Mathilde O'Callaghan "Tig" Notaro (born March 24, 1971) is an American stand-up comedian, director, producer, screenwriter, and actress known for her deadpan comedy. She is a two-time nominee for the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album, and received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for her 2015 special Boyish Girl Interrupted. In 2026, she received a nomination for an Academy Award for her work as a producer on the documentary film Come See Me in the Good Light. As an actress, she is known for her leading role in One Mississippi (2015–2017), a series she created with Diablo Cody, and her supporting roles as Amanda Robinson in The Morning Show (2023–2025), and as Jett Reno in Star Trek: Discovery (2019–2024) and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy (2026–present). She also hosted her own talk show, Under a Rock with Tig Notaro in 2019.
Early life Notaro was born in Jackson, Mississippi, the daughter of Mathilde "Susie" O'Callaghan and Pat Notaro. Her mother was born in New Orleans. Notaro lived in Pass Christian, Mississippi until kindergarten. Later, her family relocated to Spring, Texas (a suburb of Houston). She has a brother, Renaud, who is a year older and works as a radio talk show host. "Tig" is a childhood nickname (for Mathilde) given to her by her brother when she was two years old. The family was Catholic.
Notaro's maternal great-great-grandfather was John Fitzpatrick, who was the mayor of New Orleans from 1892 to 1896. While taking part in season 5 of Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Notaro learned she is also a distant cousin of Gloria Steinem.
In an interview with Mother Jones magazine, Notaro said she disliked being a student. She failed three grades, eventually dropping out of high school. In 1990, while living in Texas, she received her General Equivalency Diploma (GED).
Notaro plays the guitar and drums; she played in various bands when she was younger.
Career
An avid musician and music enthusiast, Notaro moved to Denver, Colorado, where she entered the music industry. She became a band manager, working under the name Tignation Promotions in the mid-'90s. Her work promoting bands took her to Los Angeles, where she tried stand-up for the first time in the late '90s. She has since been featured on Comedy Central Presents and on The Sarah Silverman Program as a lesbian police officer. She collaborates frequently with her writing partner Kyle Dunnigan. She co-hosted the podcast Professor Blastoff with Dunnigan and David Huntsberger from May 2011 until July 2015.
In 2011, Notaro released her debut stand-up album, Good One. Her 2012 album, Live, is a recording of a stand-up set performed shortly after she was diagnosed with breast cancer. In 2012, she appeared on Conan, and in May of that year on the live episode of This American Life, which was broadcast to theaters nationwide and on radio in edited form. She performed a monologue about having encountered Taylor Dayne on multiple occasions, greeting her each time with, "Excuse me, I'm sorry to bother you, but I just have to tell you - I love your voice." After her monologue, Dayne made a surprise appearance, serenading Notaro with the song "I'll Always Love You". She worked on fellow comedian Amy Schumer's Comedy Central series Inside Amy Schumer. In June 2012, Notaro did a Kickstarter-funded series called Clown Service, which she wrote and starred in.
Notaro wrote a memoir for HarperCollins Imprint Ecco titled I'm Just a Person. In March 2015, Showtime debuted a documentary at South by Southwest about her life and her post-cancer stand-up tour, Knock Knock, It's Tig Notaro. In July 2015, Netflix released a film, Tig, chronicling her attempts to conceive with her fiancée, Stephanie Allynne. Singer Sharon Van Etten wrote a song for the credit sequence of the film titled "Words" as an homage to Notaro.
In November 2015, Notaro co-wrote, produced, and starred in a semi-autobiographical TV pilot for Amazon Video called One Mississippi. It received a six-episode series order from Amazon a month later. It follows Notaro's character as she returns to her hometown of Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi after her mother's unexpected death.
Her first stand-up one-hour special was released by HBO in 2015, titled Tig Notaro: Boyish Girl Interrupted. In 2016, it was released as her third album under her own label, Bentzen Ball Records, which also released Aparna Nancherla's Just Putting It Out There.
In 2017, she was cast in Star Trek: Discovery as Chief Engineer Jett Reno of the U.S.S. Hiawatha. Originally a guest role in the second and third seasons, her character was promoted to a series role. She will continue to play Reno as a regular in the upcoming series Starfleet Academy.
Netflix released Notaro's second one-hour special, Happy to Be Here, on May 22, 2018. She was digitally inserted in post-production in Zack Snyder's Army of the Dead, replacing Chris D'Elia, who was accused of sexual misconduct.
Comedic style On her approach to comedy (and whether she considers herself a dark comic), Notaro says: "I'm always going to do whatever I think is funniest. If something's dark, I'll do it. If it's a sock puppet... There's no preconceived idea of who I think I might be now." Notaro said that since her cancer diagnosis, she has shifted not to darker comedy but rather to personal comedy. Previously her comedic style was more general, detached, and observational, but now she frequently reflects on her childhood and life.
