How Tig Notaro's "Laugh Hang" Got Her to the Oscars

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You know what it is?

Is like everybody knows Andrea is a phenomenal poet.

But to me, Andrea is also just a phenomenal laughing and seeing how

hard and deep Andrea is laughing.

And I love the lines on Andrea's face.

And when they smile and laugh and those lines get lifted up, I'm like,

I can feel that Andrea is still here somehow.

This week's guest is an award winning comedian when she's on anywhere.

I recorded, I watched it multiple times.

I still left out loud and her last appearance on the Colbert show.

She's also an accomplished actress who steals the morning show season three.

If you know, you know the reason she's here today though is because she's

now an Academy nominated, Oscar nominated, documentarian.

She's made the most exquisite film about someone I followed for a long time

before the film was ever made, poet laureate of Colorado.

Andrea Gibson, that any further ado, Tignitaro is this week's guest on the best

people podcast.

Thank you so much for being here.

It is my absolute pleasure to be here.

You're a very big, my family is all very big fans of yours.

I'll have you know, yes, that's too much.

That's too nice.

That's too nice.

I knew you've thrown me now.

I was going to tell you how I came to read all of Andrea's poetry.

I am a big, we can do hard things fan.

I use it in my political commentary like, come on guys.

We can defeat authoritarianism.

We can do hard things.

Yeah, yeah.

And I saw Abby talk about the way that Andrea's poetry changed Glennon's life.

And I thought, oh my god, any my life changed.

And I became such an admirer, such a fan.

And the doc is so exquisite.

And it's the most tragic and beautiful and heartbreaking and life affirming story.

The first I thought it was a stomach bug.

But when it started feeling like a stomach and a condom,

my doctor convinced me to get a cat scan.

This is the beginning of a nightmare, I thought, but stay with me.

Because my story is one about happiness, being easier to find.

Once we realize we do not have forever to find this, I wonder if you could just talk

about how you came to know Andrea and Meg and how you came to make the film.

I mean, I've known Andrea.

I think since 2001, and I lived in Colorado, I've lived there often on over the years.

And a mutual friend introduced us backstage.

Andrea used to be a part of this political and social activist performance artists

troupe called Vox Feminista.

And it was actors, comedians, musicians, a poet.

They were definitely preaching to the choir in Boulder.

But it was still such a fun experience.

But I met Andrea backstage and our mutual friend was like, Oh, this is Andrea Gibson.

Andrea's a poet.

And I remember looking at Andrea and thinking like, that looks like a rock star, not a poet.

And I hang out and hung out when in my younger years in, you know, music and rock and roll circles.

And I just, I'm not somebody running around in poetry circles.

So I was very intrigued.

And then Andrea went on stage and just annihilated the audience.

I mean, people were in tears and laughing.

And I would, I just, I was so blown away.

But in the end, meaning when Andrea got off stage, it was confirmed.

That is a rock star.

Andrea was a rock star, for sure.

And so when Andrea was going through everything, the diagnosis and the ups and downs of the diagnosis,

you know, people were helping out in different ways.

And our mutual friend, Steph Willan, who is in the dinner scene.

Yeah.

Incredible way to open the sort of intimate relationship with the audience.

It's so brilliant.

It's so brilliant.

It's one of my favorite scenes of any film because it goes from so deeply funny to so heartbreaking.

But anyway, so Steph and I were on the phone trying to sort through Andrea's podcast,

like how best to produce and edit and what to do with this.

And Steph is the one that said, you know, I feel like Andrea's life right now would make a really great documentary.

And I was, I couldn't believe I didn't think of that.

And I work so quickly when I am passionate about something.

Yeah.

And I remember thinking, okay, I got to call my agents.

I got to, and then I thought, no, I'm not calling my agents.

I'm not calling to ask anyone for any advice.

I had so much passion and I could feel it in every fiber of my being.

And I just started calling everybody I knew.

And when I pitched the idea to Ryan, why the director and Jess, his producing partner, Jessica Hargrave,

who I had known for like a decade.

