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My name is Lee Hawkins.
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I ve been a journalist for over 25 years.
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On my new podcast, What Happened in Alabama, I get answers to some of the hardest questions about how things came to be for many black Americans and the truth that must come before any reconciliation can happen.
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I investigate my family history, my upbringing in Minnesota, and my father s painful nightmares about growing up in Alabama.
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What Happened in Alabama is a new series confronting the cycles of trauma for myself, my family, and for many Black Americans.
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Listen now.
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Hey friends, it s your friend Tig here.
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Tis the season for the holidays and we want to hear about your festivity-related issues and awkward situations.
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We know there s a lot of them.
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We ve got Halloween, Thanksgiving, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Christmas, New Year s, Winter Solstice, and I m sure some that I ve never even heard of that you want to fill me in on.
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Maybe you re worried the costume you re planning is offensive or you re tired of always being the Friendsgiving organizer but don t know how to ask your friends to help?
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Hate the holidays altogether and want ideas for ways to manage your time amidst all the annoying celebrations and cheer?
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Well, we got you covered.
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Or maybe we don t, who knows.
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But we will come up with something, useful or not.
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Write in at DontAskTig.org or don t call 833-275-8444.
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That s 833-ASK-TIG-4.
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And leave me a voicemail if I don t pick up.
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Okay, now let s get into the show.
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I ve seen some kids where I m like, oh, that kid s gonna grow up to be a jerk.
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Well, but I m talking about when they re a kid.
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No, yeah, you can tell though.
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They were jerked in.
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You ever been at a Ritz Carlton and see like a six-year-old in a blazer walking around like they own the place?
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They might own the place.
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They might?
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Yeah, their family might be the Carltons or the Ritzes.
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This is Don t Ask Tig, I m Tig Notaro, and I find it hilarious that you re still asking me for advice.
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You ve heard my guest s voice on shows like Final Space and Harley Quinn.
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You ve seen him on Black-ish and Miracle Workers and his numerous hilarious stand-up appearances.
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I m honored to be joined by comedian, actor, writer, and friend, Ron Funches.
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Aw.
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Ron, welcome to Don t Ask Tig.
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Thank you for having me.
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It s so good to see your face.
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It s good to see yours.
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I love you.
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I love you.
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That s it.
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It s just simple.
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I do.
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I love you.
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I think you re so funny.
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I don t know.
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You probably don t even remember this.
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This was so long ago.
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But when Stephanie and I first got together, we were in San Francisco and I saw that you were performing and I was like, we have to go to the punch line and see this guy perform.
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Oh, I don t even remember that is how you put it.
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Oh, I very much remember that.
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That was a big marker for me.
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It was actually
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more of like a full turn moment for me because I remember when the first times I saw you was in Seattle at Bumbershoot and it was so loud and everyone was so rambunctious and you were just so in the pocket.
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And I think it was the first time I saw you scoot the stool around on stage, which you had done on television a couple of times.
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But I think it was the first time I.
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ever saw you do something like that.
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And just seeing you still remain quiet and remain yourself in that situation.
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I learned so much from that moment where I was just like, Oh, there s a power in just remaining myself, even in this situation.
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And then a couple of years later, and I am headlining at San Francisco at the punchline.
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And the fact that you walk in first, I was like, Oh, is she going to want to do a set?
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Cause that s going to make it hard for me.
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And then that you just were there to see me and see what I do.
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It meant so much to me.
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It was a marker to me that, you know, there s so many people who don t know anything at all about our business or very quickly to tell you how much you suck and how much you don t mean anything in the comedy business.
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And it s like memories like that.
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And I had like a memory where like Wanda Sykes just came up to me and was so nice to me.
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And those always.
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I m like, oh, if Tig likes me, if Wanda likes me, then fuck you.
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If all the gay women like me, then I m all set.
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Yeah, I m gonna be okay.
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They got the money.
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Yeah, no, I remember being so excited.
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I was like, oh man, we gotta go see his show.
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And you re just so, so funny.
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And you clearly have remained doing your own thing.
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And I love it.
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Thank you.
