Luke Wilson asks about big breaks

Luke Wilson asks Handsome a question about careers that inspires some incredible stories on today's episode! Plus Tig's food freakout, a little tenderness, and Mae's amazing portrayal of Charlie Brown! Handsome is hosted by Tig Notaro, Mae Martin, and Fortune FeimsterFollow us on social media @handsomepodMerch at handsomepod.com http://handsomepod.com/Watch Handsome on YouTube http://youtube.com/@handsomepod and Hulu https://www.hulu.com/series/b583d0bc-eeb0-4560-8b2b-5c8ae0248a19?play=false&utm_source=shared_linkThis is a Headgum https://headgum.com/ podcast. Follow Headgum on Twitter https://x.com/headgum, Instagram https://www.instagram.com/headgum/, and Tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/@headgum. Advertise on Handsome https://gumball.fm/shows/handsome via Gumball.fm http://gumball.fm/. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:01Speaker 00

  This is a HeadGum Podcast.

• 0:05Mae Martin?

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• 0:28Tig Notaro?

  Cash App also adds security to your money by declining suspicious card transactions and sending you a notification to make sure the payment is really you.

• 0:38Mae Martin?

  Download Cash App today and make your money work for you. Visit our link in bio. Cash App is a financial services platform, not a bank. Banking services provided by Cash App's bank partners. Prepaid debit cards issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC. Cash App Visa debit flex cards issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC, and the Bancorp Bank, N.A. pursuant to a license from Visa USA, Inc. See terms and conditions for the Sutton prepaid card, Sutton debit flex card, and Bancorp debit flex card. Cash App green features, savings, direct deposit, roundups, overdraft coverage, and discounts provided by Cash App, a Block Inc. brand. Visit cash.app/legal/podcast for full disclosures.

• 1:28Tig Notaro?

  Hi, it's your friend Tig Notaro on the Handsome Podcast. I'm sitting here with my co-hosts.

• 1:35Mae Martin?

  Mae Martin.

• 1:36Tig Notaro?

  And Fortune Feimster. Hello, friends. How are you?

• 1:40Mae Martin?

  Good day to you both.

• 1:46Mae Martin?

  Lovely to see you.

• 1:48Tig Notaro?

  Yes, it's lovely to see you both, and I am bursting at the seams. I mean, it's really...

• 1:54Mae Martin?

  Had a big lunch?

• 1:55Tig Notaro?

  Huh?

• 1:56Mae Martin?

  Had a big lunch?

• 1:57Tig Notaro?

  Yes. Yes, I had a big lunch. And, uh, no, I just had, as you may or may not know, I've been doing stand-up for 29 years. And, you know, people that book you, and whether it's in a theater, or like a festival, or some like, just kind of weird one-off that you do. It's like, they can be welcoming and like, leave a basket for you, or whatever it is. I just went to this, it was a first-year book writers' festival. And I have, and I

• 2:40Tig Notaro?

  don't want to take away anything from the way, the kindness of how other people have treated me. This experience was like, I felt, oh my, you guys, it was in Kinderhook, New York.

• 2:57Mae Martin?

  Yeah.

• 2:57Tig Notaro?

  In upstate New York. I felt, what I kept picturing was, I'm not looking for this kind of attention, but the way they did it, I was like, I could get used to this. I felt like Cinderella, when like, the little birds would come and bring things. And this, you know how, have you been in, I don't know how much time you spend in upstate New York, but sometimes it can be hit or miss. It can be like, a little too rustic, or, you know, a bed and breakfast can have a real like, bed, you know? It looks cute from the outside,

• 3:36Tig Notaro?

  but it's not great on the, this was picturesque, start to finish. I pull up to the hotel, I'm like, well, this is cute. I go in, and then these, I think it was a lesbian couple that just opened a restaurant out there. They made me, and I'm not exaggerating, the most delicious meal of my lifetime.

• 3:59Mae Martin?

  Whoa.

• 4:00Tig Notaro?

  And what?

• 4:00Mae Martin?

  That's hard phrase.

• 4:02Tig Notaro?

  Oh, this goes on. So I have, they, they made me this curry, tofu curry vegan meal. And then it was like, oh, do you want a seasonal salad? And I thought, I don't know if I need a seasonal salad. Then I just thought, sure, why not a seasonal salad? I ate a bite of the seasonal salad. And then I was like, this is the most delicious thing I've ever had in my life. And then I went, well, now I'll try the tofu curry. Most delicious thing I've had in my life. And then I was like, I don't need to go back to the salad, because this is so good. And then I went back to the salad, and I was like, no, this is better than the tofu curry. And I kept doing that back and forth. I opened...

• 4:46Mae Martin?

  So are you like, sitting by your, paint the picture, you're sitting by yourself in a bed and breakfast?

• 4:51Tig Notaro?

  I'm sitting by myself in the hotel room.

• 4:52Mae Martin?

  Watching for your reaction?

• 4:53Tig Notaro?

  Don't know, don't care. I know, I'm alone in my hotel room.

• 4:56Mae Martin?

  Okay, okay.

• 4:57Tig Notaro?

  Then I open my closet. You guys, do you know my obsession? Yes. Do you know how much I love the actress, Deborah Winger?

• 5:06Mae Martin?

  Yes, we do know this.

• 5:08Tig Notaro?

  Okay. Hands down, my favorite actor of all time. I open the closet door. There is a vintage 1970s t-shirt hanging in the closet from Urban Cowboy, my favorite movie, from Gillies, the saloon that's in Texas, in the movie. It's from the 70s. I'm like, what?

• 5:29Mae Martin?

  What?

• 5:30Tig Notaro?

  Wow. Then I walk over.

• 5:32Mae Martin?

  You're a princess.

• 5:33Tig Notaro?

  Oh my. I'm telling you, I don't, I am not princess vibes, like it or not. They were giving it to you, baby.

• 5:39Mae Martin?

  Well, they, it sounds like they've curated an experience specifically for you.

• 5:44Tig Notaro?

  And not just me. The whole event was so incredible. Then, oh, I'm just walking by the desk, okay? And I see this very beautiful hardcover book. I don't focus on what the book is, but I thought, what is this? It's Chrissie Hynde's art book that they have put in my room. My favorite, like, one of my favorite singers of all time.

• 6:12Mae Martin?

  Wow.

• 6:13Tig Notaro?

  And, and so it's a hardcover book of Chrissie Hynde's paintings. I'm like, what? And, and then also, local, some locals gave like, soap to me.

• 6:27Mae Martin?

  Not soap.

• 6:28Tig Notaro?

  I have my show at the town hall. So fun. All I did was open, talking about how unbelievable my time was before I even did my show. And I'm in my hotel room going, when all of this, these gifts were given to me, and the food, and the hotel, so and I, I told them, I go, I was alone, I said to myself, where the hell am I? And I got on Google Images. I was like, what is this town?

• 6:57Mae Martin?

  Where were you?

• 6:58Tig Notaro?

  Kinderhook, New York.

• 7:00Mae Martin?

  Kinderhook.

• 7:02Tig Notaro?

  Then I go to town hall.

• 7:03Mae Martin?

  It's from, yeah, it's like, the North Pole.

• 7:06Tig Notaro?

  It is what it sounds like. I have such a fun show. And beforehand, I had texted my assistant saying, hey, how long do I have to be at the meet and greet after? Well, after this experience...

• 7:17Mae Martin?

  They can pull you away.

• 7:18Tig Notaro?

  I, I was like, I'm going to that meet and greet. And it was at the bookstore, where the woman owned the bookstore. And behind the bookstore, just know that the bookstore and the backyard of the bookstore was exactly what you would hope upstate New York is. The, the food that was catered by the lesbian couple, the music that was perform, that was in the corner, and I think they're the ones that made the soap. And then a woman comes up to me with a pail of handpicked flowers from her own garden that she brought me.

• 7:51Mae Martin?

  Oh my god.

• 7:51Tig Notaro?

  That's your dream.

• 7:52Mae Martin?

  Dude, this is, I mean, the bar is high now. This is like gratitude journal type stuff. This is...

• 7:59Tig Notaro?

  I did, I normally, in those situations, I'm like, oh, I don't know what I'm walking into. I don't know if who's gonna be weird, or overstep, or, nobody did. No one. Even the woman that brought me there, I had to hunt her down to introduce myself. She wasn't hovering.

• 8:16Mae Martin?

