A homecoming of sorts for Tig Notaro
Tig Notaro keeps finding herself in the role of a prodigal daughter.
Last year she debuted a TV show on Amazon, “One Mississippi,” a semiautobiographical story about returning to the state where she was born. And this week she’ll perform three sets of stand-up comedy in the town where she spent much of her adolescence.
For fans of Notaro’s comedy, her trio of Houston shows ends an absence here of more than a decade.
“I’d been told by my agent for years there wasn’t really a market for me in Houston,” she says. “Which is a funny feeling, having spent so much time there, with so many friends and so much family there. People took it personally, thinking I was avoiding Houston. But I couldn’t get booked there.
“But my career is now at a point where it didn’t matter. I think I have a big enough draw there now. So I thought it would be cool to return to Houston after all this time. It definitely feels like a homecoming to me.”
Notaro plans to film and record three sets Saturday at the Heights Theater for her next stand-up special.
And the shows find her in a very different place than she was when she last performed in Houston. A decade ago Notaro landed a role as a cool cop on “The Sarah Silverman Program.” Five years ago she improvised an entire set in Los Angeles about the breast cancer diagnosis she’d just received. That show became “Live,” a breakthrough moment for Notaro.
She wrote for the first season of “Inside Amy Schumer” but has recently dedicated more time to her own projects.
Last year Notaro debuted “One Mississippi,” which found her writing hemmed close to home, touching on death and illness and other themes from her own life. The second season, which began streaming earlier this year, was less biographical and more external. It also became suddenly topical. In one Season 2 scene, a radio producer is talking to her boss when he begins to masturbate. The episode premiered in early September.
Two months later comedian Louis CK was called out publicly for similar behavior. CK had been an early booster of Notaro’s career, but they had a falling-out.
Notaro chooses to let the scene speak for itself and doesn’t wish to comment further on CK’s actions.
“The thing about the show, even if it’s not my truth, it’s somebody’s truth,” she says. “Usually one of the writers in the writers room. We have an all-female writers room. And I think as long as you ground those stories in truth, you can find comedy in even the tougher subjects. You find a natural way into doing something comedic. There’s nothing I felt pressured to do.”
One through line in Notaro’s work is the pacing of her comedy. She’s not one to bludgeon with punchlines. She uses silence like a composer and also relies on other matter — sometimes warm, sometimes grave — to balance the humor.
“Some moments just don’t call for comedy,” she says. “And I’m OK with those moments.”
She’s made peace with the pace. And she admires those who are able to pack the maximum number of jokes into a short period.
“My wife is really into ‘Will & Grace,’ ” she says of Stephanie Allynne, who also co-stars on “One Mississippi.” “She’s really been enjoying the revival. And I sat and watched a few episodes. And you know, it was really enjoyable to sit and hear joke after joke after joke after joke, all of them really well written. I’m good with that. It’s not what I gravitate toward. Some of those viewers probably aren’t interested in my shows. They might think, ‘I don’t get it. She’s not funny.’ I don’t take any of that personally or blame anyone. I’m not for everyone. And I’m really OK with that.”
Her most recent material will be at its sharpest by the time it reaches Houston. Notaro has been touring much of the year. And a 14-date stand-up run concludes with the shows here. Much of it has been honed to a final form, but with almost daily revelations of famousmen-behaving-badly, she also finds room for the gender-based jokes to evolve.
“Every now and then a story or joke will stay the same for a long time, so I’m curious to see how these December shows will affect the material,” she says. “It’s always exciting when a joke or story finally lands. At that point, you don’t really have a tendency to keep working on it. But it’s fun to see them presented to different audiences. Something new may come to mind. I find all of that fun and exciting. Fun and exciting enough to have done it for 20 years.”
I wondered about the next 20 years for Notaro. She and her wife had twins last year, and I was curious how that might impact her comedy. In Louis CK’s case, parenthood became a major theme of his work. Jim Gaffigan as well. Parenthood also changes the stakes with regard to cultural observations. Ideally the issues that create the outrage that fuels today’s jokes will be resolved for a subsequent generation.
So, do the stakes feel different when she’s writing? Notaro sighs. “I guess I don’t think too much about that when I’m writing or performing,” she says. “If something strikes me as funny, I’ll try to continue to do it, as long as it feels right. But everything does feel different after having kids. I guess if the show gets a third season, I don’t know, they’re the ones I think about before I think about anything.”
What started as a “no” to the question asked slowly transforms into something that seems like a future comedy bit.
“More than anything, I want them to be proud of me. To like me,” she says. “It’s the first time in my entire life I’ve cared so much about what other people think. I told somebody I never wanted a stylist. And then I had babies. Because, gosh, if I ever got a stylist or somebody to dress me it would be so I wasn’t an embarrassment to them. I feel like everything I do, I’m worried about what they’ll think of me. Or how I’ll come across to them. These two guys. These babies.”