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Now, you ve also said that Lucille Ball was one of your original comedy inspirations, and how did she influence you?
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It seems like you re a little young to be an I Love Lucy fan.
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That s what my mom would say when I was watching it.
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She s like, you re watching things that are too old for me to be watching.
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Uh, and it was just something I was drawn to as a kid.
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I think there was just something about the peacefulness of it, the niceness of it, even like how calm it is.
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Like, you know, and today everything is so quick to try to get to a punchline every other line and they would let these things breathe.
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And sometimes the punchline wouldn t happen until the end of the scene.
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And it was just something that I fell in love with at a young age and then.
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When I grew up and got into comedy and learned more about her and learned more about how that show in her studio pioneered the three-camera sitcom and how she was pretty much directly responsible for Green Light and Star Trek and the fact that Max Factor was her makeup artist, the fact that they were
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doing a interracial couple during McCarthyism and he s Cuban.
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And I was like, man, this show is so ahead of its time.
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There s shows that to this day that aren t as progressive as that show.
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It s really incredible.
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Yeah, that s why I love her.
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I kind of watched anything my mother watched, but it was fun to share that with her, to just really love and cackle at somebody with my mother.
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Yeah.
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There s some people that aren t crazy about Lucille Ball.
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I do at times think, is it because I m older?
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But then hearing you, I know you re not 50.
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So it s clearly not just for the 50 and older group.
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No, I don t think so.
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I think
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I just love having respect for the people that came before me.
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I think you learn lessons quicker.
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You can delve deeper into your own style if you know where your base comes from.
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And you know people like Lucille Ball, people like Carol Burnett are just kind of like trendsetters of this kind of like more optimistic, silly style that I try to put out.
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So it d be weird for me not to like her.
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I love silliness, I ll tell you that.
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Speaking of silly and unfortunate, you were set to host the NBC game show called Ultimate Slip and Slide.
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And then it was canceled because of a diarrhea outbreak.
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Yeah.
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That s silly and sad.
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Thank you for both.
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Yeah.
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And you tweeted, I changed my diet around years ago and diarrhea still finding a way to mess up my life.
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Yeah.
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Give me all your thoughts and feelings.
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Well, you know, before when I was very heavy, I guess obese is the clinical term.
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I had to deal with diarrhea a lot at that point and a lot of vomiting, just a lot of things to let me know you re not healthy.
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But I thought were normal.
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And now it just sucks because it was such a, I mean, at the end of the day, I can t really complain because I got all that money from it.
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And I got to sit next to Bobby Moynihan and send retired NBA players and 72 year old nurses down giant slip and slides while making fun of them with a guy who I grew up, you know, as a teenager watching and fell in love with.
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So.
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It just was one of those things where I was like, Oh man, did I just stumble into a job that I m going to be doing for four or five years as a person who s used to just always being like, I don t know where I m going to be next month.
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So I let myself get a little excited about it.
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And then I was like, Oh no.
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Diarrhea does it again.
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It does it again!
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Oh, well, I m sorry that that didn t work out, but obviously, you ve done so well, and you have so much more to come.
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Thank you, Tig.
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I have to believe there s more for you than a show that s going to let diarrhea hold you back.
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I will never let diarrhea stop me.
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I think you are destined to be on something that will not let diarrhea get in the way.
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That s how much I believe in you, Ron.
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Oh, thank you, Tig.
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I wish I had that type of confidence.
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In time, you will get that confidence in time.
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You just have to believe that you are worthy of something that diarrhea can t stop.
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I ll say it back to myself.
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I love affirmations.
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I am worthy of something that diarrhea cannot stop.
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No diarrhea formed against me shall prosper.
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That s your mantra.
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Now, this is an advice show.
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We get a lot of questions about online dating.
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And you met your wife on Bumble?
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I did, yes.
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Any advice on how to navigate apps like these?
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I would say do it just like she did.
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Put one picture up, just one, of your face that will lead
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the person to then believe that this is obviously a fake account.
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But because of their just general comedic ways and the fact that they re stoned all the time, they ll be like, okay, let me talk to this robot for a while.
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See what happens.
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then you just trap them in, you bring them in.