  Okay, so we're, so we're, okay, if you're listening, and you've, you, you're a fan of Tig's, you want to endure yourself to Tig, but you're nervous because you know Tig doesn't like certain, to be touched and stuff. This is what to do. This is like, leave curated, curated gifts and kindness, but, but where you go, just to enjoy. And then you, like, that is so nice.

• 8:36Tig Notaro?

  That's the thing is, I don't need to be Cinderella. I don't need those things. I was just so blown away. And then also, side note, you know who else was at the festival? The day after I left, and I was like, damn, I wish, I'd love to see her perform. Natalie Merchant.

• 8:54Mae Martin?

  Nice.

• 8:55Tig Notaro?

  From 10,000 Maniacs.

• 8:56Mae Martin?

  These are the days.

• 9:00Tig Notaro?

  That's pretty good, right? Okay, Natalie is sitting front row at my, at my show, and then she's at the after-party, and we stay up all night talking and laughing and listening to Bob Seger together.

• 9:12Mae Martin?

  Wow.

• 9:14Tig Notaro?

  I don't even know how to tell you. My dreams came true, and I didn't know these were my dreams.

• 9:19Mae Martin?

  Yeah, this is crazy. You should check astrologically. This is, like, things were aligning.

• 9:24Tig Notaro?

  There was a full moon lunar eclipse, so that's supposed to bring about emotional chaos.

• 9:29Mae Martin?

  This sounds smooth sailing, like you were in the flow of synchronicity and life.

• 9:35Tig Notaro?

  Oh my god. Yeah, it was, it was such, I was like, wait, you like Bob Seger? I love Bob Seger. And we're like, me and Natalie Merchant are like, exchanging Bob Seger songs. And, anyway, I just wanted to share that I had the greatest time in Kinderhook, New York. But also, I don't want people to misinterpret that as, I think I am Cinderella, and I need things brought to me, or, oh, I forgot to tell you. When I had my other podcast, Don't Ask Tig, where I had advice.

• 10:15Mae Martin?

  Yeah.

• 10:15Tig Notaro?

  Yeah. I had Reese Witherspoon on, and somebody had asked about, she, she was like, oh, I've been thinking about opening a bookstore, and I don't know if I should.

• 10:25Mae Martin?

  Yeah.

• 10:26Tig Notaro?

  And I was like, you should. You should open it. Well, if I understand correctly, the woman who put this festival together, she was listening to that episode, and I think she said she had a pop-up bookstore. Her father had died recently, and she listened to my advice to that person, and she was like, I should open my bookstore.

• 10:47Mae Martin?

  No way.

• 10:48Tig Notaro?

  And so, it was all that folded in, and it was just a magical, beautiful time.

• 10:56Mae Martin?

  I really like that. Then also, that it came from a very authentic place, then, then being like, you brought this into my life, so we're, here's this nice experience for you. That's nice.

• 11:07Tig Notaro?

  I felt, and I told Stephanie, I said, I can't, this is not a word I would normally use, and I know people do, and I'm not making fun of anyone, but me personally, as Tig...

• 11:18Tig Notaro?

  I felt so nourished by that experience. You know, just that like real, you know, it's you walk through airports or places and people grab your arm. They're like, oh, I'm a fan. Or can I get a selfie? It wasn't that vibe. It was like, it was, it felt like, yeah.

• 11:38Mae Martin?

  An appreciation.

• 11:39Tig Notaro?

  Yeah. And it just was so upstate, dreamy. I picked your flowers. I made you food.

• 11:46Mae Martin?

  It sounds like, like how you want your birthday to be. You want your loved ones to just kind of plan something that goes smoothly with all the things you love. Like,

• 11:54Tig Notaro?

  Oh, I truly, I said to Natalie, I was like, I don't stay up this late. This is so insane. I'm just hanging out at a meet and greet. Well, I mean, she was, I was so nourished. I was so nourished. And then on my way out of town, I went to Natalie's YouTube page. This woman's a hit machine. She is a hit machine. And then she sent me a curated music song list for me to listen to on my journey.

• 12:25Mae Martin?

  What? Stuff she likes?

• 12:27Tig Notaro?

  Just stuff, songs that she loves. Yeah.

• 12:30Mae Martin?

  That's great.

• 12:31Tig Notaro?

  And she's doing incredible things in her life. Anyway, really cool people. Really, really cool. Her neighbor was there, her manager and all of the locals. I was just like, come on. I just had to get that out of my system. It was, it was magical. It was so magical.

• 12:48Mae Martin?

  I love how excited you are. We love to see our girl happy.

• 12:52Tig Notaro?

  We love to see our girl happy for sure.

• 12:55Mae Martin?

  And a little pampered. Yeah, that's nice, man.

• 12:58Tig Notaro?

  Anyway, I wish that for everybody. Thomas, do you remember that question on Don't Ask Tig?

• 13:04Speaker 03

  I do. Yeah, that is so cool. I love that. It inspires someone.

• 13:08Tig Notaro?

  I remember that too. You remember what?

• 13:11Mae Martin?

  I remember that question too.

• 13:13Tig Notaro?

  Do you really?

• 13:13Mae Martin?

  Yeah, I remember that episode. Yeah.

• 13:14Tig Notaro?

  Oh, how funny. Anyway, that's what it turned into down the road is a magical, magical night.

• 13:22Mae Martin?

  That's wild.

• 13:23Fortune Feimster?

  Love this for you, my friend.

• 13:25Tig Notaro?

  Thank you, my friend.

• 13:26Mae Martin?

  Meanwhile, old bingo and bongo over here. What have we been up to?

• 13:32Tig Notaro?

  What's going on with bingo and bongo? Bingo and bongo.

• 13:38Mae Martin?

  Yeah. How are you, Fortune? I got, I went to see, I went to the premiere of Practical Magic 2.

• 13:44Tig Notaro?

  Oh, yeah.

• 13:45Mae Martin?

  And I got to see Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman in the flesh.

• 13:49Tig Notaro?

  Sandy.

• 13:50Mae Martin?

  It's Sandy. I got to see Sandy.

• 13:52Tig Notaro?

  Yeah.

• 13:52Mae Martin?

  Sandy. Sandy. Sandy. Yeah.

• 13:56Fortune Feimster?

  I love, that's my, that's one of my celebrity crushes is Sandy Bullock.

• 14:02Mae Martin?

  Oh, really? Yes. I thought that was in the back of my mind somewhere. Yeah. She looked incredible. And they were so funny in that movie. I rewatched the first one and then the,

• 14:12Tig Notaro?

  To prepare.

• 14:12Mae Martin?

  To prepare. Yeah. In the daytime. And then the second one, they're, they're like a comedy double act. They're really funny. But I got pretty stressed about what to wear and I wore a black t-shirt and black pants. And then I brought another t-shirt in case Parv liked my other t-shirt better. And then I, but I didn't have a bag with me. And so then I showed up and didn't know what to do. And then I ended up throwing the t-shirt in the garbage because I didn't have anywhere to carry it. It was weird. Yeah. I threw it in the garbage. I was, I panicked.

• 14:42Tig Notaro?

  You have money to burn, man.

• 14:46Fortune Feimster?

  Trying to hide it in the nook somewhere.

• 14:48Mae Martin?

  Like, I could have tucked it behind the garbage. I don't know. But it was a good, inspiring movie. We need more like witches and women power. And I think that's what's, it's gonna take.

• 15:00Fortune Feimster?

  Kind of movies.

• 15:01Mae Martin?

  Yeah. For a big cultural revolution, like we had flower power. I think we need actual sorcery, like, like a woman to tap into. Yeah. Yeah. I think that's gonna be the thing.

• 15:14Tig Notaro?

  Okay. Be the thing? What do you mean? For what?

• 15:18Mae Martin?

  To finally bring about a new world order or to shake up the patriarchy and fix this.

• 15:26Tig Notaro?

  Bring in the witches.

• 15:27Mae Martin?

  Yeah. Bring in, we all need to tap into our intuition.

• 15:32Tig Notaro?

  Guys, merch alert. Bring, bring in the witches.

• 15:35Mae Martin?

  Bring in the witches. Yeah. We need covens. We need handsome covens.

• 15:40Fortune Feimster?

  Gets about potential merch.

• 15:42Mae Martin?

  Yeah, merch alert.

• 15:43Tig Notaro?

  And I don't track it at all. I don't even know if we actually get it.

