Tig Notaro’s Best Roles, Ranked By IMDb

Tig Notaro has grown considerably as an artist over the last several years, headlining some of the best stand-up comedy specials and now acting in a wide variety of roles in TV and movies. Notaro has acted in big-budget movies like Army Of The Dead as well as smaller dramedy series, like One Mississippi.

Many of Tig Notaro’s movies and TV shows, including a number of her guest appearances on popular sitcoms, are available on a variety of streaming series. So viewers have plenty of opportunities to check out her funny sometimes dramatic work and decide for themselves which is the best of the best of her varied roles.

10 Army Of The Dead – 5.8

Tig Notaro’s role in Army Of The Dead is unexpected in many ways. The comedian hasn’t done a ton of genre work, certainly not in horror, but her dry wit and humor fit in well with the concept of the movie.

She’s also a last-minute addition, replacing an actor after principal photography had ended. All of her scenes were filmed later and in some cases, she was digitally inserted into existing scenes. Most of it is pretty seamless and she is responsible for some of Army Of The Dead’s best quotes.

9 In A World… – 6.7

Tig Notaro plays the character of Cher in the 2013 movie In A World… written and directed by Lake Bell, who also voices Poison Ivy in the HBO Max Harley Quinn series. Notaro has a small role in the movie, which features Bell as a voice coach whose father is a famous voice-over actor.

But the movie is significant for Notaro in many ways because it’s where she met her eventual wife, the actress Stephanie Allynne. The two would later also act together in the series One Mississippi.

8 Star Trek: Discovery – 7.2

Tig Notaro has a recurring role on Star Trek: Discovery as Jett Reno, an engineer. Though she’s only appeared in a few episodes across seasons two and three, she is an integral member of the crew of the ship. Notaro brings her trademark wit to the role, livening up things on the series when they get serious.

Despite its relative newness, Discovery is one of the more popular Star Trek TV series among fans, bridging the gap between the past and future of the franchise in surprising ways.

7 Instant Family – 7.3

Tig Notaro plays Sharon in Instant Family, a 2018 comedy starring Rose Byrne and Mark Wahlberg. Sharon is a social worker who helps Byrne and Wahlberg navigate the adoption process for a trio of foster children named Lizzie, Juan, and Lita.

Instant Family features other comedians in small roles as well, including Iliza Shelsinger as October. The movie was written and directed by Sean Anders, with John Morris also contributing to the screenplay.

6 Tig – 7.4

Tig is one of the best documentaries of the 2010s, telling the real-life story of Tig Notaro’s battle with cancer. The documentary is unsparing as it follows her on a harrowing battle through recovery and eventual remission.

Much of Notaro’s work incorporates elements of her life, but this strips away all the constructs of humor and acting. While Tig no longer qualifies as a documentary about an overlooked artist, it remains a powerful and rare look into the life of a gifted person in their highest and lowest moments.

5 One Mississippi – 7.4

One Mississippi is built largely from Tig Notaro’s life experiences, leveraging her family history and upbringing to create a fictional dramedy series that ran for two seasons on Amazon Prime. She plays Tig Bavaro, a radio host from L.A. who returns to her native Mississippi when her mother dies.

The series tracks her exploring the past of her mother as well as getting to know her family better. She also meets and falls in love with Kate, played by her real-life wife, Stephanie Allynne.

4 Bob’s Burgers – 8.1

Notaro played Jody in Bob’s Burgers. She first appeared in the 2013 episode, “Boyz4Now,” as the bus driver for the titular boy band. She traveled with numerous exotic animals, including a skunk and a skink.

The band appeared in the series when Tina and Louise went to the band’s concert. They later snuck onto the bus, driven by Louise’s crush on one of the singers, Boo Boo. Notaro later voiced another minor character, Officer Large, in the 2021 episode “Sheshank Redumption.”

3 Community – 8.5

Tig Notaro played a minor but funny role in “Mixology Certification,” one of the best episodes of the second season of Community. Notaro plays the bartender at The Ballroom, a club where the study group goes to celebrate Try’s 21st birthday.

The episode unravels as the group tries to keep it together for Troy and Annie, who is underage and using a fake ID. Notaro listens patiently as Shirley voices her concerns about Annie’s drinking, as Annie is standing there pretending to be someone else.

2 Adventure Time – 8.6

Notaro has done a fair bit of voice-over work in the last decade, including in Adventure Time. She played the Purple Comet on the episode “The Comet.”

The Purple Comet was nearly absorbed by the villain Orgalorg but was saved by Finn. It hints at being omnipotent and perhaps immortal, saying they’ve been around a long time and know Finn, despite having only just met him. This spooks Finn, who puts the whole episode in his ‘vault’ of memories.

1 The Office – 8.9

Tig Notaro plays a small role in the episode “Test The Store” from the eighth season of The Office. Notaro’s character is only credited as Single Mom, but she plays a key role in a self-defense training exercise in the Scranton office.

She’s the mother of a girl named Tiffany, who had previously punched Andy in an altercation. Andy played it off as him defending Pam’s honor, which wasn’t the case at all, so when Notaro brings Tiffany into the office to apologize, it leads to a lot of embarrassment for all involved.

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