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That s how she got me.
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She had one picture and I believe her opening line was like, I ve been looking for a perfect gentleman and one has appeared.
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And I was like, you don t know me.
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Did you think it was a robot?
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I did.
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Cause there s a lot of fake accounts on there and they ll flirt with you for a minute and then they ll go, Hey, let s take this off the site.
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Follow me at this.
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And why do they do that?
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They think that you ll give them your credit card info because you re lonely.
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Oh, I miss the whole online dating thing.
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Stephanie and I, yeah, I mean, I know it s been around for a while, but we ve been together, we re going on nine years and I feel like it wasn t as big as it is in the past, like maybe five years.
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No, if you were doing it back then, people were like, oh, you re a weirdo.
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Yeah, you re weird and you re sad.
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Yeah, you ve exhausted the real world and now you re trying to find things through the matrix.
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Even back then, I was supportive of it.
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When people would act like it s the weirdest thing.
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It s like, so to be legitimate, you have to go in public drunk.
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You know what I mean?
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Like to a bar.
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Like that is a legitimate thing.
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Whereas online, it s more, here are my hobbies.
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Here is my face.
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I d love to chat with you.
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You re supposed to meet your spouse on an independent film like I did.
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You re supposed to have a small role and your spouse is supposed to have a small role.
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And then you fall in love.
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That s how it goes.
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That s a tale as old as time.
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It is a tale as old as time.
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And I m sick of telling it.
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All right.
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Tell the great grandparents used to meet everybody.
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Yeah.
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You get a little bit part in a.
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In a silent film.
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In a silent film.
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That s right.
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Oh my gosh.
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Well, Ron, we are here to give advice to the audience and you seem like you ve got enough experience in life to really give the people what they need.
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Yes.
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Learn from my mistakes and errors, please.
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Learn from all of Ron s horrible mistakes that he has made over the years, all right?
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Let s learn from that.
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Somebody needs to learn from this, right?
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Yes.
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I thought if you just pooped in the corner of a water park, nobody would notice, but they found out.
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And word traveled, Ron.
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Word traveled.
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All right, Ron, we both live in Los Angeles, right?
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You re still in LA?
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Yeah, the Valley.
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All right.
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Our first question comes from a newcomer to our fair city.
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Carrie writes, I m going to Los Angeles for the first time.
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What should I do?
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I m looking for outdoor activities I can walk or bike to.
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I m staying in North Hollywood.
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I m in my thirties.
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I love plants, cats, and comedy.
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Ron, I m just going to jump in right away and say, Carrie should just come to my house.
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Yeah, you got plants there, right?
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I got plants.
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I have three cats, Ron.
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I have three cats and I would do anything for a fourth.
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It s still up for discussion.
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The only reason we might not is because Stephanie s worried that the fourth might not get along with the three that already
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Travel in a pack, eat together, sleep together, clean each other.
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They re a really cute crew.
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They got good team dynamics.
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Oh my gosh.
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Do you like cats, Ron?
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I like all animals in theory, but not to take care of.
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Okay, well, I don t need you to take care of my cats.
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I just need you to be like, oh, that s cute.
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I could do that all day.
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Okay.
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And we got comedy at the house.
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I mean, my wife and I are comedy people.
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Our kids are funny.
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I mean, come over to my house, Carrie.
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I think that that s the answer.
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And then you can save on lodging unless you charge a lot.
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I m not sure.
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I do.
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I charge a lot.
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To have somebody I ve never met come stay at my house that offers plants, cats, and comedy.
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Yeah, that s going to be a lot.
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Rightfully so.
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Rightfully so.
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What do you suppose Carrie should do?
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Well, if they re in North Hollywood.
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Obviously, they re going to stay at my house.
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They re going to stay at your house.
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So they got quick access.
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They have ability to get around.
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I think in North Hollywood, there is a statue of Lucille Ball near the studio.
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I don t remember exactly.
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So maybe what you ll have to do is do what I did and take a moderate amount of mushrooms and walk around North Hollywood.
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until you stumble across a statue of Lucille Ball that you pray to out loud.
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Wait a minute.
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This isn t the statue that was like terribly.
