A few weeks ago, something unexpected happened: Tig Notaro went viral, for an appearance in the Army of the Dead trailer that was declared by social media to be both “badass” and “sexy AF.” No one was as surprised by this as the comic herself, who confessed on The Tonight Show that she didn’t even know what “AF” meant. This latest Tig news isn’t quite as earth-shaking as that, but it’s still one for the history books (probably): Notaro is getting a new HBO comedy special — but with a twist.
What is that twist? That it will be fully-animated. According to HBO, that’s a history first, though they could be wrong and some stand-up special expert may crop up to point out, say, George Carlin did that in 1986 and everyone forgot. But for now, Notaro is making history, and good for her, not the least because almost all stand-up specials tend to look and feel alike. (Then again, the few attempts to change the basic format — like that one Chris Rock one where it keeps cutting between three different shows in three different places and three different outfits — essentially prove that tradition works here for a reason.)
An animated stand-up special, though, sounds like it could work. Besides, it sounds like a close cousin of shows like The Midnight Gospel, which animates podcast episodes, turning simple chats into psychedelic whatzits. Between this special, due on HBO and HBO Max this summer, and her possibly being the coolest part of Zack Snyder’s forthcoming zombie pic, Notaro could gives us something we never knew we always wanted.
(Via The AV Club)