• 15:50Tig Notaro?

  It's, it's just another, I love a list, is what it is. I love a list. Put it on the list, on the merch list. Bring in the witches.

• 16:01Mae Martin?

  Checking Allstate first could save you hundreds on car insurance. Not checking that I get enough pizza for everyone before calling in an order? Mama mia. I did my pizza math wrong and now we're completely out of pies, but not completely full.

• 16:13Tig Notaro?

  Yeah. Checking first is handsome. So check Allstate first for an auto quote. They could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate. Potential savings vary, subject to terms, conditions, and availability. Allstate North American Insurance Company and Affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois.

• 16:31Mae Martin?

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• 16:49Tig Notaro?

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• 17:34Mae Martin?

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• 17:47Fortune Feimster?

  I love my dog and would do anything for him. Today's episode is sponsored by the ASPCA Pet Health Insurance Program. If you've ever owned a pet, you know they run on their own logic. Jump first, think later, ask questions. Never. It's part of what makes them so lovable, but it's also how you end up with surprise vet visits you didn't see coming. That's why ASPCA Pet Health Insurance helps cover eligible vet expenses.

• 18:14Mae Martin?

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• 18:36Fortune Feimster?

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• 18:50Mae Martin?

  This is a paid advertisement. Insurance is underwritten by either Independence American Insurance Company or United States Fire Insurance Company and produced by PTZ Insurance Agency Limited. The ASPCA is not an insurer and is not engaged in the business of insurance. And, and last night I went to Beauty and the Beast dressed as Lumiere, the candle.

• 19:07Fortune Feimster?

  Oh, yeah. How did that go? You were worried about it.

• 19:10Tig Notaro?

  We were worried about it.

• 19:11Mae Martin?

  We were. Yeah. We attracted a lot of attention. I thought a lot of people would be dressed up and they're, I didn't see a single.

• 19:17Fortune Feimster?

  I could have told you easily that that was not going to be the case.

• 19:22Mae Martin?

  There were some little sort of five-year-olds in Belle dresses, but we were,

• 19:27Tig Notaro?

  Adults.

• 19:28Fortune Feimster?

  It's brightly colored. Most adults don't go in costumes.

• 19:33Mae Martin?

  I was Lumiere. Ama was Chip. Very cute. And, and so we'd rewatch the, I'm rewatching a lot of movies, I guess, but we'd rewatched Beauty and the Beast prior. And Chip is the little, the little teacup with the chip in it. And it was like, it was like, do I have to sleep in the cupboard? You know? And, and so Parv's daughter was really excited for Chip to come on in the musical. And then they had, they'd done this cool thing where they had a kid playing Chip, but you, he was just a head. So the cup is on a table and it's like a magic trick where he has no body. It looks like just a floating head. But that horrified Ama. She was like, like she did not, she was like, he's just a head. And we were like, no, there is a body. It's somewhere in there. And she was like, just a head.

• 20:19Tig Notaro?

  That's so funny.

• 20:21Mae Martin?

  Yeah. But then we left it intermission because she's fallen asleep. Yeah.

• 20:26Tig Notaro?

  Oh.

• 20:26Mae Martin?

  Yeah. The first half was like, I mean, they'd be our guest. That song, they made it a 15-minute, they're adding dance breaks.

• 20:35Tig Notaro?

  Oh, my God. And this is which movie?

• 20:38Mae Martin?

  Beauty and the Beast, but the musical on stage.

• 20:41Fortune Feimster?

  Yeah. They have to take into consideration, kids are there.

• 20:45Mae Martin?

  Yeah.

• 20:45Fortune Feimster?

  And their attention span is not great.

• 20:48Tig Notaro?

  And take all the F-bombs out.

• 20:50Fortune Feimster?

  Yeah. Take those F-bombs out and be our guest. It's about five minutes.

• 20:55Tig Notaro?

  Did I ever tell you the story of my friend who, when she was in elementary school, she,

• 21:03Tig Notaro?

  She told her mother that the teacher told all the students to come dressed as their favorite author. Did I tell you this story?

• 21:14Mae Martin?

  Go on.

• 21:15Fortune Feimster?

  Uh, no, I don't think so.

• 21:17Tig Notaro?

  So her mother sewed Dr. Seuss costume with a big floppy hat for her to go to school in. And she went to school dressed like that, only to find out there was a misunderstanding that the, that the teacher said, we will address our favorite authors on Friday.

• 21:40Mae Martin?

  Oh, God.

• 21:41Tig Notaro?

  So she was at school with a big floppy hat, dressed like Dr. Seuss.

• 21:48Mae Martin?

  But also, Dr. Seuss didn't dress like the cat in the hat, but I get, yeah.

• 21:52Tig Notaro?

  You know, it's a kid.

• 21:54Fortune Feimster?

  Representation of it.

• 21:55Tig Notaro?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 21:56Fortune Feimster?

  That's pretty funny.

• 21:58Tig Notaro?

  Anyway, how are you doing, Fortune?

• 22:00Mae Martin?

  Yeah, what's going on with you?

• 22:02Tig Notaro?

  Oh, God.

• 22:03Mae Martin?

  Man, I'm glad that we record this podcast regularly so that we have like a regular check-in with our bud.

• 22:10Tig Notaro?

  We have storylines. We've got things to track and follow. Some days are good, some days are average, some days are terrible, but we still show up.

• 22:19Mae Martin?

  That sounds like a Dr. Seuss.

• 22:21Tig Notaro?

  Here's what I can say. What can I say?

• 22:25Fortune Feimster?

  Um, in my career, things are fantastic. Thank God.

• 22:31Tig Notaro?

  Um, yeah, you're in the top 100, right?

• 22:34Mae Martin?

  Truck me along. That's right.

• 22:35Fortune Feimster?

  Hell, yeah. Should we check? Not anymore. It's gone, gone.

• 22:39Tig Notaro?

  Okay.

• 22:39Fortune Feimster?

  Um, so thank, thank God. That's my saving grace. Uh, there are some things in my life that are very difficult right now. I'm not going to pretend otherwise.

• 22:48Tig Notaro?

  Yeah.

• 22:49Fortune Feimster?

  Uh, some things that I talk about, some things I not going to talk about right now. Maybe one day, we'll see.

• 22:56Tig Notaro?

  Yeah.

• 22:56Fortune Feimster?

  Um, but yeah, there are things that have been very stressful for me and sad and hard. Um, and it's been a tough time. I had, I had a bit of a rough week.

• 23:08Tig Notaro?

  Yeah.

• 23:09Fortune Feimster?

  You know, it'll ebb and flow for a while. And then at some point I will come out the other end of some of it. I just happen to have some, a couple of very big things happening simultaneously.

• 23:19Tig Notaro?

  Yeah.

• 23:20Fortune Feimster?

  And it's, it's a lot at one time.

• 23:22Tig Notaro?

  Mm-hmm.

• 23:23Mae Martin?

  You will come out the other side. Yeah.

• 23:25Fortune Feimster?

  So, you know, I'm just trying to get through it. And, uh, I, you know, having the situation with my mom is, is the most important thing.

• 23:36Tig Notaro?

  Of course.

• 23:36Fortune Feimster?

  And the hardest of the things, but it makes the other things also happening, uh, even that much more difficult.

• 23:43Mae Martin?

  Yeah, like your capacity is, you're tapped.

• 23:46Fortune Feimster?

  Ease.

• 23:47Tig Notaro?

  Mm-hmm.

• 23:48Fortune Feimster?

  And, and that's, and so I try not to dwell on it too much. And, you know, I'm not really talking about a lot of it or any of it. Um, and so, you know, I, people, you know, come to my shows, they're very sweet. They're, they send me messages like, you're, you're just want to make sure you're okay. I'm good. Like, that's like, comedy is my saving grace. Like, being on stage, everything is so fun. Like, I'm not going out there and pretending to be happy. I'm genuinely so happy to be on stage and to be, like, it is my respite is going out there and hearing people laugh. Um, so that is definitely getting me through some, some tricky times.

• 24:30Tig Notaro?

  Mm-hmm.

• 24:32Mae Martin?

  Well, so, yeah. Thanks for asking.

• 24:35Tig Notaro?

  We all, we all need a little tenderness and maybe some extra tenderness.

• 24:41Fortune Feimster?

  Yeah, some tenderness right now.

• 24:43Mae Martin?

