Biography
Tig Notaro built her reputation as a standup comedian whose measured, deadpan delivery fuses absurdity, physical bits, and unfiltered personal material, while also working as a writer, actress, and podcast host. After more than ten years of intermittent club work, she captured her debut comedy album, Good One, in 2011. That same year marked the start of her four-year run hosting the popular Professor Blastoff podcast. A standout 2012 appearance on the public radio program This American Life lifted her visibility before she issued the spontaneous follow-up album Live. Captured just days after a cancer diagnosis during an unplanned, deeply intimate performance, the set earned further recognition and her initial Grammy nomination. She later led the semi-autobiographical web series One Mississippi (2015-2017) and took a recurring part on Star Trek: Discovery while issuing fresh standup specials: the 2015 Emmy- and Grammy-nominated Boyish Girl Interrupted, 2018’s Happy to Be Here, and 2021’s fully animated Drawn. Early in the 2020s she resumed podcasting with titles such as Don’t Ask Tig and Handsome. Her sixth standup special, 2024’s Hello Again, revisited subjects including health struggles, celebrity meetings, and domestic routines, all filtered through her signature awkward perspective.
Born in Jackson, Mississippi, Notaro began her entertainment career in Denver, Colorado, serving as a band manager and operating the promotion company Tignation. After relocating the business to Los Angeles, she immersed herself in the city’s independent comedy community. In 2006 she joined the Crackpot Comedy Tour, which traveled across America and performed in any living room, rooftop, barn, or other makeshift space booked by fans. She put out the DVD Have Tig at Your Party, showcasing her staring straight ahead and speaking rarely, thereby mirroring her actual party demeanor on video. From 2007 to 2010 she appeared recurrently as Officer Tig on The Sarah Silverman Program, and Secretly Canadian issued her first comedy album, Good One, in August 2011; it climbed to number four on the Billboard Comedy Albums chart. Around that period she launched the weekly podcast Professor Blastoff alongside co-hosts Kyle Dunnigan and David Huntsberger. The program examined topics ranging from science and philosophy to entertainment and began touring the United States by late 2011.
Notaro delivered a well-received segment on This American Life in May 2012 that recounted repeated chance encounters with ’80s-’90s pop singer Taylor Dayne (“Groundhog Dayne”), then retold the anecdote on Conan two months later. October 2012 brought the digital release of Live, an unusually confessional set in which she disclosed her recent breast-cancer diagnosis to the audience. Fellow comedian Louis CK first offered the recording via his website; once it reached the top of the comedy albums chart, Secretly Canadian produced a CD edition. Following recovery from a double mastectomy, she drew attention with a topless performance at the 2014 New York Comedy Festival and continued guest appearances on programs such as Comedy Bang! Bang!, Maron, and Inside Amy Schumer, for which she also wrote. Professor Blastoff ended in July 2015, and HBO debuted her standup special Boyish Girl Interrupted the next month. She married actress Stephanie Allynne two months later, and Amazon launched the first season of One Mississippi that November; the series, co-created by Notaro and Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody, featured her playing a version of herself.
Shortly after welcoming twins with Allynne, Secretly Canadian issued a physical audio edition of Boyish Girl Interrupted in mid-2016. The special reached number six on the Billboard Comedy Albums chart and earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special along with a Grammy nomination for Best Comedy Album. One Mississippi concluded after two seasons in 2017, and Notaro returned with the hourlong Netflix special Happy to Be Here in May 2018; Comedy Dynamics released it on vinyl that September. Amid frequent television guest spots and occasional film roles in 2019, she introduced the recurring character Commander Jett Reno on Star Trek: Discovery. The following year she began the podcasts Tig and Cheryl: True Story with Cheryl Hines and Don’t Ask Tig, and her fifth comedy special, the fully animated Drawn, premiered on HBO Max in July 2021. An album version followed on Comedy Dynamics in early 2022. In 2023 she started another podcast, Handsome, alongside co-hosts Fortune Feimster and Mae Martin, and appeared on episodes of the Emmy-winning drama The Morning Show. Recorded at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, her sixth standup special, Hello Again, debuted on Prime Video in March 2024. Directed by Allynne, it received Primetime Emmy nominations in the directing and editing categories and was issued on vinyl and CD by Secretly Canadian in September.
After Star Trek: Discovery concluded, Notaro reprised the role of Jett Reno on Star Trek: Starfleet Academy upon its 2025 premiere.
Born in Jackson, Mississippi, Notaro began her entertainment career in Denver, Colorado, serving as a band manager and operating the promotion company Tignation. After relocating the business to Los Angeles, she immersed herself in the city’s independent comedy community. In 2006 she joined the Crackpot Comedy Tour, which traveled across America and performed in any living room, rooftop, barn, or other makeshift space booked by fans. She put out the DVD Have Tig at Your Party, showcasing her staring straight ahead and speaking rarely, thereby mirroring her actual party demeanor on video. From 2007 to 2010 she appeared recurrently as Officer Tig on The Sarah Silverman Program, and Secretly Canadian issued her first comedy album, Good One, in August 2011; it climbed to number four on the Billboard Comedy Albums chart. Around that period she launched the weekly podcast Professor Blastoff alongside co-hosts Kyle Dunnigan and David Huntsberger. The program examined topics ranging from science and philosophy to entertainment and began touring the United States by late 2011.
Notaro delivered a well-received segment on This American Life in May 2012 that recounted repeated chance encounters with ’80s-’90s pop singer Taylor Dayne (“Groundhog Dayne”), then retold the anecdote on Conan two months later. October 2012 brought the digital release of Live, an unusually confessional set in which she disclosed her recent breast-cancer diagnosis to the audience. Fellow comedian Louis CK first offered the recording via his website; once it reached the top of the comedy albums chart, Secretly Canadian produced a CD edition. Following recovery from a double mastectomy, she drew attention with a topless performance at the 2014 New York Comedy Festival and continued guest appearances on programs such as Comedy Bang! Bang!, Maron, and Inside Amy Schumer, for which she also wrote. Professor Blastoff ended in July 2015, and HBO debuted her standup special Boyish Girl Interrupted the next month. She married actress Stephanie Allynne two months later, and Amazon launched the first season of One Mississippi that November; the series, co-created by Notaro and Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody, featured her playing a version of herself.
Shortly after welcoming twins with Allynne, Secretly Canadian issued a physical audio edition of Boyish Girl Interrupted in mid-2016. The special reached number six on the Billboard Comedy Albums chart and earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special along with a Grammy nomination for Best Comedy Album. One Mississippi concluded after two seasons in 2017, and Notaro returned with the hourlong Netflix special Happy to Be Here in May 2018; Comedy Dynamics released it on vinyl that September. Amid frequent television guest spots and occasional film roles in 2019, she introduced the recurring character Commander Jett Reno on Star Trek: Discovery. The following year she began the podcasts Tig and Cheryl: True Story with Cheryl Hines and Don’t Ask Tig, and her fifth comedy special, the fully animated Drawn, premiered on HBO Max in July 2021. An album version followed on Comedy Dynamics in early 2022. In 2023 she started another podcast, Handsome, alongside co-hosts Fortune Feimster and Mae Martin, and appeared on episodes of the Emmy-winning drama The Morning Show. Recorded at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, her sixth standup special, Hello Again, debuted on Prime Video in March 2024. Directed by Allynne, it received Primetime Emmy nominations in the directing and editing categories and was issued on vinyl and CD by Secretly Canadian in September.
After Star Trek: Discovery concluded, Notaro reprised the role of Jett Reno on Star Trek: Starfleet Academy upon its 2025 premiere.
Albums
Singles
