Tig Notaro stands in a league of her own as a comedian. Few comedians could elicit a laugh from her type of anti-jokes and unique delivery. 

Her droll monotone mixed with a constant tinge of disappointment delighted Tulane students and locals alike Wednesday night in McAlister Auditorium. Tulane owes a big thanks to Tulane University Campus Programming, the Newcomb-Tulane College Office of Cocurricular Programs, Newcomb College Institute, the Office of Gender and Sexual Diversity, and the Center for Public Service for bringing such a comedic powerhouse to our campus. 

Notaro’s material sticks to pretty basic topics in stand-up: pets, relationships, family, dead women named Myrtle, pools of her own blood outside her friends’ apartments, etc. Her material is almost entirely anecdotal and toys with traditional storytelling. She often interrupted herself to over-explain elements often eliciting nervous laughter from the audience. That’s where Notaro’s skill as a comic thrived. 

She constantly surveyed the audience for reactions to her often embarrassing, uncomfortable stories and kept messing with those audience members. In a true testament to her ability she carried on a nearly 10 minute conversation with an audience member simply because they said, “oh no.”

Even her performance started off-script when her microphone didn’t work properly. Her intro changed from a piece that bombed at a different venue to a long explanation about how she doesn’t actually plan to have men in the audience shout at her for a malfunctioning mic. She called these parts of the performance glitches, and counted four total during the show. 

Notaro had the crowd roaring with laughter, and the apex of her sophisticated style was when she moved her stool. The performer spent almost 15 minutes aggressively pushing her stool across the stage. For whatever reason, all but a handful of audience members found themselves breaking out into giggles as her stool made the slightest scraping sound against the wooden stage. The few people who weren’t enjoying the stool bit got called out by Notaro, and rightfully so.

Tig Notaro one-upped every major comedian to visit Tulane in the last three years. Her, and her ability to find her kitten in her house, are truly an inspiration.