  And friends to, to vent to.

• 24:46Fortune Feimster?

  My friends have all been awesome, all you guys. And I text my, you know, you guys, I text everybody, uh, in my life that, that's, I'm close to. And they give me, you know, everyone gives me encouragement and love. And, and that's, you know, my, my family and my friends are carrying me through, um.

• 25:09Mae Martin?

  Well, you're the hardest working person we know. No one deserves rest and love and peace more than you. Tenderness and care.

• 25:18Tig Notaro?

  And I want to say.

• 25:19Mae Martin?

  Give me that tenderness.

• 25:20Tig Notaro?

  Yes, nourishing. I'll use the word again. You need to be nourished.

• 25:24Mae Martin?

  Yeah, you need to be nourished.

• 25:26Tig Notaro?

  Um, I've gotten your texts, but I ha, I wanted to tell you, I've also been getting faxes from you.

• 25:31Fortune Feimster?

  Yeah, I haven't seen you a lot of faxes. It's just drawings of cats.

• 25:36Tig Notaro?

  I appreciate it.

• 25:37Fortune Feimster?

  Puppies.

• 25:37Tig Notaro?

  And that's giving me tenderness.

• 25:39Fortune Feimster?

  Flowers.

• 25:40Tig Notaro?

  Yes.

• 25:41Mae Martin?

  I'm receiving.

• 25:41Tig Notaro?

  You gotta go to Kinderhook.

• 25:43Fortune Feimster?

  I know. I need my, I need my soul to be replenished in Kinderhook.

• 25:47Tig Notaro?

  You gotta go to Kinderhook and we gotta have our wellness weekend.

• 25:50Mae Martin?

  Can you call up that lesbian couple and get?

• 25:54Tig Notaro?

  Yes.

• 25:54Fortune Feimster?

  You might not want the tofu curry.

• 25:56Mae Martin?

  Salad.

• 25:57Fortune Feimster?

  Seasonal salad, yeah.

• 25:59Tig Notaro?

  You guys, there was like two ingredients. If not, maybe three, maybe three, whatever. This isn't about my Kinderhook experience. It's about Fortune's future Kinderhook experience. Okay? We gotta, girl, we gotta get you there.

• 26:13Mae Martin?

  Now I do want to know what was in the salad. Was it apple?

• 26:16Fortune Feimster?

  Girl, what was in that salad?

• 26:17Tig Notaro?

  I'm not telling you. It's not about me and my salad right now. Okay?

• 26:20Mae Martin?

  We'll circle back.

• 26:21Fortune Feimster?

  What if that's the only thing that will make me happy right now?

• 26:23Tig Notaro?

  Girl, I know it's not. You're misled. I know you can find joy elsewhere. I don't know the name of those things that were in my salad.

• 26:34Mae Martin?

  I've been listening to Tim Curry's, um, audiobook of his autobiography. He's someone who doesn't divulge a lot of personal stuff, but he loves his work and talks about. And it's really funny. And I just learned a really good fact from it.

• 26:50Tig Notaro?

  Oh, yeah? Hold on one second.

• 26:51Mae Martin?

  I get it. Yes. So, did you know the word brat comes from British regiment attached traveler?

• 27:00Tig Notaro?

  Hmm.

• 27:01Fortune Feimster?

  I don't even know what that is.

• 27:03Tig Notaro?

  So when somebody's acting immature and mean.

• 27:07Mae Martin?

  Yeah.

• 27:07Tig Notaro?

  You can say that they are a British?

• 27:11Mae Martin?

  British regiment attached traveler. I think it comes from kids whose parents were in the military in some way. So they would travel around a lot and they were like, it was like, oh, and then the army brats. Like they, it was like the, uh, someone, uh, it's not as good a fact as I thought.

• 27:28Tig Notaro?

  It's really good.

• 27:29Mae Martin?

  So casually.

• 27:30Tig Notaro?

  I want to get it down so I can call people.

• 27:32Fortune Feimster?

  The whole thing.

• 27:33Mae Martin?

  Bridget.

• 27:34Tig Notaro?

  I'm not crazy about the word brat or bratty or.

• 27:37Mae Martin?

  Same, but I think that says something about, I'm like, I'm like, I hate the word triggered, but I'm like, when people say, I think I was called a brat by a boyfriend once when I was a teenager and I, I lost, I hated it.

• 27:49Tig Notaro?

  Yeah.

• 27:50Mae Martin?

  It's so, yeah, snarky.

• 27:53Tig Notaro?

  I don't picture you as a brat.

• 27:55Mae Martin?

  Thanks. I don't picture myself that way. I don't picture myself.

• 27:59Tig Notaro?

  We have bratty personalities.

• 28:01Mae Martin?

  Brat doesn't.

• 28:02Tig Notaro?

  Thomas has a bratty personality.

• 28:06Mae Martin?

  Tom, Thomas, I saw your.

• 28:08Speaker 03

  No, I don't.

• 28:09Mae Martin?

  Thomas did like a thing, reviewing all the books you've read.

• 28:13Tig Notaro?

  Oh, Stephanie told me.

• 28:16Mae Martin?

  Yeah, I couldn't buy them all, but it was, and never read them, but it was crazy. You've read that much this summer.

• 28:22Tig Notaro?

  He reads that always, that amount.

• 28:25Speaker 03

  A lot. And, uh, so I, I just decided I wanted to talk about the books I was reading. So I made a little Instagram video, which you can go watch.

• 28:33Tig Notaro?

  Are you gonna keep making the videos? Cause Stephanie's told me, she was like, this is so good. She was like, she, she was sitting on the other couch and she was like this. She goes, oh my God.

• 28:44Mae Martin?

  That's what I was like.

• 28:45Tig Notaro?

  And she was like, Thomas is doing book review. She was like, this is so good.

• 28:50Mae Martin?

  Oh, yeah.

• 28:50Tig Notaro?

  Oh, my God. I hope he keeps doing this. Oh, my God.

• 28:54Mae Martin?

  It felt like a big deal to me too. I was like screenshotting all the recommended.

• 28:58Tig Notaro?

  Yeah.

• 28:59Mae Martin?

  Oh, my God, open a bookstore.

• 29:01Speaker 03

  I want to open a bookstore one day.

• 29:03Tig Notaro?

  You should go to Kinderhook. Everyone go to Kinderhook right now.

• 29:07Speaker 03

  Bookstores covered there. Some small towns.

• 29:09Fortune Feimster?

  You just need a gaggle, a gaggle of lesbians taking care of you in Kinderhook.

• 29:14Tig Notaro?

  Yeah. Natalie said that 80%. She said, she said 80% of her show is lesbians.

• 29:22Fortune Feimster?

  Hell, yeah.

• 29:23Tig Notaro?

  Yeah. So, uh, it's a sweet spot.

• 29:26Fortune Feimster?

  Seasonal salad and then hop over there.

• 29:28Tig Notaro?

  Yeah, well.

• 29:30Mae Martin?

  Did I tell, did I tell you guys about the, the guy who made the video about how much he hated my Largo show? I think, I think maybe I mentioned it.

• 29:38Fortune Feimster?

  Person. You told me. I think Thomas and I impersonated before Tig got there.

• 29:42Tig Notaro?

  Somebody made a video?

• 29:43Mae Martin?

  I hate that it's popped into my mind and I'm talking about it again.

• 29:48Tig Notaro?

  What is wrong with people?

• 29:50Fortune Feimster?

  Tig.

• 29:50Tig Notaro?

  If you don't like something, move it along.

• 29:54Fortune Feimster?

  Move it along.

• 29:56Tig Notaro?

  Get the heck out of here.

• 29:59Mae Martin?

  What made me laugh? And it's, I shouldn't like give him any attention and it, but I, I can't lie, it got to me because.

• 30:06Fortune Feimster?

  Well, let's talk about him on our hit podcast.

• 30:08Mae Martin?

  Yeah. So it was like a Wednesday night show at Largo, right?

• 30:12Fortune Feimster?

  Okay.

• 30:12Tig Notaro?

  Which is very experimental for you. To be honest, I did hear about this show.

• 30:17Mae Martin?

  No, don't fuck with me.

• 30:21Mae Martin?

  And listen, was it my best show? Probably not, but um, it's like a new material show. So it was me, Sarah Silverman, then we had improv and then a musical guest. And I did one duet with the musical guest. This video, this guy goes-

• 30:36Tig Notaro?

