumatic period of her life, which included a diagnosis of breast cancer in 2012 and the death of her mother, into a legendary stand-up performance. When she appeared recently at New York’s Town Hall, the New York Times noted, “It was a set as unusual and funny as the 2012 one…but was even truer to her singular aesthetic… She shows that comedy can not only transform tragedy into humor, but that it can also…move a crowd into standing and cheering for three minutes, too.” The subject of a feature-film documentary to debut at the Sundance Film Festival later this month, Notaro’s previous credits include Transparent, The Office, The Sarah Silverman Program, and Walk of Shame. She has a Ted Med talk set for release in March and is writing a memoir for Ecco Publishing, scheduled for early 2016.
I guess I’m out of the loop. Here is a Conan stand up stint as a sample.
