Tig

Girls Gone Weird
By ANTHONY D'ALESSANDRO
Wednesday, October 11, 2006 - 3:00 pm
Melinda Hill, the queen bee of chat-room comedy, is taking her next production into the present century. Along with her A-list Rolodex of alter-lounge beauties, Hill is tub-thumping a multimedia extravaganza complete with bands (this week: the suave Lampshades), short films (Channel 101 filmmaker Dawn Cody) and a dance party hosted by Chip Pope. But get this: In lieu of the light show, she’s podcasting the event live from M-Bar. Beat that, Largo! Unlike other femme standups, Hill promises, her ladies will jibe about “their wits” not “their tits.” The vampy Natasha Leggero, the sarcastic Tig Notaro and the hip Hill recently clued us in on their girl talk:

As girls who’ve gone wild — I mean weird — describe your most notorious mud-wrestling fight.

NOTARO: It’s actually still hard to talk about. I know this is meant as a silly question, but really, this last roll in the mud has taken a toll on each and every one of us. Mary Lynn Rajskub still has a clump of my hair stuck in her teeth. I’d like to stick to the serious questions if that’s okay.

Your worst suitor after performing a comedy gig?

LEGGERO: I performed at a Narcotics Anonymous meeting in the back of a thrift store in Anaheim and was propositioned by several audience members. Are men without valid IDs or teeth considered suitors?

Name the most atrocious high school clique: drama geeks, cheerleaders or jocks?

LEGGERO: The jocks, because I hate sports. Why do people get so excited about men exercising? Not to mention hot abs. Boring!

If you could date any comedian, living or dead, who would you fancy?

NOTARO: Brian Posehn, moments before his death.

Worst pickup line?

HILL: Hey, while watching your set I punched up some of your jokes for you. Here’s the napkin I wrote them on...
- LA Weekley

A hilarious set put on by comedian Tig Notaro involved students and had audience members cracking up in the Western Illinois
University Union's Heritage Room Wednesday night.
The University Union Board sponsored the free event that spotlighted Tig's interactive deadpan delivery. As an up-and-coming
comedian, Tig has appeared on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," Comedy Central's "Premium Blend," "The Sarah Silverman Program" and the
pilot of "The Chelsea Handler Show" on E!, just to name a few.
The room filled up quickly and after some microphone difficulties, Tig came on to stage and immediately poked fun at "Paul" from
UUB, who was having problems with the mic.
After Tig made the audience clap for Paul, she got into her routine, telling the audience that she travels around a lot and every time she
goes back home to L.A., more and more women get fake breasts.
"I do have them, they're just concave. I do like a good back massage," she said. Tig's facial expressions and dead-on impressions made
her personable.
Her serious sarcasm was very relatable to the college-aged audience.
Her topics of drinking and smoking made the audience excited, naturally involving them.
Tig asked a member of the audience to share a bit about himself. After asking an audience member what he was studying, she brought
him up to the stage to give her a back massage.
"You know you're grabbing my tits right now…" Tig said.
A photographer snapped photos of this scene and Tig quickly responded, "Is that your mom taking pictures?"
She continued the set very strongly when she told the audience that she was taken back by the fact that there is a new Barbie doll
named "Wheelchair Becky." She wondered that if there was a lesson to be learned, saying, "Why not just be 'Becky?'"
At one point in the show, Tig was curious about me as I took notes.
"What are you doing? Writing? Are you doing homework?" she asked.
She quickly came off the stage and took my notebook and imitated me in a whispered voice, "Dear Diary, it's me again, I am not even
from the newspaper, I just like to write in my journal." OK, it was hilarious, but a little embarrassing.
Another person was brought on stage after she asked his major, which was theater.
"Can you act for me? Please?" Tig said.
He came on the stage and audience members called out what he should act out. Someone called out "a dolphin." He imitated a dolphin
and laid down on the stage.
The audience was hysterically laughing through the whole set and the interactive style from Tig kept things fresh and real.
"It was really funny." said Matt Sheldon, junior fire science major. "I liked how she used a lot of people in the crowd."
"I thought she was so funny, I was pretty much crying the whole time," said Ami Bukowski, senior law enforcement major.
Sometimes people who do not get the jokes can get very offended. At a show in Idaho, Tig said audience members became physical.
"People got mad about my Wheelchair Becky joke and started fighting with the security in the bar area, and I had to continue my set
while they were screaming and beating each other up," Tig said. The cops came and the fight broke out into a riot.
"I had to continue, going 'Why did the chicken cross the road?'" Tig explained.
After eight years of stand-up, Tig hardly gets stage fright but admits her limits.
"I think when I do television I get scared sometimes," she said.
Tig has a very promising career ahead as she continues to appear on TV.
She also writes, directs and produces short comedy films with her natural story-telling abilities.
For more information on Tig, go to www.tignation.com. - Western Illinois Courier