And we had talked about maybe working together and they said, maybe we could do a funny documentary.

And so I called and I was like, hear me out.

My dear friend, Andrea Gibson, is this incredible poet and has been diagnosed with stage four ovarian cancer.

But it's also one of the funniest people that I know.

And I just, it gives me chills even talking about it right now.

I just, I knew how compelling this person was.

And so their response is a little like, oh, poetry, okay.

And so I said, let me just send you some things to look at.

And you know, you're either going to be in or out.

I'm not going to be able to sell you much further beyond what you see.

And three days later, they called and they were like, we are floored.

And we're buying our tickets to go to Colorado next week.

I mean, that gives me chills.

What happened next? What happened next?

I mean, it gives me chills.

It never goes away.

It was such an emotional and magical time period.

Because Ryan and Jess said, hey, we cannot pitch this to streamers.

We have to raise money independently.

This is not an easy sell.

And we just have to make the most beautiful film we can make.

And that's exactly what we did.

And so I was like, oh, Glen and Abby are our fans.

So I text and I said, hey, I'm working on this project about Andrea Gibson.

Let me know if you'd like to chat.

And I thought it was a text to line up a call in a week or two.

But they sent me a link, a Zoom link within seconds.

They said, we can talk right now.

And I was like, oh, my God.

OK.

And they work as fast as I do.

And so I was on the couch minutes later and telling them about the project.

And they were like, OK, yeah,

this sounds really interesting.

And we'll have to talk about this.

And so I was like, all right.

And it felt promising.

And then we got off Zoom.

And I pride myself on not exaggerating.

Maybe 30 seconds later, I get a text saying, we're in.

I love that.

And I was like, oh, my God.

Because Ryan and Jess were like, we're going to fund this until we can get backing.

And I called and said, guys, we're, it's a go.

Yeah, it's a real go at this point.

So I saw in the credits that Kevin Neel and Susan Yegley had also been some of the executive

producers.

And I told them I was talking to you today.

And I want to read what they wrote about you.

Tig is one of the highest quality humans I've ever met and worked with.

Kevin and I, this is Susan Yegley writing, are smitten with her.

She is hilarious, dry, witted and full of heart.

Come see me in the good light would never have been made without her.

It seems like a family was put together pretty, I don't know if quickly is the right word,

but that there were a lot of people that saw what she saw about the power of the beauty

of this story.

And you don't hear about a lot of things being made about poets.

I mean, that just seems remarkable.

I know.

It was, yes.

People came on quickly, but also people came on passionately, even if they didn't come

on in the early days.

And it's so funny because I've known Kevin and Susan for years and I was walking through

my neighborhood and I was, I was talking to my wife on the phone and I saw them outside

a cafe and waved.

And then I said to Stephanie, I go, you know what, I feel like I should just call you back.

I'm going to go say hi to Kevin and Susan.

And then when I did, it just, we immediately, you know, Susan was like, I saw you're doing

a show with Andrea Gibson.

I love Andrea Gibson.

And I was like, you know, Andrea Gibson, I was still kind of, it was still, I was just

getting used to people outside of, you know, the scrappy poetry world and Colorado artist

scene knowing who Andrea Gibson was.

And I said, yeah, I'm working on a documentary and they were like, oh my God, we went in.

And so it was, it was a lot of that.

And it was so important that this project was only driven by love and passion and compassion.

And I have been working in entertainment for almost 30 years and it is nearly impossible

to get through a project without having a weirdo rattling around in the production.

And there was not a single weirdo.

Nobody was making it difficult.

Everybody was saying yes.

Everybody was just truly leading with love.

You talked about one of the early scenes.

It's so important because it starts with what you talked about, the diagnosis and you see

right away how desperately Andrea wants to live and why this, you know, epic love story,

their wife, this love story really like jumps off the screen.

And then the dinner scene comes and gives you your first comedic relief, I think.

Will you just talk about how the story was told and how involved Andrea was in the storytelling?

