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Playing Helium Comedy Club this Valentine's weekend (and already selling out shows) will be comedienne Tig Notaro, who's been gaining serious momentum with her smart, subtle humor. A regular on The Sarah Silverman Program, she's made the rounds of late night talk shows and comedy festivals across the country (just announced: she'll be playing Sasquatch this year), not to mention her own Comedy Central half-hour special, and a new talk show in the pipeline. She's got all the credentials, and she oozes funny. All that, and she was kind enough to answer a few borderline-obnoxious questions for me. Thanks, Tig!

MERCURY: Before Helium came along about half a year ago, Portland’s comedy scene was much more, shall we say, low-profile. But look at us now!
TIG NOTARO: Helium has definitely helped put Portland on the comedy map, but actually it really started to make a mark a few years ago when the Bridgetown Comedy Festival was born. My friend Andy Wood (who happens to be emceeing this week at Helium for me) started the festival and has done an amazing job with helping develop the scene. Every show at that festival was ridiculous amounts of fun. Helium, don't let me down!

Congrats on your upcoming talk show, Tig Has Friends, currently in development for the cable network Logo. Do you have any guests lined up that you can tell us about? And who would you really love to interview on your show?
My show has casts of TV shows, movies, bands, etc. It's themed like that. So, we're talking to a bunch of different TV shows right now for the pilot, but nothing can get confirmed until the theater is confirmed. That will hopefully happen in the next week. As far as who i'd like to have on... I'd love to have the casts of Mad Men, The Hangover, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, or SNL. Gotta shoot low like that with the budget we're working with.

On The Sarah Silverman Program, you play a very convincing cop. Have you ever considered a career in law enforcement?
I always wanted to be an attorney. Mainly because I wanted to pace back and forth with my hands behind my back, then lean in and make serious eye contact with the jurors. I also really wanted to rest my case.

What’s your favorite kind of donut?
Pickled okra.

What do you think is the funniest Portland/Northwest stereotype? Vegans? Hipsters? Bridges? It’s bridges, isn’t it.
I think it's really funny that the city is known for being so windy. And for your world famous chili dogs. And balloon rides. So many funny things.

I saw on your Facebook page that you’re “not interested in Twitter.” Ouch. What if Twitter asked you out to dinner at a really nice restaurant, and brought you flowers and everything? Would you reconsider? Maybe Twitter’s really nice if you get to know it.
If Twitter had food delivered to my house and I didn't have to actually go out in public with Twitter, then I might reconsider.


Helium Comedy Club, 1510 SE 9th, Thu 8 pm, Fri-Sat 7:30 & 10 pm, Mon 8 pm, $15-25