  Who was the musical guest?

• 30:37Mae Martin?

  Al Many.

• 30:38Tig Notaro?

  Okay.

• 30:39Mae Martin?

  Really, really amazing. And um, this guy, he makes the video and he goes, and he tags me and Largo. And he goes, I don't normally make videos, front-facing videos like this, but I, I have just been, I was in shavasana in yoga, which already I'm annoyed. He goes, I was in shavasana in yoga, and I just kept getting angrier and angrier, thinking about this experience I had at Largo. I'm picturing this guy in his yoga class, just being like, "Gah!" And then he said, so the show, you know, my wife and I went to see Mae Martin at Largo. Mae comes out and uh, is using a question bucket. So the audience has to do all the work and Mae tells a few funny stories.

• 31:18Mae Martin?

  Then Sarah Silverman comes out and does what resembles a comedy set with uh, and had notes on stage. But he said something like, with eight by four notes, like he described the size of the paper. That pissed him off. And then, but that was like-

• 31:33Tig Notaro?

  He was upset with Sarah, too?

• 31:34Mae Martin?

  He was upset with Sarah.

• 31:35Fortune Feimster?

  So many specific, random things.

• 31:38Tig Notaro?

  Yeah. Did you tell Sarah he was upset with her?

• 31:40Mae Martin?

  No, should I send her the video?

• 31:43Tig Notaro?

  Yeah.

• 31:43Mae Martin?

  And then he goes, the improv set, I mean, improv's hit or miss. This was B minus. And then the musical guest was okay.

• 31:49Fortune Feimster?

  Hey, that's pretty good.

• 31:50Mae Martin?

  The more he's describing it, I'm like, this sounds like a pretty good show, like-

• 31:53Tig Notaro?

  I would have killed for a B minus in school.

• 31:55Mae Martin?

  I know.

• 31:56Fortune Feimster?

  Not bad.

• 31:57Mae Martin?

  Yeah. He said, so he said, I told some funny stories. Sarah had notes. Then there was B minus improv, and then there was a musical guest. I'm like, that doesn't sound-

• 32:05Fortune Feimster?

  Why are you-

• 32:06Mae Martin?

  Fine, it's a fine Wednesday night. It's a fine Wednesday night. Why are you in yoga stressing about it? Ah, why am I even talking about it?

• 32:14Tig Notaro?

  Because that, why is he talking about it? If it's not for you, you just go, you know what?

• 32:20Mae Martin?

  You know what? I gotta get off social media. I, I, yeah, I have to.

• 32:24Tig Notaro?

  Well, I cheated and looked at Thomas's video.

• 32:28Mae Martin?

  Oh, right. Well, that's a little ray of sunshine. Yeah.

• 32:31Tig Notaro?

  Yeah.

• 32:32Mae Martin?

  Yeah. I'm gonna get the, there was one Thomas that you said, this one's a little spicy, one of the books.

• 32:37Speaker 03

  Oh, Flesh by David Floyd.

• 32:39Mae Martin?

  I'm gonna-

• 32:39Tig Notaro?

  Oh, like sexy? Like sexy spicy?

• 32:43Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 32:44Mae Martin?

  And it's like, it's fiction, right?

• 32:46Speaker 03

  It's fiction, yeah.

• 32:49Mae Martin?

  Okay, I'm gonna get that.

• 32:50Speaker 03

  I think he'd like it.

• 32:52Mae Martin?

  I'm reading a book on, on, well, this is, I feel like I'm a caricature of myself right now. But I'm on like BDSM as spiritual practice.

• 33:04Fortune Feimster?

  You're like, call yourself before you say it.

• 33:06Tig Notaro?

  We, here's the problem. We are who we are.

• 33:09Mae Martin?

  We are who we are.

• 33:12Tig Notaro?

  We are, and we have come together to be our own individual selves.

• 33:18Mae Martin?

  That's right.

• 33:19Tig Notaro?

  And that is what our magic is.

• 33:22Mae Martin?

  Yeah.

• 33:22Tig Notaro?

  And you do you.

• 33:25Mae Martin?

  That's right.

• 33:25Fortune Feimster?

  You're right. And you do you.

• 33:27Tig Notaro?

  We don't want some other version of Mae Martin to show up on this show, kids.

• 33:32Mae Martin?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 33:33Tig Notaro?

  We're not looking for a different version of Fortune Feimster on this show. Yes, we're all looking for a different version of me, but so, what? I'm too old to change.

• 33:47Mae Martin?

  That's what we love. Yeah, you're right. We are who we are.

• 33:50Tig Notaro?

  We are who we are. This is what we're doing with what we've got.

• 34:01Mae Martin?

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• 34:24Tig Notaro?

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• 34:42Mae Martin?

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• 35:05Mae Martin?

  It is funny, though, like, just like the purpose of therapy is someone pointing out, your patterns are being like, oh, that's interesting. A few months ago, you said this. The podcast kind of has made me aware of like, my patterns and my personality.

• 35:17Fortune Feimster?

  Interesting.

• 35:18Mae Martin?

  Yeah.

• 35:19Fortune Feimster?

  Not me.

• 35:20Mae Martin?

  There I go again. But it's a great book. It's, it's interesting what it says. It's talking about like, in history, rites of passage and stuff that involve, you know, things like cold plunges or fasting or things like that. And it's sort of putting BDSM into that category where it's like, you're, instead of avoiding pain, you're curating a small manageable amount of pain and transmuting the experience and making it pleasurable. It's like, yeah, it was interesting.

• 35:47Tig Notaro?

  Well, now you've gone too far.

• 35:48Mae Martin?

  Now, yeah, I know. Yeah. Cut that. Yeah, yeah.

• 35:52Tig Notaro?

  Uh, well, at least you're reading, right? At least somebody can-

• 35:55Mae Martin?

  I'm not reading anything. It's the first book I've been able to read in a long time. I'm like four pages in.

• 36:01Tig Notaro?

  Oh, you're four pages in? Look at you!

• 36:04Fortune Feimster?

  You're really doing it. I haven't even been really watching TV much lately. I'm usually very into TV and I turn it on and nothing seems very exciting.

• 36:13Tig Notaro?

  Even the Little League World Series, we watched that.

• 36:18Fortune Feimster?

  I didn't know that was on.

• 36:19Tig Notaro?

  Oh, I know it is.

• 36:21Mae Martin?

  They filmed it?

• 36:22Tig Notaro?

  Yeah. No, we, we, we watched the Little League World Series.

• 36:27Mae Martin?

  I didn't know that was a thing. That's pretty great.

• 36:30Tig Notaro?

  Yeah. And again, World Series. So it's like these teams from all over the world.

• 36:34Mae Martin?

  How old is-

• 36:35Tig Notaro?

  And it's so cute. They're like 12?

• 36:37Mae Martin?

  Wow, that's real, the pressure, the, oh God. Are they like still sort of looking for their parents in the audience?

• 36:43Tig Notaro?

  No, no. It's wild. Like even when Max and Finn were like, you know, eight or something, it just, they just started to feel like little dudes on, you know, they're like in their world.

• 36:57Mae Martin?

  Yeah.

• 36:58Tig Notaro?

  You know? And I don't even think those kids are thinking about the cameras, you know? They're so, to get to, I can't even believe I'm talking about the Little League World Series, but that is where I am. My life is all baseball all the time, but um, Stephanie's is more than mine. But um, it is, they're just, they're just so, so deeply focused to get to the World Series that you're not thinking cameras or mom, mommy, you know?

• 37:27Mae Martin?

  Yeah.

• 37:28Tig Notaro?

  Yeah.

• 37:29Mae Martin?

  Fortune, what do you watch when you're like on a flight to a show or something? Do you watch something or?

• 37:34Fortune Feimster?

  Um, lately, I haven't, I haven't.

• 37:36Mae Martin?

  Are you playing Find My, are you playing a lot of Find My Feim?

• 37:39Fortune Feimster?

  I'm playing that. I'm scrolling online. I, I do love scrolling TikTok. I will say, I do get in that rabbit hole. Um, but I've been where, I was, lately I've been a dork and working on my set on planes, but, and then occasionally I'll watch a movie. If there's, they're just not putting out much stuff right now. And I'm ready for them to get some more things going out there.

• 38:03Mae Martin?