Well, that's what's really interesting about this movie is that Ryan said, that Ryan, the director,

he said he has never in his entire career had subjects of a movie never ask what they're

filming, how they're being framed, what the story is that they're telling.

There was pure, pure trust and I really give Andrea and Meg credit as true artists themselves

that if they agreed to this, then they believed in the talent of the filmmakers.

And so it was this incredible experience of artists trusting artists.

There's a scene toward the beginning about the mailbox that you're kind of watching it

and you're like, this is about, but I thought about it through the whole thing.

Yeah.

Because I think they say, why can't the male be delivered to Casey?

You can't the post person to the effort.

And that to me as sort of it was a small piece in terms of the time and it wasn't as emotionally

charged as a lot of it and it wasn't poetry per se, but it felt so profound.

Is that just because of Andrea or was that a vehicle for something else, more subtle?

You know, it was, I can't remember a friend of mine wrote me after they saw the movie and

they just felt like it was so perfect because Andrea, yes, it's male, but it's also symbolic of

Andrea receiving and just being open and constantly receiving.

And not broken and not sick and not like I was nervous to watch it.

And I watched it when it came out and I thought I wasn't going to be able to get through it,

but there's so much respect for the emotional journey of the audience that it's heartbreaking,

but it's so life affirming and every instant of it is like that, right?

Yes. And what's so funny is Meg, Andrea's wife, she said that to this day, people are constantly

reaching out and sending her new mailboxes and she's like, I don't want a new mailbox.

I want this mailbox. That's the point. That's the point of the mailbox story.

Like this one works. This one works. This is the one. I don't want to be invasive, but you

follow love with all of them. And Meg has posted a little bit about how Andrea's gift to her was

to surround her with all these friends and all these friendships and all this love.

How is she doing? Well, Meg refers to Andrea's passing as Andrea's

alleged death. That's just classic Meg to me. You know, of course she's grieving, but I think she

maintains an ongoing relationship with Andrea through, you know, she feels very connected.

She said that she goes to bed at night and asks Andrea to put their arms around her and

she said she feels Andrea and goes right to sleep. And you know, she's talked about the saying

of people die twice once when they pass away and then the second time is when the last person

says the person's name and Meg is like the way it's going, it feels like Andrea will live forever.

The film certainly makes that the most likely scenario. And I was so heartened about humanity

to see how many people celebrate of them and this sort of eternalness of the message about learning

to live when you know you're going to die is beautiful, but it's also totally fucking depressing.

I mean, it makes me want to, you know, you want to go out and grab everybody that isn't enjoying

every moment and say, do you know how many people we kill for time? And I wonder how urgent that

feels in this moment that feels really hard right now in our politics and in our country.

I mean, that's why, yeah, this movie feels so timely, just the time suck that is politics and my

apologies, but the news and all of the... No offense, Jake. I couldn't agree more. I mean, that's,

I think that's why they resonated so much with me and I can chin up, you know,

because it's the only life you've got. Yeah. I mean, for myself, even having been

through cancer as well and feeling like, oh, I'll never, ever forget what this feels like to

be thankful and present and then time goes on and I become just like everybody else, but what's

nice is to be tethered to that experience. That's a positive from what I came out of and I think

that for people that haven't gotten a terrifying diagnosis, this movie can jump in place of that

and hopefully show you that like Andrea's poem, The Little Things, it's just so, so deeply beautiful

and it really wakes you up to those moments. I wrote a new kind of bucket list. It isn't an index

of wild adventures. It requires no bungee jumps, wing suits or hot air balloons, no passport stamps

or dolphin swims as riveting as those things may be. None of them ignite me as much as what most

of us were taught to think of as The Little Things. These are my biggest, tiniest dreams.

And you see those people that haven't been diagnosed with cancer and have had kind of a lucky

route in life, but when you see the joy in squirrels and basketball and just lying around.

I've had to reread the snow, the endless winter here in New York. I think it's also Andrea's

ability to give voice to both sides of that and to give voice to that clenching being the thing

that kept them in pain and then releasing and just letting life happen and loving all of it.