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No, I think that s in Jamestown.
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I think that one s in Jamestown, Ohio.
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Oh, okay, okay.
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This one looks pretty good.
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What would you have done if you ran into the Jamestown when you were on Mushroom?
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I ve never done Mushrooms.
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Oh!
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Would that put you on a bad trip?
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Definitely, would that, yes, the face of it, the dimples of it, definitely.
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But they changed it, right?
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Yes.
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They rectified the situation.
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One would hope so.
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I mean, if you don t know what we re talking about, Google the Lucille Ball statue in Jamestown, right?
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Yes.
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You could probably just Google ugly Lucille Ball.
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You can probably just Google Lucille Ball and probably that statue will pop up.
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You need to know what she looks like if you re really young and you don t follow her, but either way.
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So go to the Lucille Ball statue and, oh, you know what else I would highly suggest?
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This is something that I do and I bring people here from time to time.
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And Ron, I would love to either bring you there or tell you
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you should just go here if we can t do this together.
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If you just go take your mushrooms and go to this place, okay, that I m about to tell you.
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You have me at go take my mushrooms.
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Okay.
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On Beverly Boulevard.
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in Los Angeles, across from CBS Studios, not Radford CBS in North Hollywood, but on Beverly Boulevard, Beverly and Fairfax, right near there, there is a shoe repair store.
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Hear me out.
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You re laughing, but you haven t heard me out.
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This place is called Roberto s.
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And I like to think I ve helped keep this guy in business over the years because I talk about him on podcasts from time to time.
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When I lived in that area years ago, I was taking a walk.
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My ex and I were walking down Beverly, and I glanced over, and it s really hard to explain, but my gosh, is it not worth it.
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There is a window for Roberto s shoe repair.
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and he has pictures of... I don t even want to say what s in the window.
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I just want people to go to the window at Roberto s Shoe Repair and tell me if
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if it doesn t make you smile or laugh or stare dumbfounded, okay?
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Okay.
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I just love your Los Angeles.
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It starts with your house and it ends with Roberto s shoe repair.
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Well, and then in the middle of the day, you go to the Lucille Ball statue, of course.
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So that s what you do.
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You go to the Lucille Ball statue, then you go by Roberto s Shoe Repair on Beverly Boulevard, look in the window, and then if you take a picture, can you tag me on some sort of social media and tell me how you feel when you look in that window?
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What do you think of that, Ron?
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I gave no information.
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I love that.
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Do you?
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That s a good Los Angeles trip to me.
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Do you know what s so crazy?
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I talked about this one time on a podcast, and then I brought a friend of mine to Roberto s because it makes so many people laugh so hard.
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People enjoy this to no end when they go to Roberto s.
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By the way, I don t know Roberto.
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I just go and look in his window, and it makes me so happy.
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I m glad you said that.
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I was bringing somebody there, and there was somebody there standing, looking in the window, and they looked over and they go, oh, my God, Tig, I m here because you talked about this on a podcast.
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And so I m standing there with somebody who really followed my lead and my directions of what to do to bring you joy.
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And this guy loved it.
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Well, I gotta do it, I ll go, let s do it.
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I know it sounds weird, whatever.
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I don t know what to tell you people.
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Carrie, safe travels and send us a postcard from Los Angeles, a postcard with a picture of Roberto s, right?
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Everybody needs it.
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Everybody needs it.
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Ron, we re gonna pause for a short break and we ll be right back with more questions.
1
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I m Christina Cotarucci, and this season on Slow Burn.
1
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It s called Proposition 6.
1
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The Briggs Initiative.
1
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John Briggs is going to fire every gay and lesbian schoolteacher in California.
1
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With so much at stake, young people became activists.
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We can t let this happen in California.
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And activists became leaders.
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My name is Harvey Milk, and I m here to include you.
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Slow Burn, Season 9.
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Gays Against Briggs.
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Out now, wherever you listen.
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And we re back.
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Ron, you have a teenage son with autism.
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I do.
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You ve spoken about him on and off stage.
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So I think you might have some valuable insight for our next listener.