  I watched the new horror movie on, or scary movie on Netflix with Robert De Niro and Adam Scott. And about halfway through, I was thinking, I think I have a crush on Adam Scott. And then I thought, what does that mean? That's Tick.

• 38:18Tig Notaro?

  Oh, yeah, full circle.

• 38:20Mae Martin?

  It was when he, he put on these glasses and he's, he's a grieving father and he's like, and he was really good. He was really, yeah.

• 38:27Tig Notaro?

  I had an interesting day, not, it didn't like take over my day, but I was on a walk and this woman came up to me and she goes, I used to date Adam Scott. And she said, and I'm sorry, but you are better looking than he is. And I was like, I was gonna, I was gonna text him and just be like, listen, I don't know who this person was, but one of your exes finds me more appealing than you. Yeah.

• 38:56Mae Martin?

  Wow. I wonder if it ended badly with her and she's just going around looking for anyone.

• 39:02Fortune Feimster?

  She's a lesbian, but a lesbian now?

• 39:04Mae Martin?

  Yeah, she's-

• 39:05Tig Notaro?

  I threw it in Stephanie's face real fast.

• 39:10Fortune Feimster?

  We have to take our wins where we can get them.

• 39:12Tig Notaro?

  I wonder if she was into my eye closing.

• 39:14Fortune Feimster?

  Probably that, yeah.

• 39:15Tig Notaro?

  Yeah, yeah. Should we get to our question?

• 39:18Fortune Feimster?

  Let's do it! Today's question asker is the star of movies including Idiocracy, The Royal Tenenbaums, Old School, and Legally Blonde. He stars as Golden Fisk in The Hawk on Netflix. Great show, by the way. Everyone should check it out. Luke Wilson is asking today's question.

• 39:42Speaker 05

  Hi, Handsome Pod. It's Luke Wilson. My question was, what would you consider your big break where you got your start in the business? And did anybody in particular give you a hand? That's my question.

• 39:59Tig Notaro?

  Can I just tell you, when I lived with a group of um, roommates years ago, one of them was watching Idiocracy. And I walked into the room and I was like, what is this? And I, and like, I was like, this is, this is dumb. And then two seconds later, obsessed.

• 40:20Mae Martin?

  Yeah, really.

• 40:21Tig Notaro?

  Have you seen it?

• 40:22Mae Martin?

  Never seen it.

• 40:23Tig Notaro?

  It's so-

• 40:24Fortune Feimster?

  Well, now it's kind of scary because it's, we're going into Idiocracy now.

• 40:29Tig Notaro?

  Yes.

• 40:30Fortune Feimster?

  Back then, when it was made, it felt very far-fetched.

• 40:33Tig Notaro?

  Yes.

• 40:34Mae Martin?

  So it's like satire, like political satire?

• 40:36Fortune Feimster?

  Like what our country could become.

• 40:39Tig Notaro?

  And it didn't speak to me for one second, but man, second number two, I love Idiocracy.

• 40:47Mae Martin?

  I love The Royal Tenenbaums. That still gets me. Um, and do you remember the movie Dog Park?

• 40:54Fortune Feimster?

  I never saw that.

• 40:55Mae Martin?

  It was directed by Bruce McCullough. That was Luke Wilson. I think he's so great.

• 41:00Fortune Feimster?

  He's been in so many things. I love the family stone. I love skeleton twins.

• 41:04Mae Martin?

  Yeah, you're right. The list goes on. Okay, big break.

• 41:09Tig Notaro?

  I'm still waiting for mine.

• 41:11Mae Martin?

  Yeah.

• 41:13Fortune Feimster?

  I mean, mine's very clear. Um, I, I had a very, um, pre-this and- Post this. Um, my, I had moved out to LA in two thousand and three and in two thousand and five, I started improv, just kind of like a way to try to make friends. And I had done some theater in college, but kind of had like stage fright and just did not excel whatsoever. So obviously the, the bug was there to like perform, but I didn't really have much exposure to comedy. And then once I started improv, it just was like, oh, man, this is like, this is it. That just

• 41:52Tig Notaro?

  And are we talking B minus or B plus improv?

• 41:55Fortune Feimster?

  Well, because I just started, I'd say B minus. Um, I feel like I got better in time and, and sometimes even when you're good, you still have some, some C minus.

• 42:05Tig Notaro?

  Yes, sir.

• 42:05Fortune Feimster?

  Uh, um, performances. But, um, it just was like, I just was set on this path of like comedies. It, I love it so much. And then two years after that, I started stand up. And then once I did stand up, I'm like, oh my God, I'm all in on this.

• 42:21Tig Notaro?

  Mm hmm.

• 42:21Fortune Feimster?

  Um, but you know, for those, um, I, I was kind of trying to get better at it in LA and doing all the like Comedy Store and improv and some of the alternative shows. And, um, I just wasn't really, you know, getting that, that break. And, and so I was like, I'm just gonna like work my booty off until like, there's some opportunity here. And I got Last Comic Standing in two thousand and ten, which definitely like opened doors as far as like some people finally.

• 42:50Mae Martin?

  I didn't know you did that.

• 42:51Fortune Feimster?

  Yeah, it was, it was a, the season where it was all comedy. There was no like, living in a house or like, um, you know how they had different, I don't know, games they had to play. It was just us on stage doing stand up. Um, and it was, it was awesome. It was my first TV gig, um, that opened some doors. But then like after that, it was very slim pickings as far as like work. I was like broke. I had no money. Um, and I had been working all along. It's just that my job as an entertainment journalist was coming to an end. And I just was like, oh my God, like, what am I gonna do? And I, um, submitted a writing packet, uh, to the Chelsea Lately Show. This was two thousand, end of two

• 43:36Fortune Feimster?

  thousand and ten. And I was, they got like three hundred submissions. And I was just like, there's no way I'm getting on the show. It was like the super hot show at the time. And, um, I had tried to get on there as a panelist and they were not having it because they told me, they, the, the feedback that, uh, was that I was too chill, too laid back. Um, it wouldn't work on that high energy panel. And so I submitted the writing packet and I got a callback to meet with the producers, met with them. That was great. And then, um, then they said, we want you to meet with Chelsea. And there was like, maybe eight other people that were gonna meet, meeting with her as

• 44:18Fortune Feimster?

  well. And I had not watched much of the show, truth be told. And so I just like started studying.

• 44:25Tig Notaro?

  I'm telling.

• 44:26Fortune Feimster?

  Yeah. Well, it's funny because the writing packet, I had to write for Chelsea in her voice and like, so I'm like writing jokes about like food and snacks for Chelsea, which was like not her. You know, I think I had a Harry Potter joke in there, like so not Chelsea. Um, and then I met with her and, um, uh, she, it was about six minutes into the meeting. We were talking about, I was just talking about whatever. And she just gets up in the middle of the meeting. She goes, well, nice to meet you. And she leaves. And I was like, oh.

• 45:01Tig Notaro?

  That's not the Chelsea I know.

• 45:06Fortune Feimster?

  And I was like so desperate to get this job because I, when I tell you I had no money, I had nothing. And I did not know what I was gonna do. I just was so broke. And I called my manager and I was like, I had, there's, I didn't get it. Um, she like abruptly got up six minutes later and then next day they were like, you got the job. And, um, I couldn't believe it. And it changed, it changed my life. Um, I got, uh, to start, I, I started as a full-time writer and within two weeks, they put me on the panel. Um, I ended up writing on the show for three years.

• 45:45Tig Notaro?

  Nice.

• 45:46Fortune Feimster?

  Was on the show a lot and have been working ever since. So I'm, I've always.

• 45:52Mae Martin?

  That is like a really sudden and like turn, a really rapid kind of jump there.

• 45:58Fortune Feimster?

  Yeah, it was like, um, just years of like nothing. And then all of a sudden boom, this big job. And, uh, I, I've always given her due credit for that because that was a time, I had tested twice for SNL and had not gotten that. And like, um, been auditioning and auditioning, got nothing. And no one knew what to do with me. I was considered different, which was not a positive thing at the time. And she had this knack for like, enjoying things that were different and putting, putting that on TV when other people weren't. Um, and so I was just really grateful that she saw something. And, and once she saw something, a bunch of other people were like, oh, yeah. Yeah.

• 46:42Fortune Feimster?

  You know, it was like, you have to have that one person like pick you. Um, and yeah, that, it, it was the beginning. I've been working ever since. So that was a huge break for me.

• 46:54Tig Notaro?