I mean, I feel that way every time I get my mammogram, the terror and then every time I'm,

you know, if it's okay, you feel the, and I know you turned your cancer story into a special,

how do you do that? How do you take this harrowing thing and make it so funny?

Well, I didn't know if it was going to resonate with anybody or myself, but it's what I do.

You know, my brain goes in that direction. And as soon as I got out of surgery, I immediately,

my brain was throwing this idea. Well, yeah, it was like, oh my gosh, you have to do stand-up

without your shirt off. That'll be so funny. And then I'm like batting it away going,

well, I can't do that. Yeah, yeah, no, you can do that. That'd be fun. So that's just the way

my brain works. And I don't really, I'm very thankful. My joke cut that out. My wife,

my wife has a joke about how certain people just talk to one another in life, like with no

sense of humor. And they just go through life saying, like, good morning. What would you like for

breakfast? Hope you have a nice day. Welcome home. How was your day? Well, I'm tired. Good night.

And we'll kind of reenact that around the house. But I'm so thankful that that is not how I'm

going through this life of mine. And it's just what I'm mainly learning though is, yeah,

it's good to break the tension with the comedy. But I have to go back after the tension is broken

and work on the issue and deal with what's below the surface. But I'm very thankful for the comedy

that cracks it open. What do you mean by that? Well, like, say, even in a relationship, you know,

you can have an argument. And then like Stephanie and I break the tension all the time with a joke,

you know, in an argument one time, I went and pressed my hands up against a window and started

singing a musical about how things used to be. And it made her laugh. And we revisit that a lot.

And it's called, you know, there was a time is the name of the song that we improv all the time.

We're like, there was a time. And so it'll crack it open and we'll be laughing. And then, you know,

you could just keep laughing and then go about your day. But you have to crack open and then go back

and say, wait a minute. So, yeah. We'll take a quick break right here when we're back much more

with comedian actress and Oscar nominated documentary film producer Tignotaro. Don't go anywhere.

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I wanted to ask you about talking about your relationship. I mean, the jokes about the questions

that your wife asks that are Googleable is one of the things that I quote to both my son and my

husband, like Grace, that not Googleable. Especially when you're trying to move the family unit

to time and space, especially with ways. How far away is your phone? You've been on the phone

the whole ride. Not down the ways. I'm looking at the same app you have.

Or the best is when a stranger will reach out to me online and ask me what time I'm going on stage.

Or where's a good place to park for this show? I'm like, why am I the one that you're asking out to?

Right. I'm the only non-Jewish person in my family and I get how many nights of Hanukkah.

I'm the only one in my modern blended family to Jewish husbands and you're asking me.

I am the one person who does know the answer, but I'm going to make you Google it anyway.

The genius obviously is the universality of human relationships. I wonder when you see

the streaming success and the appearance. Is there any part of you at the beginning of your life

that you say like, oh my god, I can't believe this is how it all worked out?

Is this how you saw it all working out at this point? No. I didn't even see it working out

at all. I mean, because I failed three grades, I dropped out of high school.

And so the last grade I graduated was seventh grade. And there's no part of me.

I just saw myself as a failure dropout that I'd have bare minimum in life and working odd jobs.

That's really what I thought that I would do. So where my life has gone now is so beyond.

I always tell my friends and family, especially because I've had so many health issues over the years.

I don't want to die at all. But if I do, man, have I had an incredible life? I've had a very

challenging life. But man, it's so beyond anything I could have ever imagined. And people often ask

because my parents have all passed away and people ask like, oh, man, don't you wish your mother saw

this or that? And I feel like, yeah, sure. But I also wasn't doing anything for their approval.

And they were never like, well, call us when you have an Oscar nomination. You know what I mean?

My mother thought I was cool when I was doing one night gigs in Montana on like a dance floor with

everybody's back to me while they're having beers at the bar, you know, and then getting my $75.

Like she'd be like, oh, sweetie, that's awesome. You know what I mean? Yeah, you're doing your thing.

