Comedian Tig Notaro on Laughing Through Grief

On with Kara Swisher

How do you grieve the impending death of a lifelong friend when you are a multi-hyphenate comedian, actor, director and producer? If you are Tig Notaro, you produce a film about their life and work — as she has done for the late spoken word poet Andrea Gibson with the documentary Come See Me In The Good Light.

Best known for her dry-witted stand up comedy, Tig is also a podcaster (Handsome), actor (Star Trek: Discovery, The Morning Show), director (Am I Ok?) and producer for film and television.

Kara and Tig discuss the documentary, Gibson’s life and relationship with their wife Meg Falley after they were diagnosed with incurable cancer, how Andrea’s death opened her up to experiencing grief in a new way, and how it all relates to Tig's own 2012 cancer diagnosis, which she shared on stage in a genre-breaking set. Plus: how the comedy world is shifting under Trump and Tig’s plans for an all-lesbian action film.

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