Laughter has seldom been in shorter supply, or in greater demand, than during the coronavirus pandemic. Like most people, the comedians Tig Notaro and Jason Sudeikis appreciated moments of levity where they could find them, often in front of the TV or with their kids. In contrast to most, however, both found the crisis to be fruitful professionally: Notaro was working on “Drawn,” an animated standup special premièring this month on HBO, and Sudeikis wrote and starred in “Ted Lasso,” a hit for Apple TV+ that has earned twenty nominations at this year’s Emmys, including three for Sudeikis himself.
Last week, the pair came together to reflect on creating humor during difficult times, pausing over the evergreen and also newly relevant adage “Tragedy plus time equals comedy.” The online conversation, hosted by Emma Allen, The New Yorker’s cartoon editor, served as the latest installment of The New Yorker Live, the magazine’s monthly event series for subscribers. In the clip above, you can view highlights of the discussion, including Notaro’s recollection of her own considerable, and very personal, experience mining hardship for humor well before the pandemic. “In 2012, when I had three deadly illnesses at one time and my mother accidentally died in the middle of it all, and my girlfriend and I split up,” Notaro began, referring to the breakthrough standup set she subsequently created, “it wasn’t, like, a career or artistic decision. It was me trying to connect with my reality and the audience in front of me.”
Subscribers to The New Yorker can view the entire conversation, including Sudeikis on why he suffers from impostor syndrome rather than performance anxiety, and his preference for auditioning rather than simply being offered a role. He and Notaro also reflect on the perils of the “J.P.M.,” or rate of jokes per minute, sometimes used to evaluate comedians’ work, and share with Allen captions that they’ve written to accompany New Yorker cartoons. (Notaro appears to have divined a caption that can be used for every cartoon.)
Subscribers enjoy access to all previous installments of The New Yorker Live, and are invited to check the page in the weeks ahead for details about upcoming events. Still in need of unlimited access? Subscribe today.
