Ladies and Gentlemen, The Indigo Girls!!
November 14, 2016 9:01 AM Subscribe
Tig Notaro closes her recent Carnegie Hall show with an epic audience troll. (Yes, it's blatant pandering to throw MeFi a Tig Notaro post. I don't care. When she's not selling out Carnegie Hall, she played my town's little penny ante community center last year. There are so many reasons why I love the hell out of Tig Notaro. Here's one more.)
This is like if Eddie Izzard eventually wheeled out the corpse of Engelbert Humperdinck.
And said, "The show is over. This is just something that's happening after the comedy show. My treat. My treat."
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 9:12 AM on November 14, 2016 [9 favorites]
And said, "The show is over. This is just something that's happening after the comedy show. My treat. My treat."
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 9:12 AM on November 14, 2016 [9 favorites]
I think this works if the IG are actually there. After that article, I'm not completely convinced they were, though.
Gaslight: successful!
posted by anotherpanacea at 9:13 AM on November 14, 2016 [3 favorites]
Gaslight: successful!
posted by anotherpanacea at 9:13 AM on November 14, 2016 [3 favorites]
By now you are probably catching on, as did we. Especially since this would continue in different forms and phrasings for over ten minutes. Just this. Just her apologizing and introducing the Indigo Girls.Ten minutes. Ten. Minutes. I cannot even imagine the guts it took to do this, nor the skill it took to keep the crowd from baying for her blood, and I have been in combat.
posted by Etrigan at 9:13 AM on November 14, 2016 [21 favorites]
So wait, they showed up in the end, right?
Either way, this woman is an absolute genius.
posted by nevercalm at 9:20 AM on November 14, 2016
Either way, this woman is an absolute genius.
posted by nevercalm at 9:20 AM on November 14, 2016
They were really there.
The broken link in their tweet was meant to go to this back-of-the-napkin invitation. On-stage photo. [FB]
posted by snuffleupagus at 9:22 AM on November 14, 2016 [9 favorites]
The broken link in their tweet was meant to go to this back-of-the-napkin invitation. On-stage photo. [FB]
posted by snuffleupagus at 9:22 AM on November 14, 2016 [9 favorites]
Tig Notaro is a horse! Tig Notaro is a horse! Well-a look at her dance well-a look at her go! Tig Notaro is a horse!
posted by gwint at 9:23 AM on November 14, 2016 [19 favorites]
posted by gwint at 9:23 AM on November 14, 2016 [19 favorites]
Every time someone mentions the Indigo Girls I can't help but think of this classic Brunching post.
posted by howling fantods at 9:25 AM on November 14, 2016 [14 favorites]
posted by howling fantods at 9:25 AM on November 14, 2016 [14 favorites]
At the end of the set, the Indigo Girls pulled off their hats and glasses to reveal that they were really the Insane Clown Posse all along.
posted by dr_dank at 9:36 AM on November 14, 2016 [15 favorites]
posted by dr_dank at 9:36 AM on November 14, 2016 [15 favorites]
I think this went on for like 15 minutes in Ottawa. It falls a lot flatter north of the border because it's not easy to randomly just bring extra musicians across the border on your tour. But she tied it in to earlier improve stuff and it worked.
And it was a great show.
posted by Theta States at 9:39 AM on November 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
And it was a great show.
posted by Theta States at 9:39 AM on November 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
Ever since Taylor Dayne showed up, you might never know with Tig.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:18 AM on November 14, 2016 [11 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:18 AM on November 14, 2016 [11 favorites]
While this is not intentional trolling it sure worked that way. Several years ago when Conan O'Brien did his tour of US cities, a friend of mine caught the show in downtown Minneapolis. Near the end of the show Conan said he was going to bring out a great guitarist, one of his favorites, a guy who lived right there in the Twin Cities. The whole theater took a big damn breath. There was only one guitarist at the top in the Twin Cities and then there's the rest. The audience is poised to totally lose their shit.
"Give a great big hand for Brian Setzer".
And Setzer gets the fucking golf clap.
My friend said that Setzer did bring it but no one forgot the split second that they thought they were going to see Prince take over the show.
posted by Ber at 10:45 AM on November 14, 2016 [14 favorites]
"Give a great big hand for Brian Setzer".
And Setzer gets the fucking golf clap.
My friend said that Setzer did bring it but no one forgot the split second that they thought they were going to see Prince take over the show.
posted by Ber at 10:45 AM on November 14, 2016 [14 favorites]
Every time someone mentions the Indigo Girls I can't help but think of this classic Brunching post.
