( chattering )
- ( music playing ) - ( audience cheering )
Thank you.
Oh, my gosh.
Are you kidding me?
My goodness.
( chuckles )
Wow, thank you.
- People are like, "Tig!" - ( audience laughs )
"Why are you shooting your special in Boston?"
( audience laughs )
Woman: Whoo!
I'll tell ya something,
my grandfather...
was originally from Boston.
( audience cheers )
And my mother
lived in Boston
when she was a tiny, little person.
- Man: Whoo! - And this rug...
Hear me out. This rug I am standing on
has been in my family
since the 1800s
and was in my mother's house in Boston
- in the '40s. - ( audience cheers )
Why am I shooting my special...
in Boston?
- I wanted to show you my rug. - ( audience laughs )
Why am I shooting my special in Boston?
No more stupid questions.
( laughs ) Please.
I performed in Las Vegas
and, um, when you do stand-up in Vegas,
typically, you have to do an entire week,
seven nights in a row,
two shows a night.
There's an early show and a late show,
and I bombed
all 14...
( audience laughs )
...shows.
And I'm not a huge drinker and I don't really gamble,
so I didn't know what to do between the early and late show.
So the first night I thought I'd hang out in my hotel room,
but it was so far away from the venue
that I only had enough time
to walk back to my room...
stand like this for two minutes...
and then head back to the Comedy Club.
The rest of the time, I thought,
"I'll just sit in the back corner of the club,
hang out between the shows,
and just kill time having a glass of water."
I'm sitting there
and my agent
calls me to tell me
that the venue
called him
to say that they thought
it was weird...
( audience laughs )
...that I was just sitting in the back corner...
and could I please leave
and go find something else to do.
So, again, I'm sitting there, my phone rings,
I'm like, "Hey, what's going on?"
( audience laughs )
"Oh.
Okay."
So humiliating!
It's not like that call
came from some far-off headquarters someplace.
That call came from inside the club.
I'm certain the guy was looking through a little window
staring at me with disgust on his face.
Just like, "Ugh, tell her to get out of here.
Yeah, I'm sick of looking at her face."
I still didn't know where to go or what to do.
So I took the escalator down to the first floor
and there's an ice cream shop down there.
And I'm an adult.
I just-- personally, I don't sit alone
in ice cream shops
- just... - ( audience laughs )
And let me be certain...
to not use...
the object that is the exact shape...
of an ice cream cone.
( audience laughing )
So I finished my ice cream cone,
I took the escalator back up,
I did the final show,
and, of course, I bombed.
I got offstage.
I shook hands with the audience members.
And they were just like...
"We hate you."
I was like, "Feeling is mutual."
I said goodbye to the other comedians. They hated me, too.
Then I went into the office and got paid.
Then I walked all the way back to my hotel room.
I put my pajamas on.
I had little pigs flying all over my pants.
I looked so adorable.
It was like my one tiny victory for the whole week.
And then I went into the bathroom to brush my tooth.
And that's when I caught my reflection in the mirror
and saw that I had
a full-blown
chocolate mustache on my face.
I was like, "No!"
My brain starts replaying everything
that had just happened to me.
I was onstage for an entire hour...
bombing...
with a chocolate mustache on my face.
And then remember all up close and personal, I was...
Not one person...
was like, "Oh.
You have..."
"You..." Uh-uh, nobody told me.
And then I went into the office
to get paid...
by the guy that I am certain
made that original phone call
telling me to please leave
and go find something else to do.
Guess who found something else to do?
- Woman: Whoo! - Me.
I did.
I went and treated myself to a little chocolate ice cream.
What is my problem?
I am six years from 50.
Can I not just glance in the mirror
before I go onstage?
What is my to-do list every night?
Belly full of ice cream.
Check.
- Head onstage. - ( audience laughs )
What did the owner of the club think as I sat there
across the desk in a tiny office
with a chocolate mustache on my face?
A grown woman...
wanting to get paid for 14 bombed shows.
Holding out my little paw.