Yeah. So I kind of, I can't believe I've been in a marriage that I've been with Stephanie

13 years. I can't believe our kids are well-adjusted, happy functioning. I can't believe my health has

turned around. I can't believe any of it. Do you think that that? I mean, I saw your appearance

on Colbert after he was canceled as doing what you just said, like letting the air out of the

tire. There was so much angst around it. Very sad that your show is ending. I actually saw it coming.

I don't know. I mean, you know, when you just, you see something running, it's run its course.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. A few years ago, I was like, you know, this thing's probably going to wrap up soon.

And it was so funny. And it was the first time I laughed about it. I'm over here tracking the death of

democracy. And like the cold air firing is like a big fucking chapter. And so I'd been covering it

with despair and I'd been covering on my show. And so I wouldn't, and you're the first person that

sat down. I was like, stupid ages ago. It's one of the only things I think about when I'm not

watching it and start laughing. Oh, that's so nice. But how important. And I guess the real question

I want to know is, why is humor such a threat to people who don't like being made fun of?

You know, this is an ongoing mystery to me. I grew up in a family where we ribbed each

other. And it was like, it wasn't an intense attack. I think that comedy can be so healing and so

connecting. And I remember after I had cancer and I had my album come out and on my very old

podcast, we had a guest that came on and said something like, well, you know, there's certain

things you can't make fun of. And I said, oh, what like what? And he said, well, cancer. And I

said, oh my gosh, that's so interesting. I said, I just did a show that was really popular. And

it was, I had cancer. And what I was saying, either to him or maybe in another conversation with

somebody is, if you tell somebody you're going to make a joke about cancer, their brain is going

to construct the worst possible, like a child pointing at somebody and saying, ha ha, you have

cancer. And so in their mind, they're like, you cannot do that. But when you find a way into a

subject that is in a roundabout way that wasn't maybe considered before, that's what's so

amazing about comedy is you go, oh my god, I was laughing at this woman who's on stage with

invasive cancer. Like, I can't explain. And I don't mean to like pat myself on the back.

But it's a release. It's, it's this thing that is so it's both feared,

it's dreaded when you're in it. It's hard. And if you can laugh, you just take your power back.

That's how I saw that. Oh, for sure. But even you run the gamut of like light-hearted to heavy

stuff. And you don't know where people are going to be sensitive. And I'm not out there trying

to hurt anybody's feelings. I promise. But you step in it sometimes. And people are like,

they reject it. They're not open to it. They think you're terrible. And you know, it's

the journey. It's the journey. But I do think that anything can be funny. If you find the right

way in, I think that also it's so important in this conversation as well as talking about

cancer or ribbing other people. You have to really consider, I think, people's intentions.

I think it's so deeply important to really consider what people's intentions are. If people

misspeak or miss step, I feel like I'm a forgiving person. And I feel like if somebody is trying

to make things better, try to understand or be like, oh, gosh, that was a long time ago.

I have new information or I've evolved. I mean, somebody like yourself, you've evolved.

And I was a bush chitty staffer. I know. I had a really interesting experience

growing up. There is a teacher that really took an interest in helping me. And she was so nice.

supportive. But she was very conservative and very religious. And she said some things that I

was like, that doesn't feel right or congruent with certain aspects of what she's claiming.

And then years later, she followed me on social media. And everything on her page was like

trans rights. I mean, it was crazy. And so when I went through Texas, I reached out to her and I

said, do you want to have lunch? And she said, I'd love to. So we went to lunch and I told Stephanie,

I said, I'm going to ask her very directly about this. And I'm very curious if she's going to deny

or any of it. I was just so curious. So we sit down and I asked her, I said, I remember you saying

this and doing this. And you know, you were very supportive. But I just there were these

elements and statements. And she said, yeah, I did that. I said that. And she said,

you know what? I've changed. And she said, I grew up in a family and in an environment

that I thought I believed these things. She's still a religious person. But she said, she realized

that those thoughts and feelings were not her own. And I just, I think about it all the time.

And mainly that she took ownership of it and said that she actually feels differently.