...wait. Hold on.
posted by leotrotsky at 10:49 AM on November 14, 2016 [8 favorites]
...wait. Hold on.
posted by leotrotsky at 10:49 AM on November 14, 2016 [8 favorites]
Cecil Taylor would do something similar to this, actually. At the end of the last piece he would stop, and if people started clapping he would start up again. And end, and if people started clapping he would start again, and end. Apparently this could go on for a very long time.
posted by 1charm1 at 10:52 AM on November 14, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by 1charm1 at 10:52 AM on November 14, 2016 [2 favorites]
I think this went on for like 15 minutes in Ottawa.
Oh man the drone metal improv was amazing. My fiance and I agreed it was the best show we've seen in a very long time; she had us laughing before she even came out/before the short.
(Hello, fellow Ottawan.)
posted by flibbertigibbet at 11:11 AM on November 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
Oh man the drone metal improv was amazing. My fiance and I agreed it was the best show we've seen in a very long time; she had us laughing before she even came out/before the short.
(Hello, fellow Ottawan.)
posted by flibbertigibbet at 11:11 AM on November 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
I saw Tig Notaro live in the early stages of this tour and she was fantastic. I did not know it was possible for me to continuously laugh that hard, and the Indigo Girls thing wasn't even in it. I can't believe she found a way to make this show even funnier (except, yeah, I can, because she's amazing), but here I am just shaking with laughter in my cube just thinking about that show closing scenario.
I ran into her and Stephanie walking around town before the show, but my brain went into panic mode and all I could think was, "don't say I'mSorryToBotherYouButIJustHaveToTellYouILoveYourVoice, don't say I'mSorryToBotherYouButIJustHaveToTellYouILoveYourVoice, don't say I'mSorryToBotherYouButIJustHaveToTellYouILoveYourVoice ... etc." I ended up shouting, "Wow it's Tig and Stephanie!" at them, and then not being able to come up with anything more coherent. They were so lovely and gracious to me anyway, though, especially Stephanie.
After they walked away, I realized I could have congratulated them on their engagement, which had only happened a few months earlier, and so at first I hoped I'd run into them again. But then I DID run into them again that day, TWICE, but I was so embarrassed by my earlier spluttering I ran away and tried to hide both times.
posted by lesli212 at 11:50 AM on November 14, 2016 [6 favorites]
I ran into her and Stephanie walking around town before the show, but my brain went into panic mode and all I could think was, "don't say I'mSorryToBotherYouButIJustHaveToTellYouILoveYourVoice, don't say I'mSorryToBotherYouButIJustHaveToTellYouILoveYourVoice, don't say I'mSorryToBotherYouButIJustHaveToTellYouILoveYourVoice ... etc." I ended up shouting, "Wow it's Tig and Stephanie!" at them, and then not being able to come up with anything more coherent. They were so lovely and gracious to me anyway, though, especially Stephanie.
After they walked away, I realized I could have congratulated them on their engagement, which had only happened a few months earlier, and so at first I hoped I'd run into them again. But then I DID run into them again that day, TWICE, but I was so embarrassed by my earlier spluttering I ran away and tried to hide both times.
posted by lesli212 at 11:50 AM on November 14, 2016 [6 favorites]
Ber, that reminds me of the Howard Stern birthday special a few years back.
Jimmy Kimmel: Our next performer is New Jersey's favorite son...
Me: alright, Springsteen!
Jimmy Kimmel: ...please welcome Jon Bon Jovi!
Me: Eat shit, Jimmy Kimmel!
posted by dr_dank at 11:56 AM on November 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
Jimmy Kimmel: Our next performer is New Jersey's favorite son...
Me: alright, Springsteen!
Jimmy Kimmel: ...please welcome Jon Bon Jovi!
Me: Eat shit, Jimmy Kimmel!
posted by dr_dank at 11:56 AM on November 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
This is like if Eddie Izzard eventually wheeled out the corpse of Engelbert Humperdinck.
Er, Engelbert ("Release Me") Humperdinck is still kicking. Unless you mean Engelbert Humperdinck the 19th-century German composer, in which case he would probably have to explain who the stiff was, which -- let's be honest -- adds a whole extra layer of genius to it.
Somehow I can hear Izzard's imploring voice: "You know, he wrote the opera Hansel and Gretel. Come on!"
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:08 PM on November 14, 2016 [6 favorites]
Er, Engelbert ("Release Me") Humperdinck is still kicking. Unless you mean Engelbert Humperdinck the 19th-century German composer, in which case he would probably have to explain who the stiff was, which -- let's be honest -- adds a whole extra layer of genius to it.
Somehow I can hear Izzard's imploring voice: "You know, he wrote the opera Hansel and Gretel. Come on!"
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:08 PM on November 14, 2016 [6 favorites]
Eddie Izzard's Engelbert Humperdinck routine ends with (merely) a minute+ of his equivocating back and forth about the possibly recent demise of Mr. Humperdinck.