  That's awesome.

• 46:55Mae Martin?

  Did it help you see something in yourself too? Like, well, I guess, like that panel format.

• 47:00Fortune Feimster?

  Yeah, I learned a lot doing that.

• 47:02Mae Martin?

  Yeah, it hones your, your voice a little.

• 47:04Fortune Feimster?

  Yeah.

• 47:05Mae Martin?

  Yeah.

• 47:05Fortune Feimster?

  Which just got me into the mode of being a professional at this, you know?

• 47:10Mae Martin?

  Yeah.

• 47:10Fortune Feimster?

  I was like, oh, this is not just me going to the Comedy Store and tell some jokes. I'm like, this is like a job and I have to write for a professional who's gonna put it on television. It just sort of focused me more.

• 47:22Mae Martin?

  Yeah.

• 47:23Fortune Feimster?

  Um, and then, and you know, right? I, I mean, I wrote on there, like I said, for three years, five shows, uh, a week for three years. It was like five, five hundred, six hundred shows I helped write for.

• 47:36Mae Martin?

  Um, so it sharpened my writing skill. Come low too. Wow.

• 47:40Fortune Feimster?

  Yeah, I finally, I mean, I, I'm telling you, I went from negative two thousand dollars because I owed my roommate rent to like having a proper, um, paying job.

• 47:51Mae Martin?

  Yeah, that's amazing.

• 47:52Fortune Feimster?

  Literally like overnight. So it, it was, I, did I ever tell you the, the Australia bit of that?

• 48:01Tig Notaro?

  You have to use the accent.

• 48:02Fortune Feimster?

  Okay.

• 48:03Mae Martin?

  Yeah.

• 48:04Fortune Feimster?

  So

• 48:06Fortune Feimster?

  I will tell you very quickly, um, that New Year's Eve before I got hired in January, I was just having this like come to Jesus moment with my friends. We were sitting around a table. There was like 12 of us. Um, I had no money, no prospects. Um, my journalism job a year prior had come to an end. I didn't have that safety net anymore. I was giving it like a full-time go at stand up and making no money at it. On the road, doing like college shows for like nobody. I was so bummed. My, no love life, no nothing. And I just was like, something has got to give. Like, and I'm telling this to my friends because we're going around the table. You know, LA is kind of woo woo. They're like, everyone go around the table and say what you want for the new year.

• 48:49Mae Martin?

  Yeah.

• 48:49Fortune Feimster?

  And I was like, I just, I was like, I just kind of like gave myself over like, please, just something's got to happen. And my friends collectively started like banging on the table and clapping. And they're like, yeah, yeah, yeah, come on, come on. And my one friend goes, and you're gonna go to Australia and you're gonna go to Australia. And, and like the Oprah kind of thing. And we were all clapping. We're like, yeah, we're gonna go to Australia. Yeah. So I get this job. I get this job two weeks later. And on the very first day of the job, the producer walks me into his office at the end of the day. And he goes, we're so excited to have you. And by the

• 49:28Fortune Feimster?

  way, uh, this is pretty cool. We're gonna be shooting a week of shows in Australia in May and you're going. And I was like, oh my God.

• 49:39Mae Martin?

  This is what I'm talking about, bringing the witches. We need covens, like a group of friends who are all their energy.

• 49:47Tig Notaro?

  And, and you feel like now, or after that happened, you're like, that did it.

• 49:51Fortune Feimster?

  My friends are witches. Yeah.

• 49:53Mae Martin?

  Yeah, that's awesome, dude.

• 49:55Fortune Feimster?

  What about you guys?

• 49:56Mae Martin?

  The thing that came to my mind was, uh, in 2012, I guess in England. Well, it's weird because England has such a kind of self-contained industry. Like there's people playing arenas there that, that don't make it over here. But I'd, I'd been there a couple of years and, uh, I think I'd done one at Edinburgh Fringe. And then I was about to go back and, and I, I was so broke and my grandma had just died. And then I broke up with my fiance and I, I, but I went to Edinburgh and had a good month in Edinburgh. And I got booked to do the show Russell Howard's Good News. Do you know that guy, Russell Howard? He's a British comedian, blonde hair.

• 50:42Mae Martin?

  Yeah, that's all I got. But anyway, I did a set of like musical comedy in my tight jeans and my small eyebrows. And, uh, and then that was what allowed me to quit my day job, like, I guess. I'd had day, like, I was about 25 and then I was able to, off that, I could get on the club circuit and like tour around the country. And so it felt like, yeah, but I was so nervous. My whole body was shaking. I'm not good at a short set anyway. I mean, ask that guy who made the video. But I like to, to do a televised, like six minute sets, stresses me out so much. Oh, it's so stressful. But that was, yeah. And I got, I think I had just got an agent, but it was still

• 51:27Mae Martin?

  my agent now. Um, yeah. So maybe, maybe that.

• 51:32Fortune Feimster?

  Nice.

• 51:32Mae Martin?

  Yeah. It was, it was a fun, it was a good summer.

• 51:36Fortune Feimster?

  And then definitely, I would say your big break in America was feel good, right? Because that, even though you filmed in England, it was very popular over here as well.

• 51:45Mae Martin?

  I don't know if, I, I think it critically did well. I don't know how many people, but it was the pandemic and, but yeah, so I guess, I guess that, but, oh, but this is what I, I knew there was something fun I wanted to.

• 51:57Tig Notaro?

  Sparkle in that eye.

• 51:58Mae Martin?

  Yeah, there's a real sparkle in my eye because I wanted to say, I was like, maybe I should tell you guys about my real big break in grade four when I played Charlie Brown. I think I've talked to you about it before.

• 52:09Fortune Feimster?

  Oh, yeah. That's a, that's a real, that's a true good break.

• 52:12Mae Martin?

  I, because grade three, I lived in England. Grade four, I go back to Toronto and I have a weird little British accent. And I get cast as Charlie Brown, the role I was born to play. And you're a good man, Charlie Brown. And I, can I play a recording of my weird little British accent?

• 52:29Tig Notaro?

  Please.

• 52:30Mae Martin?

  And I am trying to.

• 52:31Tig Notaro?

  This is gonna become the number one handsome episode with little baby, uh, Mae Martin. Hit it.

• 52:38Mae Martin?

  Okay, it's so me. I really relate.

• 52:43Tig Notaro?

  Wait.

• 52:43Mae Martin?

  Okay, see if you can hear it.

• 52:47Speaker 00

  Sunday, I wake up early to watch the sunrise and I think about how beautiful it is and how my whole life lies before me and I get a very positive feeling about this.

• 53:01Tig Notaro?

  Oh, you're so cute.

• 53:03Mae Martin?

  Weird.

• 53:04Tig Notaro?

  That is really, that is really cute.

• 53:07Fortune Feimster?

  You are good, very good at enunciating.

• 53:09Tig Notaro?

  Yeah, you seem like a theater kid.

• 53:11Mae Martin?

  Can I play you one more bit?

• 53:13Tig Notaro?

  Please. Okay, that's what we're here for.

• 53:19Fortune Feimster?

  Go to U-Haul.

• 53:40Tig Notaro?

  May, that's so cute.

• 53:57Fortune Feimster?

  You are, you sound very theater kid.

• 54:03Tig Notaro?

  That voice.

• 54:05Fortune Feimster?

  I love it.

• 54:05Tig Notaro?

  People must have been dying.

• 54:07Fortune Feimster?

  Angelic over there.

• 54:08Mae Martin?

  Well, that, that place was to be a comedy, like I was given it, it was very like me and the hawk. I was not treating it like a drama. Yeah, I took it so seriously.

• 54:20Fortune Feimster?

  I love it.

• 54:21Tig Notaro?

  And so it was just like totally chill and whatevs, like you're playing the Charlie Brown. Um, because you weren't non-binary out like, um, you know?

• 54:32Mae Martin?

  I think that's why it was so huge for me because it was an all-girls school and I was the closest thing they had to a boy. And so they threw, and when I, I vividly remember putting on that costume and feeling so euphoric and confident, rocking that bass and just being like, oh, can I just wear it for the rest of the day at school? Cause I had to wear like a tunic and knee socks and a, like I hated it. So that was a really, and then I won the grade four junior drama prize. It was a good year.

• 55:02Fortune Feimster?

  That was a great year.

• 55:03Tig Notaro?

  It's been a good life. I mean, you've always been the number one star meter.