I think about it every day. I mean, it like animates why I do what I do. That if people are open

to change, right? And we can debate whether they are or not. Maybe there's just one piece of

information that'll see your earlier story crack them open and still have to go deep and you

still have to figure out how we got here. But I mean, that's how I see your art, right? The human

condition. And I think that overlays this moment more than anything else that you have to believe

that there's some portion of the country that's still taking in information. And just to bring it

back to come see me in the good light, I mean, just tell me about the experience of the audience

as you've taken. And Andrea went to Sundance, right? And just saw the movie with an audience, right?

Yeah. What was that like? That was just so magical because it didn't seem like Andrea and

Meg were going to make it out because Andrea was not doing well and just tumors all throughout

the lungs and struggling on stairs. And and then we get a call like a day or two before that

they're going to drive out. And I was like, Oh my gosh, this is incredible. And we had

gotten an Airbnb and we called it snuggle down because we were just all hanging out and

sitting by the fire and having tea. And normally when I'm at Sundance, I've been like five times.

And you're at parties and events and screenings and all dinners, all these things. But when we were

there for this documentary, we were just in our snuggle down. And it was so nice. And then we go

to the screening. Andrea was so nervous, understandably so. I've been the subject of a documentary.

So watching it in front of an audience, it's so unbelievably vulnerable. And I remember in the

first five minutes, I mean, you could feel the audience just fully riding every emotion, no

matter how deep and dark and laughing as hard as like a Will Ferrell movie. And Andrea was

just like, Okay, I'm good. But we had no idea how well the movie was received. We knew that

the screening went well. And this guy stood up during the Q and A. And he looked like he could

have moments ago just turned off the Joe Rogan podcast. And he was like, he goes, this movie needs

to be seen by everybody. And we were like, whoa, and people were cheering. And it was just, it was

magical, you know, and to go back to your question of, you have people change their view or

been more open or compassionate and absolutely. And that's what's so powerful about this. And it's

that is all Andrea and Meg and all of the filmmakers could ever want.

Andrea wrote the MAGA hat in the chemo room. Is that the name? Yeah. And I thought it might be one

of the only ways to sort of with love make the point that can't take all that stuff with you.

How much time did Andrea spend thinking about politics? I think it probably was very different,

at very different points in their life. I mean, I think it's always been wrapped in there. But

man, when I first met Andrea, like I said, in that political and social activist group,

it was, you know, in our 20s and in Boulder, you know, it was, I hear you. Yes. Yeah. But,

you know, to go back to like, you can't take it with you. That's also like the moment in the

movie when Andrea says about their gender. Yeah, they don't care anymore. The scene is powerful.

They talk about how they used to react and how they feel now, right? Talk about that scene.

Yeah. Just that Andrea, it all goes back to knowing that your time is limited. And obviously,

any of us can go at any moment. But Andrea had a pretty good idea of how long that they might be

around. And they used to be hurt if somebody didn't understand that they were non-binary and

didn't quite feel like male and didn't quite feel female. And then all of that went away because

they said that they just feel, just like themselves. They just don't feel attached to it. And

it's funny because people will correct me and reach out and be upset with me if I'm in an

interview with somebody that, especially before the movie came out, if somebody was referring to Andrea,

she, her, and I didn't correct them. And I remember just feeling like, just wait till the movie

comes out like this wasn't Andrea's vibe. You know, this is not where Andrea got to in life.

And so there's no world that Andrea would say, why didn't you correct them? You know, it just,

it reached this very different place. Almost bigger, much bigger. They became bigger.

My conversation with Tegutaro continues right after the break. We'll be back in one minute.

United Health Group is bringing in-home treatment directly to patients,

closing caregabs, identifying risks earlier and improving patient outcomes. In 2025,

patients received over 19 million home visits. Learn more at unitedhealthgroup.com slash commitment.

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Had a lunch. Mexican? Yes, but not tonight. Chinese?

Yes. Japanese. Neh. Italian?

Indian. Indian. How about masala place?

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I want to ask you about, you had a podcast with Show Hines about documentaries.

