If Tig Notaro never existed we would have never thought to invent her, which not only points out the shortcomings of our imagination but also the depths of her originality. A tall drink of water in low-slung jeans with Billie Jean King hair, she speaks in a laconic drawl that is either medicated or chill to the point of Zen. She doesn’t so much tell jokes as construct these elaborate verbal Rube Goldberg Devices Of Funny and at the end, when you finally stop laughing, you’re like ‘I can’t believe that worked.’ If you’ve never heard her Taylor Dane bit, watch it before you read any further. Go on, we’ll wait. Also, you should read our Q&A with Tig HERE. (DISCUSSED: Richard Pryor, Texas, Paula Poundstone, lesbians, cancer, Mississippi, her forthcoming memoir, 43-year-old tomboys, and Knock Knock It’s Tig Notaro, her forthcoming Showtime special.) A few years ago, within the space of a month she got pneumonia, the C. diff, then she split up with her partner, then her mother died and then she was diagnosed with cancer. And somehow she managed to alchemize all that horror and agony into something funny and laugh-affirming. Louis CK tweeted afterwards: “In 27 years doing this, I’ve seen a handful of truly great, masterful standup sets. One was Tig Notaro last night at Largo.” She plays the Trocadero Friday November 7th. We have a pair of tickets to giveaway to some lucky Phawker reader. All you have to do is sign up for our mailing list [right below the masthead], which gives you a heads up on cool ticket giveaways like this. OR, follow us on Twitter. Then send us a note at FEED@PHAWKER.COM telling us you signed up or followed us or you already do both. Put the magic words TIG NOTARO WILL NOT GO QUIETLY in the subject line. Be sure to include your full name and a mobile number for confirmation. Good luck and godspeed.