Did he think that I just grabbed an ice cream cone
out of the hand of a small child,
slammed it in my own face,
hopped back up onstage?
Not so funny anymore, is it, Vegas?
I'm nuts.
Or did he think that I was trying to disguise myself...
with a fake mustache,
trying to sneak back into the venue he had kicked me out of?
Sorry, this bit goes as long as whatever stage I'm on.
( whistling )
Oh, great, there's stairs.
( groans )
Guys, relax!
Relax, I'm just a person.
What if somebody walked into the show right now...
and they didn't recognize me?
"I thought Tig was supposed to be taping her special.
Where did she go?
Where's Tig?"
Guys, it's me.
It's me.
Uh, where did Tig go?
Where did Tig go?
Let me see your little belly.
Where did Tig go? Oh, there I am.
Oh, you guys are dumb.
Oh, my gosh.
As a comedian, people always ask me
what makes me laugh really hard.
And, um, I was making a video one time.
Just like a funny sketch with a friend of mine
where at the end he ends up in a bathtub
with Santa Claus.
And there are websites that you can go on
and find your perfect, ideal Santa,
click on him, hire him for all your Santa Claus needs.
We could not find the perfect Santa Claus.
And he said, "Do you mind if we take a break
and go to McDonald's so I can get a couple hamburgers?
And then we'll come back."
And I said, "Man, whatever you need."
We go through the drive-thru, he gets his hamburgers.
He said, "I cannot wait to eat these.
Do you mind if we just sit here
and I eat 'em and then we go back?"
I said again, "Whatever you need."
So he backs his car into this space
and we're now looking out over the entire McDonald's parking lot
and I see this woman off in the distance
acting utterly insane.
And I said,
"What do you think she's doing?"
And he said, "I don't know,
but I'm gonna film her."
He gets his phone out, he presses record,
and you guys are me and him in the car looking through the windshield.
The second he pressed record,
a boat of a car drove past us
and a man turned
and it was Santa Claus.
And I yelled, "Oh, my God, it's Santa Claus!"
And he yelled, "Oh, my God, do you think he'll talk to us?"
And then he shut off the phone, we peel out
and just haul ass chasing Santa Claus
down the street.
And we come up next to him at the light
and I realize in that moment I hadn't thought about
what I was gonna say when we caught him.
And I said, "Hi.
Um, you know who you look like, right?"
And he said, "Santa Claus."
And I said, "Yes."
I said, "My friend and I are making a video
and we wanted to hire you to be in it."
He hands me his business card
and as he's driving off
I look at it
and it said his name
at some very conservative church dot-org.
And I said, "Oh, man.
This guy is not gonna get into a bathtub with you."
Or maybe he will.
So we drive off feeling defeated
and then I start thinking about that video from earlier.
And I started laughing.
And I asked him to pull the car over to play it back for us
and he said, "Why?"
And I said, "Because I feel confident
that we captured
the most ridiculous footage
since the beginning of time."
And then he started thinking about it
and then we were both hunched over
laughing so hard, hyperventilating,
crying, trying to push each other away from each other.
We were laughing so hard, we both became ugly people.
And we still hadn't even seen the video yet.
And then he pulls the car over
and he presses play
and you don't see that woman off in the distance.
It's like she was never a part of this.
The second he pressed play,
the only thing that you see...
is a boat of a car
driving past us
and a man turning...
and you hear me
earnestly...
yell, "Oh, my God, it's Santa Claus!"
And you see my hand just dart up into the video.
And then you hear my friend,
a full-grown man,
yell, "Oh, my God, do you think he'll talk to us?"
And then it just shuts out.
If anybody came across that video footage
with zero backstory,
it truly appears
as though two full-grown buffoons...
thought that they saw Santa Claus.
And what is my friend's history with Santa Claus...
that his response...
would be, "Oh, my God, do you think he'll talk to us?"
Just an entire lifetime of him running up to Santa
only to be met with...
But Santa--
I love everybody's little laugh noises.
My favorite laugh noise is, um, the sigh
after the laugh.
