Tig Notaro: Boyish-Girl Interrupted, Gilded Balloon 6:45pm, until 26 Aug, £15 (£14 concessions)
The ambience throughout the debut Fringe set by Tig Nataro is intensely unique. After glancing over the fact that she recently battled breast cancer (her delivery of the revelation last year was highly commended by her comedy counterparts), she thoroughly engages the standing-room-only crowd in the Gilded Balloon’s Nightclub venue with her delicate and understated demeanour.
The wonderfully precise pace of her show features her favourite texting prank and a possible reason for her morning hairstyle. She then broke down some elements of comedic protocol, partly brought on by a heckler at a previous performance who suggested one of her anecdotes could be better received if she ended it with the phrase ‘just kidding’. Notaro used this phrase in subsequent stories, much to the delight of the generally perplexed but very amused audience.
An anecdote involving an incident with the staff at a Las Vegas venue she performed at, which turned out not to be true (or was it?), made the crowd question all of the stories any comedian has ever told; are any of them actually genuine?
An examination of the spelling of ‘diarrhoea’ was followed by Notaro’s realistic sound effects. Towards the end of the gig, a heckler demanded she did more before we could all ‘clear off’, a remark which allowed her to continue displaying her phenomenal audience interaction ability. Discussion of the reflective noise we make after laughter was also a highlight.
Notaro’s dry, sharp manner makes her an incredibly memorable performer. Some may not quite ‘get’ how she generates the laughter she does, but the professionalism and self-assurance she emits during her gig create a refreshing and relaxed air that ripples through the room.
This talented woman is best experienced live.