Which makes me realize how impressive it is for Notaro to have kept up a similar gag for ten times as long.
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 12:18 PM on November 14, 2016 [3 favorites]
Which makes me realize how impressive it is for Notaro to have kept up a similar gag for ten times as long.
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 12:18 PM on November 14, 2016 [3 favorites]
@He Is Thee only Impostster
What makes that routine even weirder is how for like a minute from :50 on it's about Benedict Cumberbatch
(I love Tig Notaro and I am so endlessly amused by this.)
posted by none of these will bring disaster at 12:34 PM on November 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
What makes that routine even weirder is how for like a minute from :50 on it's about Benedict Cumberbatch
(I love Tig Notaro and I am so endlessly amused by this.)
posted by none of these will bring disaster at 12:34 PM on November 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
This seems mean spirited. Why would you troll your fans?
posted by Gable Oak at 12:47 PM on November 14, 2016
posted by Gable Oak at 12:47 PM on November 14, 2016
THIS is where I hopefully get to tell my Squeeze story.
I was living in San Francisco, and one of my bucket list concerts was Squeeze. They were touring for "Some Fantastic Place" and I went to see them at the Great American Music Hall, and they KILLED IT.
After their second encore, they say something like "We're going to bring out one of our favorite musicians.." and being that this is San Francisco, and there's a lot of amazing musicians that call it home, and more that could be there recording or touring at any given moment, you just don't know who it's going to be.
The crowd, myself included, goes absolutely insane.
And onto the stage walks HUEY LEWIS.
I have NEVER been more bummed in my life.
The word I use, when telling this story is: crestfallen.
To have the exquisite taste of Difford and Tilbrook and the rest of the mates, washed out of my ears by HUEY FUCKING LEWIS squonking out of a harmonica, while fucking Squeeze acts as his backup band is just the cruelest trick in the world.
TIG WOULD NEVER DO THIS TO ME.
posted by Major Matt Mason Dixon at 1:00 PM on November 14, 2016 [4 favorites]
I was living in San Francisco, and one of my bucket list concerts was Squeeze. They were touring for "Some Fantastic Place" and I went to see them at the Great American Music Hall, and they KILLED IT.
After their second encore, they say something like "We're going to bring out one of our favorite musicians.." and being that this is San Francisco, and there's a lot of amazing musicians that call it home, and more that could be there recording or touring at any given moment, you just don't know who it's going to be.
The crowd, myself included, goes absolutely insane.
And onto the stage walks HUEY LEWIS.
I have NEVER been more bummed in my life.
The word I use, when telling this story is: crestfallen.
To have the exquisite taste of Difford and Tilbrook and the rest of the mates, washed out of my ears by HUEY FUCKING LEWIS squonking out of a harmonica, while fucking Squeeze acts as his backup band is just the cruelest trick in the world.
TIG WOULD NEVER DO THIS TO ME.
posted by Major Matt Mason Dixon at 1:00 PM on November 14, 2016 [4 favorites]
one word: live and dangerous
posted by j_curiouser at 2:19 PM on November 14, 2016
posted by j_curiouser at 2:19 PM on November 14, 2016
I don't know, a medley of "Hip to Be Square" and "Black Coffee in Bed" might be just the thing.
posted by blucevalo at 2:40 PM on November 14, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by blucevalo at 2:40 PM on November 14, 2016 [4 favorites]
This seems mean spirited. Why would you troll your fans?
You probably wouldn't have liked Andy Kaufman.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 2:59 PM on November 14, 2016 [5 favorites]
You probably wouldn't have liked Andy Kaufman.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 2:59 PM on November 14, 2016 [5 favorites]
Tig is the fucking QUEEN.
posted by rachaelfaith at 3:31 PM on November 14, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by rachaelfaith at 3:31 PM on November 14, 2016 [3 favorites]
Oh man the drone metal improv was amazing. My fiance and I agreed it was the best show we've seen in a very long time; she had us laughing before she even came out/before the short.
The drone metal bit came out of the audience and stunned Tig and it was really the best part of the show. That and how every single person she talked to in the audience happened to have come there alone.
If someone saw a tape of that show they'd assume there were actors planted in the audience feeding lines, but that's just Ottawa.
posted by Theta States at 6:02 AM on November 15, 2016
The drone metal bit came out of the audience and stunned Tig and it was really the best part of the show. That and how every single person she talked to in the audience happened to have come there alone.
If someone saw a tape of that show they'd assume there were actors planted in the audience feeding lines, but that's just Ottawa.
posted by Theta States at 6:02 AM on November 15, 2016
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I'm not sure if that made the joke better or worse.
posted by flibbertigibbet at 9:07 AM on November 14, 2016 [1 favorite]