The... ( sighs )
( laughs )
( sighs )
'Cause it's like you're reminiscing about one second ago.
( laughs )
( sighs )
Remember one second ago?
( sighs )
Yeah, that was a good time.
Yeah.
My other favorite laugh noise
is the pig snort.
You know, when somebody is just really enjoying themselves.
and then... ( snorts )
Because I'm always curious,
is that something they decided to do?
Like a calculated decision.
Or are they just as surprised as we are...
...when a pig snort flies out of their face?
I like to think it's the other option
where they're just like, "You know what?
I have been laughing...
and smiling...
and clapping
all night,
but I still feel
like she doesn't get...
how much I get her.
Think I'm gonna go ahead and snort like a pig.
Yeah, this, uh-- this story she's telling,
this is actually one of my favorites I was telling--
oh, hold on one second."
( snorts )
"Love your stuff."
( snorts )
My dream situation
is actually the-- at the end of the night
when the lights go on
that there is an actual pig in the audience.
Just out on the town, pantless,
clanking its little cloven hooves together.
Sitting on its little curlicue.
Comes up to me at the end of the night,
"Hey, um, that was me."
I, uh-- I can't laugh, so I snort.
Sure, I can talk...
but I wanted to say
I really liked that part earlier
when you were talking about having little pigs on your pants.
Anyway, I don't wanna keep you,
I just-- I really just wanted to say...
I just wanted to say pig fan, pig fan.
Boston, that's a terrible joke. I'm sorry.
( laughs ) Sorry, I'm just up here being a ham
and I-- I'm sor-- that's too much,
you're right. ( chuckles )
Too many puns eventually becomes a "boar"
and I don't wanna--
don't shake your head at me.
I will reimburse you. I am sorry.
I'm originally from Mississippi.
- Man: Whoo! - Um...
( audience laughs )
Settle down, everyone.
I'm originally from Mississippi
and, um, my fiancée
- is, um... - ( audience cheering )
Thank you. Um...
- He is from... - ( audience laughs )
Okay.
She was raised in Los Angeles and New York
and I invited her back to Mississippi
to spend the holidays with me and my extended family.
And before the trip,
she said, um,
"No offense, but..."
And I said, "Yes, what is this flattering thing you're about to say?"
She said, "When I picture people from Mississippi,
I picture them barefoot."
Thank you.
And I said, "Okay, I get it, but, um,
my family is civilized.
They have homes
and jobs
and shoes,
but I hear ya."
So I was down there hanging out before she arrived,
and when you fly in to visit my town,
you fly in to the New Orleans airport.
And all 11 of my family members
piled into a van
to drive into the French Quarter to hang out,
wait until she arrived.
And I finally was like, "Oh, yeah, she's gonna be landing soon.
We gotta go."
All 11 of them
piled back into the van with their beers--
I don't know if you know, but it is legal down there
to have open containers in vehicles.
They all get in.
They also brought a cooler
iced down with extra beer
just for the drive to the airport.
I offered to be the sober driver,
not that anybody in my family cared either way.
They were just like, "Okay, nerd."
So we pull up curbside
at baggage claim
and I get out and say, "I will be right back."
I go in, I find her.
We're walking out chatting.
She looks up...
and she said, "Is that your family?"
I look up
and all 11 of them
have gotten out of the van.
They're smoking and drinking,
they're waving wildly,
so excited to meet her.
They've pulled the cooler out onto the sidewalk.
And they were barefoot.
After walking around the French Quarter all day,
they took their shoes off on the drive to get her.
So there I was...
...having to say, "Yes,
that is my civilized family...
...that I told you about.
There they are in all of their glory."
So we have the holidays, Christmas, whatever,
she and I are driving out of town together
and, uh, I asked her if, uh--
a couple years ago my mother passed away
and we buried her in our hometown in Mississippi
and I asked if we could go visit her grave.
And she said of course.
And just to back up a little more,
when my stepfather and I were driving away from the funeral,
he told me,
"When your mother died,
they were offering a really good deal
on burial plots.
I ended up getting six
for a thousand dollars."
He said, "I got one for your mother,
I got one for me,
I got one for you,
I got one for your brother,
and then I got two extras."
Man: Whoo!
I said, "That is serious bargain shopping
just to toss in two extra burial plots."
And he said, "Well, I thought I would get those
in case you or your brother, if you had partners one day."
And I said, "Oh, well, thank you,
but still..."
So my girlfriend and I pull up to the graveyard,
we get out of the car...
we walk over, we're standing there.
She's looking around.
She said, "This is really beautiful."
She said, "So is it just-- is it just this right here?"
And I said, "Well..." ( exhales )
"That's the thing, um...
When my mother died,
they were offering a really good deal.
Six plots for a thousand dollars.
So my stepfather...
my mother, she's just buried right here,
but he got hers,
and then one for him,
he got one for me,
he got one for my brother.
And then, um...
He got two extras...
...in case we had partners.
So, um...
I guess, um...
I guess that's where you'll be gay buried.
Barefoot in Mississippi,
just like you always imagined."
She thought it was some twisted marriage proposal.
After my mother passed away,
I was diagnosed with bilateral breast cancer,
um, but I have not told anybody yet.
( audience laughs )
You're the first people to find out.
Wow, that's a very cold response.
( sighs )
I ended up having a double mastectomy,
and, um,
before my surgery, I was already relatively flat-chested.
And, uh, I made so many jokes over the years
about how small my boobs were
that I started to think
that maybe
my boobs overheard me...
and were just like, "Pfft.
You know what?
We're sick of this.
Let's kill her."
I'm always thrown off by the clapping.
Whoo, take her down!
I did a show where this woman sat front row
with her arms crossed shaking her head at me.
And I said, "Is there something wrong?"
And she said,
"You should end your jokes
with 'I'm just kidding.'"
Oh, right, right.
I don't know why I never thought about that.
That is a great idea.
I'm just kidding.
I'm not kid-- I really did have cancer,
I just-- I don't really think that my boobs
were conspiring to kill me.
That I'm kidding about.
( sighs ) Yeah.
Oh, we remember.
Before I had my double mastectomy,
I, um-- I would sometimes be mistaken for a man.
And, um, that's fine.
But then after the surgery,
it went up a bit.
I was going through security at the airport
and, um...
they said, "Female assist,"
which means they have to have a female officer pat me down extra.
And so this woman comes over
and she comes in, just--
and I didn't have reconstructive surgery.
I just-- she was like...
( audience laughs )
She didn't feel a boob or...
a bra or anything.
And she said, "Hold on a second."
And she walked only maybe this far away.
And she whispered something to the other officer.
And I just heard him say,
"Yes, I'm positive."
( audience laughs )
So she comes back over
and she's like...
But this time she stopped
before she touched me
and she looked up...
at my face...
She really took it in.
But apparently,
that was not helpful
at all.
- And she said, "Hold on a second." - ( audience laughing )
She walks back over
and whispers something again to the officer
and he just says, "Yes."
And the thing is,
I knew exactly what was happening
and I knew that all I needed to do
was speak...
and then she would know that I was female.
But I just did not
- wanna help her out... - ( audience laughing )
- Man: Whoo! - ( audience cheering )
...at all.
I was enjoying the awkwardness so much.
I just loved standing there like...
She finally came back over and said, "You're good."
And I walked off saying,
( imitates deep voice) "Uh, thank you. Thank you very much."
Oh, my gosh, you guys are so nice.
I, um...
- have really been s-- - ( audience catcalls )
- Do not tempt me. - ( audience laughs )
- I will do it. I will-- I will... - ( audience cheering )
Guys-- guys, no.
( audience cheering )
Of course I'm not gonna take my shirt off on my sp--
( audience groans, cheers )
- ( man whistling ) - No.
( audience cheering )
Woman: Whoo!
So...
( man whistling )
I'll tell you, I, uh--
I am afraid to fly
and I-- I am. Sure, laugh all you want,
but I-- I'm very afraid to fly
and I went on a plane that seated maybe only six people.
And you c-- it was so tiny
that you could only kind of crouch
to get through the plane.
And, um...
oh, my God, it was so small.
And once we got to our cruising altitude,
we're flying along and the pilot,
who's just sitting right there,
he's just like, "Hey, how's it going?"
And, um... ( laughs )
You do your thing, I'll do mine.
He gets out of his seat
and just is like,
"Let me show you
where the emergency toilet is."
And I said,
- "I'll decide where the emergency toilet is." - ( audience laughing )
"How about here? How about this is the emergency toilet?
Or how about right here? This could be the emergency toilet.
How about anywhere I decide is the emergency toilet?
This entire flight feels like an emergency.
Just one huge emergency toilet flying through the air.
Now go sit back down, you joker.
Don't you worry about the emergency toilet."
I love on, um, commercial flights
when, um, you're seated in the emergency exit row
and the flight attendant's like,
"You know, just wondering
if in the event of an emergency,
you'd be willing to help out."
And I'm like, "Pfft...
Totally.
If you need anything,
you come grab me.
But I was just wondering if maybe we could wait and see
what kind of shape I'm in
after the plane plummets 30,000 feet.
'Cause I don't even know if I'm gonna be sitting here anymore.
But absolutely, you come grab me if you need anything."
Are they really gonna hold me to that?
Where's that woman from 12 E?
Where's that guy from 12 E?
Nah, he said he'd help us out.
I'm just off in the distance gathering my own body parts.
Did somebody need something?
I did give a verbal confirmation, so...
Carrying my own head in my hand.
Yeah, just let me know what I can do for ya.
Oh, man, flying, huh?
( audience cheering )
I've been traveling around so much
and, um,
I've noticed in the States--
I haven't really noticed it so much
overseas anywhere,
but in the US
I've noticed these signs
showing up at public pools.
And, um, I'm sure plenty of you have seen these,
and they say
that you cannot go swimming
if you have diarrhea.
Raise your hand if you've seen these signs.
Yes, these are actual signs.
And my question is
how frequently was this happening?
But, more importantly,
how confident of a person
do you have to be...
to be like, "Oh, man.
Oh, man." ( exhales )
"I do not feel well.
Doctor said I should definitely stay home.
Stick near the toilet.
- But you know what?" - ( audience laughs )
"I'm gonna head down to the public pool.
Go swim around.
With full blown diarrhea."
They're just like, "Hey!
Out of the pool!"
Me?
Yeah, you can't swim with diarrhea.
Oh, so this is a problem?
Yeah, gotta get out of the pool.
Listen...
if you don't want me swimming
with diarrhea,
then you're gonna need to hang up a sign.
Otherwise, there's just no possible way...
( chuckles ) I would know better.
So until that goes...
Thank you so much.
No, no, no, no.
I'm not-- I'm not leaving, I'm not leaving.
I have a weird delivery.
- It... - ( audience laughing )
I've had it my whole life, my whole career.
Sounds like I'm leaving, but I'm just saying thank you.
It's kind of like you guys really got that, thanks!
( sighs ) I have a gift for you all.
Uh, something that brings me a lot of joy in my life.
I wanna give it to you
so that you can experience the happiness
that I do.
I love...
sending text messages to friends of mine
at random times of the day
that just say, "What's your ETA?"
I just love knowing that somewhere across town
somebody is half-naked
frantically rifling
through emails and text messages
trying to figure out
what they agreed to do with me.
And they write back, "What?"
And then write back,
"Yeah, we're all seated. Better hurry."
And then they write back, "Where?"
And then don't respond.
Ever again.
Cut them out of your life. Delete them from your phone.
Just move on. It was time.
It was time and you both knew it.
- Thank you! - ( audience laughs )
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much for coming out tonight.
( sighs )
I've been doing stand-up for almost 20 years now
and... every show I've ever done...
whether it was a coffee shop,
an open mic,
a sold-out theater,
a college,
a club,
every single show I've ever done,
- I've gotten a standing ovation. - ( audience laughing )
Oh, sure, laugh all you want.