In the autumn of 2016, she appeared in a video as an onstage "stand-in" during the Nostalgic for the Present concert tour of Australian singer Sia for the song "Diamonds."
Personal life Notaro met her wife Stephanie Allynne on the set of the film In a World... They married in 2015, officiated by an Old Catholic deacon (Notaro's cousin). They welcomed twin sons in 2016, conceived via a surrogate using Allynne's eggs.
Cancer Notaro was diagnosed with cancer in both breasts on July 30, 2012. On August 3, she addressed her cancer diagnosis and other personal difficulties during a live stage show at Largo in Los Angeles. The set has been described as "instantly legendary"; many comedians have praised her work.
The next day, comedian Louis C.K. called Notaro, telling her he wanted to release the audio of the show. She was uncomfortable with the idea at first, but decided the material could help people, so she agreed. C.K. made audio of the performance available that October for download on his site under the title Live. Notaro later released the audio (with booklet) on iTunes; it sold more copies than rock band Kiss's album Monster, which debuted the same week, something Notaro said she never dreamed could happen. She was a Kiss fan in her youth.
Notaro subsequently had a double mastectomy with no reconstructive surgery; she opted out of chemotherapy but decided instead to continue treatment with hormone blocking. In November 2014, as part of the New York Comedy Festival, she did a set at Town Hall in New York City wherein she performed part of the set topless. The New York Times described it: "She showed the audience her scars and then, through the force of her showmanship, made you forget that they were there. It was a powerful, even inspiring, statement about survival and recovery, and yet, it had the larky feel of a dare." After a November 2014 show in Philadelphia, Notaro was hospitalized and required surgery for a cyst.
In 2017, Notaro adopted a vegan diet, which she credited for eliminating the chronic pain she had experienced in the years following her cancer diagnosis. She later earned a certification in plant-based nutrition.
Discography Albums 2011: Good One (Secretly Canadian) – CD+DVD, LP, download, streaming 2012: Live (Pig Newton) – download, streaming 2013: Live: Deluxe Edition (Secretly Canadian) – 2xCD, picture disc LP, LP, download, streaming 2016: Boyish Girl Interrupted (Secretly Canadian) – CD, LP, download, streaming 2018: Happy to Be Here (Netflix) – LP, streaming 2022: Drawn (Comedy Dynamics) - CD, LP, download, streaming 2024: Hello Again (Secretly Canadian) – CD, LP, download, streaming
Specials 2004: Comedy Central Presents – download, streaming 2015: Boyish Girl Interrupted (HBO) – download, streaming 2018: Happy to Be Here (Netflix) – download, streaming 2021: Drawn (HBO Max) – download, streaming 2024: Hello Again (Amazon Prime Video) – download, streaming
Videos 2008: Have Tig at Your Party – also director, writer, executive producer (bonus DVD of Good One: Deluxe Edition) 2013: Professor Blastoff – 100th Episode! – Earwolf – Video Podcast Network (YouTube) 2014: The Moth – "R2, Where Are You" (YouTube) – also writer (the audio of the video is the bonus content of her album Live: Deluxe Edition)
Singles 2016: "Mississippi Relatives" – download, streaming 2017: 7-Inches for Planned Parenthood – "My Ideal Exchange with a Stranger" (Live at Largo) (7-Inches For™, LLC) – 7" pink vinyl, download 2020: "Little Titties" – download, streaming
Audiobook 2016: I'm Just a Person (Harper Audio) – CD , download
Compilations 2010: Live Nude Comedy, Vol. 1 (Salient Music) – download (tracks 11 and 12) 2010: Comedy Death-Ray Xmas CD 2010 (Aspecialthing Records) – CD (song: We Are The World 25.75)
Filmography +Key Denotes works that have not yet been released
Film Year Title Role Notes 2009 The Tig Series Short; also director, writer, executive producer 2010 Lez Chat Announcer Short; also director, writer We Are the World 25.75 Herself Short Christmas Lady Marmalade 2011 Crying in Public Coffee Shop Crier 2012 Craigslist Joe Herself Documentary 2013 In a World... Cher 2014 Walk of Shame Impound Woman Catch Hell Careen Ashes Dr. Lori Clown Service Tig Short; also director, co-writer, executive producer 2015 Rubberhead Girl 4 Segment: "Lisa" Knock Knock, It's Tig Notaro Herself Documentary; also writer, executive producer Tig Herself Documentary; also executive producer 2016 The Fun Company Jade Short Punching Henry Jillian 2018 Dog Days Danielle Instant Family Sharon 2019 Lucy in the Sky Kate Mounier 2021 Music Radgicals Host Together Together Madeline Army of the Dead Marianne Peters2022 Am I OK? Sheila Also director and producer Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe Professor Voice2023 Your Place or Mine Alicia We Have a Ghost Dr. Leslie Monroe Glitter & Doom Fiasco2025 Come See Me in the Good Light Producer Zootopia 2 Big Tig Voice 2027 Filming Filming
Television