I mean, it was about a lot of things about life. It was barely about anything.

It was barely about documentaries.

I mean, it was you guys. We basically would talk about who we were most attracted to in the

documentaries that we watched. It was nonsense.

The perfect butter for a podcast. I wonder what it's been like to see her take such a public

stage inside the MAHA MAGA movement as someone that you worked with and obviously

you've been friends with. It's been very strange. I had a video pop up. Your phone

likes to remind you. A video popped up of, I mean, Cheryl and I were very drawn to each other

just with nonsense and silliness and we would have the deepest hardest laughs.

And this video popped up a couple of weeks ago of when we had our podcast,

we were doing a streaming episode and doing shots and slapping each other in the face with

Tia's and I was just looking at it going, man. That was just three years ago.

But my friendship with her predated Bobby and there were things that he thought and felt that

I didn't agree with. But he didn't have the platform that he got during the pandemic and I think that

I needed to stop doing the podcast because it was so ridiculous. It was so stupid, our show,

that it was hard to be doing that when he was gaining momentum and speaking. People would

interrupt my stand-up shows and yell that Bobby is crazy and I was telling Cheryl, I said,

I know it's a small percentage that pushes back online or yells out at shows, but I was like,

man, this is not my world. I don't want to be a part of this. And she was like, I understand,

but she wanted to keep doing the podcast. And I had to step away, but I loved her so much.

And she wanted to bring her best friend Rachel Harrison to continue doing the show, which

I was fine for them to do. And what was most upsetting to me was that we were in such opposing

places, but I continued to reach out to her and send her love and support because I didn't know

what was going on behind closed doors because things shifted very severely.

And she seemed to shift very dramatic publicly. I only see what's public. And so publicly,

she seemed to shift very dramatically. Yeah. And she would respond very pleasantly.

Thanks, lady. Oh, this means so much. And I love you and miss you and all of that. But then I

realized one day she doesn't ever reach out to me anymore. She's response to me, but she doesn't

reach out to me. And I had to kind of shake myself out of denial that, oh, she's gone. And okay,

I need to let this go. I need to let it go. But what was a bummer is there've been some interviews

claiming that I just dumped her and just left her in the dust because of Bobbi. But I was trying

to be a friend to her, even though I didn't feel like I could continue with the podcast.

But it's been very strange. And I think I've moved past the confusion and sadness.

I've tried to rewire my brain for nine years to the Trump era to understand what you're talking

about. I've really tried to understand both paths of someone you love,

taking on a prominent role in a movement that you think threatens people you love or your own

family. I know it threatens people I love. That's where it's like it goes beyond like I think it could.

I know it does. Yeah, I know it does. I mean, what you described so thoughtfully and carefully

is this thing that my brain just cannot wire itself to understand and make sense of what happens

to people who you thought you knew. And the idea that the two sides are now their value proposition

is totally, totally divorced one from the other does feel like a fracture that isn't just about

any one person in your life or any one person in my life. It feels like this rupture in our country.

And I wonder if you feel like you can see how we knit it back together.

Hmm. Wouldn't that be amazing if I had the answer to fix that? Or like if we were like marketers,

we'd be like watch the movie, right? I mean, yeah. But because I mean, that's why and let's just

take share a lot of it. That's why like it doesn't fracture because someone supports someone

that you didn't support. If fractures when one threatens the other's family or the people they love.

Yes, for sure. But I think about that a lot when you see people's

choices that are so confusing and flipping so wildly on topics that you thought they valued.

Yeah, yeah, valued. And then and then you realize like or did they value that like was there really

any heel dug in on any area? And then that's the gaslighty mind-fuck piece of it. Like did any of it

mean anything? I could have a podcast about just the topic. Who's been all my time? Obviously

thinking about it and trying to figure out. So I have to ask you. I mean, Amanda is my favorite.

Are you completely, completely steel that season for me at the morning show? Was it fun to play?