• 55:07Fortune Feimster?

  That's right.

• 55:08Tig Notaro?

  In my eyes.

• 55:12Fortune Feimster?

  How about you Tig?

• 55:13Mae Martin?

  Yeah.

• 55:14Tig Notaro?

  Um, I had a few different big, big breaks, uh, that at the time, I mean, I always think just even my first open mic, I'm like, man, I felt like I made it.

• 55:27Mae Martin?

  Yeah.

• 55:28Tig Notaro?

  I was so into stand-up and then, um, I did a, and then just to go a little further down the road in my actual stand-up career, I, I, I stopped into the Boise Idaho Funny Bone to do, I had heard from all my Denver comedy friends that Boise was like a sweet spot for comedy. And there is a woman, Lisa Young, that booked that club and she let me, um, uh, do a guest spot and then she called the guy that booked the, the chain of clubs and she was like, you gotta see Tig and he came out to see me and then all of a sudden I was headlining all over the country.

• 56:11Mae Martin?

  Wow.

• 56:11Tig Notaro?

  And so that was like a really big break for me and, um,

• 56:16Mae Martin?

  It takes this one person rooting for you.

• 56:18Tig Notaro?

  Yeah. So huge thank you to Lisa Young, all these years later. I think I, I'm certain I thanked her back then too, but, um, uh, and then, um, my first TV spot, Zach Galifianakis put me on his old show and then, um, I always have to give huge credit and thanks to Sarah Silverman because she talked me up everywhere she went and put me on everything. And whenever I would thank her, she would always say, are you kidding? She was like, you make me better. She was like, I did it selfishly. You know, she's somebody that is,

• 56:55Mae Martin?

  That was a good.

• 56:56Tig Notaro?

  Yeah. She's never been somebody that's like, I gave you your break and you owe me and you better thank me. And she's just like, no way. You, I, it was selfish, you know?

• 57:08Mae Martin?

  Yeah.

• 57:09Tig Notaro?

  And, um, but yeah, she always, um, always, always. Those were my, uh, I would say my early, my early breaks.

• 57:20Fortune Feimster?

  I remember you on the, uh, Sarah Silverman program. I love that it was in Valley Village.

• 57:28Tig Notaro?

  The whole show was so ridiculous.

• 57:30Fortune Feimster?

  Specific area of LA.

• 57:31Tig Notaro?

  Yes. For sure.

• 57:34Mae Martin?

  I remember seeing you on Conan and that, that was a big exposure to you for, for me.

• 57:40Tig Notaro?

  Which, what was I doing?

• 57:42Mae Martin?

  Moving that stool around.

• 57:43Tig Notaro?

  Oh, yeah.

• 57:44Fortune Feimster?

  Stool movement.

• 57:45Mae Martin?

  Yeah.

• 57:46Tig Notaro?

  That's what that's called.

• 57:47Fortune Feimster?

  Stool movement.

• 57:49Mae Martin?

  I'm curious what, um, what Luke Wilson's big break was. Should we find out?

• 57:54Tig Notaro?

  Sure. Let's do it. That's why he's here.

• 57:57Speaker 05

  The person who gave me and my brothers and Wes Anderson a break was this guy named James L. Brooks and Polly Platt, who we worked with. And James L. Brooks had done Taxi and Terms of Endearment and Broadcast News and As Good As It Gets. And Polly Platt had helped make the movies like, uh, Last Picture Show and Paper Moon and Bad News Bears, but they saw a short we made at the Sunday It's Film Festival and that's how we got started.

• 58:26Tig Notaro?

  Love it.

• 58:27Fortune Feimster?

  Love it. Was that the bottle, was that the Bottle Rocket movie? Is that what it was called?

• 58:31Tig Notaro?

  Yeah.

• 58:31Fortune Feimster?

  Yeah.

• 58:33Tig Notaro?

  Nice. Mm-hmm. He named a Deborah Winger movie, if anyone caught that.

• 58:40Mae Martin?

  Oh, really? Which, which one?

• 58:42Fortune Feimster?

  But I'm not as familiar, um, with Deborah's career as you're, as you are.

• 58:47Mae Martin?

  Let's put, put it this way, in the star meter in Tig's mind, Deborah Winger is.

• 58:52Tig Notaro?

  Number one.

• 58:53Mae Martin?

  Yeah.

• 58:54Tig Notaro?

  Number one, number one.

• 58:56Mae Martin?

  Yeah.

• 58:56Tig Notaro?

  There's, there's no one better. So, and she also started out as a stand-up.

• 59:02Fortune Feimster?

  Oh, really?

• 59:03Tig Notaro?

  Didn't know that either. Yeah, I didn't either, but I was like, wow, that makes sense. Cause she's actually really a funny person.

• 59:10Fortune Feimster?

  Yeah.

• 59:10Tig Notaro?

  But man, the greatest actor. But anyway.

• 59:14Mae Martin?

  What a lovely app.

• 59:15Tig Notaro?

  It was really a lovely app.

• 59:17Fortune Feimster?

  A lovely app.

• 59:18Tig Notaro?

  Truly.

• 59:19Mae Martin?

  Fortune, we're, we're hugging you?

• 59:22Tig Notaro?

  Yeah, we're giving you some snuggles and whether you want them or not.

• 59:27Fortune Feimster?

  I want them, thank you.

• 59:28Mae Martin?

  Some tender snugs.

• 59:29Fortune Feimster?

  Oh, yeah.

• 59:30Mae Martin?

  I'll take some tenderness.

• 59:31Tig Notaro?

  Some nice snugs.

• 59:33Fortune Feimster?

  Yeah.

• 59:34Mae Martin?

  What do you guys have coming up?

• 59:36Tig Notaro?

  Oh my gosh, comedy, right?

• 59:38Fortune Feimster?

  Yeah, I'm on the road. Uh, if anybody wants, I promise I'm not sad on stage. Um, uh, coming up I have Madison, Wisconsin, Durham and Morgan to North Carolina, Jacksonville and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Oakland and Baker still in California, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Denver and Nashville. And then I'm done.

• 1:00:02Tig Notaro?

  Well, if anybody cares where I'll be, go to TigNotaro.com. I'm going to be in Cincinnati, Charleston, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Chico, California, Olympia, Washington, Fresno, Napa, Wilmington, Delaware, Tarrytown, New York, New London, Connecticut, Colorado Springs, Steamboat Springs, Basalt, and I'll also be at Dynasty Typewriter in Largo, always working out things. But also I just want to really get the announcement out. I might not continue only doing stand-up. It might be a talk show. It might be, um, a handsome event. It might

• 1:00:45Tig Notaro?

  be me doing a headstand and spinning plates. It could be a circus. We don't know. Okay?

• 1:00:52Mae Martin?

  You're getting experimental.

• 1:00:53Tig Notaro?

  Yeah, that's going to be the risk you take. It could be a musical comedy night. It could be an improv musical. I don't know what to tell you. May, are you doing shows?

• 1:01:03Mae Martin?

  I'm always at Largo and Dynasty Typewriter as well. Check out social media to see, to see when.

• 1:01:10Tig Notaro?

  Also make sure that you subscribe, rate and review this podcast. I cannot stress enough how helpful it is to our show. Stop what you're doing and rate, review, subscribe for the audio version. Go to YouTube or U-Haul, wherever you get your podcasts. And, uh, also we're available on Hulu a day early and all of our wonderful, um, merchandise, handsomepod.com.

• 1:01:41Mae Martin?

  We're so grateful and we love you. And until next time.

• 1:01:46Tig Notaro?

  Keep it handsome.

• 1:01:49Mae Martin?

  Handsome is hosted by me, Mae Martin, Tig Notaro and Fortune Feimster. The show is produced, recorded and edited by Thomas Willett. Email us at [email protected] and please follow us on social media, at handsomepod.

• 1:02:10Speaker 00

  That was a HeadGum Podcast.

• 1:02:13Tig Notaro?

  Checking Allstate first could save you hundreds on car insurance. Not checking if the glasses I picked out have a specific vibe before buying them? Oops. Apparently they're reminiscent of a famous horror novelist's iconic look and now I'm getting teased.

• 1:02:30Mae Martin?

  Yeah, checking first is handsome. So check Allstate first for an auto quote. It could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate. Potential savings vary, subject to terms, conditions and availability. Allstate North American Insurance Company and Affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois.