ABSTRACT
In this essay, I conduct an ideological performance critique of Tig Notaro’s now-famous 2012 stand-up comedy performance, Live, in which she discloses her recent breast cancer diagnosis. Doing so places her firmly within the realm of dominant pink ribbon culture, which valorizes the she-ro, an attractive, all-conquering superhero. I argue that Notaro utilizes the literary and rhetorical trope bathos to subvert the she-ro ideal. Her subversion demonstrates the potential power of stand-up comedy to intervene in harmful and oppressive ideologies on behalf of marginalized and misunderstood populations and renegotiate these populations’ positions in the dominant culture.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 The phrase “female comedians” appears throughout the cited stand-up comedy literature. I use it here to remain consistent with that literature.
2 Yelled by an audience member during Notaro’s performance (Notaro, Live 00:25:53).