You know, I like to think of him as Elon Musk's fixer. Yeah, it was so fun. You know, people were

always like, God, is that so intimidating? Working with John Ham and Reese Witherspoon and

Jennifer Aniston. It's like I've luckily had relationships with them over the years. And John,

I've known since before he was John Ham. And so when I got paired with him, I was like, this

is going to be so fun. It's so perfect. It's so brilliant. It's just nice, you know, when you're

in a scene with because I'm a stand-up comedian that has said yes to people bringing me on their

show. And then I have to, you know, see myself in an interview where it underneath me. It says

actor Tignotaro. And I'm like, oh my God, no, I'm not an actor. I'm a stand-up comedian. But it's

nice to have that comfort with actors that are so talented. But then they give you a little bit of

grace. And I have that extra comfort with John, which is again, so nice. And it was, yeah, it was

so fun. I feel so lucky. It's an embarrassment of riches, really. This was so fun. I just want

to ask if we can do it again. I would love to. Oh my gosh. Will you ask a question for my handsome

podcast, which is my show? Of course. Of course. I mean, tell me about why are we all on the podcast

and why are we all on this medium? And what, like, I feel like this is a place and still in TV,

you feel like you have to try to be perfect. But your podcast isn't just in our ears. It also

is hilarious, which is a different level and a different genre. But just what do you get out of it?

We know what we get from it. What do you get out of it? Well, I mean, I, with stand-up, I write

my material. I know what I'm going to say. I mean, I definitely will improv on stage, for sure.

And then I'm also on Star Trek. I know. Because I was walking down all your Star Trek fans,

grabbed me. They're like, you're talking to dig. Yeah. But like, I have to go in and do

lines that people wrote, and which I think they write my character so well. But then with podcasting,

you just have that freedom to go wherever you want to go. And, you know, part of the appeal for me.

I mean, I've been podcasting for a long time. And, you know, there's moments on the show where we can,

we also have the freedom to be serious and take real questions. But we also have just stupid ones

to bounce around as well. And I just like the freedom. Yeah.

I think that podcasting really cemented itself in our sort of media landscape during COVID. And

my friends became my podcast because I could stick in my ear and do laundry. And it's such a deep

connection. And then I think for people like you who can also be that connected and make us laugh,

it's just it's the deepest, most meaningful connection out there. Can people get live without it

anymore? Yeah. It's really wild. And then it's now flipping into everybody. It's all video now.

And it's like, it's just this crazy cycle. But I so really do appreciate what you do. And

you're just such a smart, reasonable point of view. That's so flattering. That's so flattering.

When I got the invite, I thought, I wonder if you know who I am or if it was your producer thinking,

like, oh, maybe have this person on because they produce this documentary.

I saw such a fan and I someone said, Oh, I was a fan of Andrea and that felt so wrong to me.

And I said, I am a fan. I mean, I just think that everything everything they wrote is so so

important. And then that it's you, you know, that made the doc was just so what's your favorite

moment from the doc? The dinner scene. I love the mailbox. I love the dinner scene too. But I just

said the mailbox that I just love. You know what it is is like everybody knows Andrea is a

phenomenal poet. But to me, Andrea is also just a phenomenal laughing and seeing how hard and

deep Andrea is laughing in that scene. Like it is. And I love the lines on Andrea's face.

And when they smile and laugh and those lines get lifted up, I'm like, I can feel

that Andrea is still here somehow. And I think that scene just really, really captures who Andrea

Gibson is because I always say everything was so precious to Andrea. But also,

meanwhile, nothing was too precious. And you could have the deepest conversation and then you could

laugh so inappropriate with this person. And that's what that scene is to me is the depth and the

the silliness that was Andrea Gibson. I love it so much. I love talking to you so much. Thank

you so much for all this time. Please come back. Thank you so much for listening to the best

people. You can continue to subscribe to our premium service on Apple podcasts to get this

another NSNow podcast ad-free. You'll also get early access and exclusive bonus content

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available on YouTube. Visit NSNow slash the best people to watch. The best people is produced by

Vicki Vergilina. Our associate producer is Rana Shabazi with additional production support from

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