Even in Vegas
I got 14 standing ovations.
You might be thinking, "I had a good time tonight,
but not like-- not 'standing ovation' good time."
Everybody thinks that.
Everybody thinks that and then sure enough,
the show ends and everyone jumps to their feet
and they're yelling, "Tig!
We love you!
This is the best comedy show we've ever seen in our lives."
And I'm just like, "I'm just a person.
Please be seated."
And they won't.
And that goes on
for three minutes every single time.
So I'm just giving you a heads up what's to come.
( audience laughing )
I love music.
( audience laughing )
I've never detected a punch line there.
Maybe I should listen more.
( man laughing loudly )
Sounded like a cartoon character showed up.
( imitates laughing )
I like your style, ha, ha, ha!
That was funny, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!
I can barely take this, I'm laughing so hard.
Ha, ha, ha!
That's all I wanted, to laugh.
I do-- I do love music
and, um, I would constantly write down all the lyrics
to every Beatles song.
Like put the record on, take the needle off,
and write the lyrics down, put the needle back on.
Just every song. Obsessed.
And my grandmother ended up having Alzheimer's
and she collected anything that we touched growing up.
And towards the end of her life when I was an adult,
she called me into her bedroom.
And she pulled out this box and this paper.
She said, "You wrote this for me
- when you were little." - ( audience laughing )
And it was "When I'm 64."
And I had to sit there and take credit...
for a Lennon and McCartney tune.
I was like, "Oh, that's right. I forgot about that one."
( chuckles ) "You like that, huh?
If so, I have a huge catalogue of other--
other songs I think you might like."
In sixth grade, I took a music class
and, um, we were lectured about anywhere
from The Who to Beethoven.
We played instruments, we read books.
And at the end of every session,
the teacher would always ask
if somebody had a favorite song they wanted to play.
And I always brought in Beatles and Rolling Stones songs.
And one day,
the coolest kid in the entire school--
his name was J.D.--
- and he came... - ( audience chuckles )
Oh, that's funny to you?
That is a child's name.
A child that is 44 now, but it's still a child's name.
What is your name?
- Chris. - Chris.
- The coolest kid in the entire school... - ( audience laughing )
was named Chris.
How does that feel?
Doesn't feel good, does it, Chris? No.
J.D. came up to me after class
and he said, "If I bring in
one of my dad's Rolling Stones records,
will you tell me the coolest song on the album to play?"
And I said, "Pfft...
No question."
The next day,
J.D. brought in his dad's Rolling Stones album "Let It Bleed."
And I looked it over...
and I picked this song and said,
"This is the coolest song on the album."
And it was "You Can't Always Get What You Want."
And he said, "Are you positive
that this is the best song,
the coolest song on the album?"
I was like, "Man, I couldn't be more positive."
And then the teacher asked
if anyone had brought in their favorite song to play.
And J.D. raised his hand
and she called on him.
And that's when everybody
in sixth grade
heard the coolest kid
in the entire school
play this.
♪ I saw her today at the reception ♪
- J.D. was like, "What the hell is this?" - ( audience laughing )
And I was like, "No, no, it gets better."
♪ I knew she would meet her connection ♪
♪ At her feet was a footloose man ♪
♪ No, you can't always get what you want ♪
♪ You can't always get what you want ♪
♪ But if you try sometime ♪
♪ You'll find ♪
♪ You can get what you need... ♪
- And then the bell rang. - ( audience laughing )
- Boston, thank you so much. - ( audience cheering )
You're such a great audience.
What?
I told you.
Please, be seated.
I'm just a person.
Touch me.
I'm just a person.
Please, be seated.
No, I'm just a person. Touch me.
Thank you so much, really.
Just two more minutes.
Please, be seated. I'm just a person.
- That person said, "I know, I know." - ( audience laughs )
What do you mean, "you know"?
"I know."
Nobody's shaking their fist.
Boston.
Settle down. I'm just a person.
Thank you. Thank you.
Good night.
( music playing )
( music ends )