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PA writes, I have a sibling coming to live with my partner and me who has a developmental disability.
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Once they get here, we will be their caregivers from here on out.
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This is something I ve been expecting to happen at some point in my life, but I m now realizing I have never considered how this will affect any relationship I had at the time.
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My partner and I have been together for 14 years at this point, but even with that trust and love we have together, I m terrified this will put too much stress on our relationship
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and end us.
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My partner is completely supportive and has been fully aware of this eventually happening in our relationship.
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So my question for you is, what advice you have for me and my partner in order to work through such a monumental change in our relationship?
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Ooh, I like this.
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Oh,
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I mean, it feels to me that a lot of the groundwork has already been taken care of.
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The fact that you knew that this was a possibility very much similar to myself when my son was diagnosed with autism when he was three, I think I was 20, 23.
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And, um, that was one of the reasons I got into comedy where I was like, I don t know if my son will be able to get his own job.
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I don t know.
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I hope so.
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I will hope for that, but I have to prepare in case he doesn t.
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And so I knew I had to find a career.
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And for the longest time, I just planned on being a single dad.
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I had full custody of my son.
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And I was like, this is just gonna be my life.
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It s just me taking care of him.
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And I was very fortunate to find a partner that knew that we were a combo deal, that you couldn t take one without the other.
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And the balance that s been with her is still finding time and ways to
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have our space together so that it s not always just living in that caretaker role 24-7, which is something that can really take over your whole life in ways.
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And then always, you know, still being grateful for your partner and showing that you re grateful for the work that they re putting in with you, whether that s verbally or gift-wise or whatever their love language happens to be.
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Um, but I think most parties sounds like you have a lot of fear that they just won t be able to keep up with it or handle it.
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And you know, that there is no like choosing between you and the sibling that you have to take care of that.
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If you have to do that, choose between your partner.
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I m pretty sure I know what that answer would be, but so it just sounds like, um,
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You have to trust that since you put in that work, that you ve been honest about it, that they will be able to handle it.
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That if they need breaks, if they re having trouble with it, that they re able to discuss that with you without you being very defensive.
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Like sometimes I can be very defensive if anyone s having any issues with my son.
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So learning how to separate that and take that, what feedback that you re getting, and then just trust.
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Trust is the best answer I can give you.
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If you ve set it up and you ve been partners for 14 years already, and that they ve been preparing for this as well, you got to trust that they can handle it.
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And you got to trust that if they can t handle it, that they will be
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honest enough to tell you in a polite way.
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And I think that s really all you can do because you can t force someone to, you know, love the person that you have to take care of like you do.
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But if they do, like my wife does for my son, then you really found a special person and you just got to appreciate them and hold on to them.
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That s incredible.
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I m so happy that you have had that experience.
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And I hope that PA, I have faith in PA s relationship.
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I do.
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You know, yeah, I really do.
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And I think that, you know, like you re saying to trust that they can handle it.
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I think also trusting that
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there s going to be times that they can t handle it and that they ll come around.
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And probably PAU might not be able to handle it.
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It s probably just like every aspect of life in some way where you don t just across the board handle it.
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You don t just sign up and handle a marriage or having twins or
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an autistic child or a stand-up career, and that comes with not being able to handle it, as well as handling it.
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Yes.
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That s how I feel.
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I think it s really good to remain in communication and say, I m not able to handle this right now, and I need to step away for a beat.
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Like Ron is saying, try not to take it personally.
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Yeah, everyone needs a break and there s a big difference between not being able to handle something for a day and just being out.
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Yeah.
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You know, if you ve been with you for 14 years, sounds like they don t wanna be out.
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Yeah, and you know, it never dawned on me to do this.
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You know, you think about taking family vacations and how important that is.
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Absolutely, it s important and it s important to take couple vacations, that s important.
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But you know what we are now going to add?
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I can imagine.
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Individual vacations.
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That s something my wife and I were discovering because, you know, we went from being locked in the house every day with each other for a pandemic.
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And then we went straight on a two week anniversary vacation with each other in Europe.
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And then we were both like, oh, wait, you know, we needed to get away.
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But also we kind of needed to get away from each other.
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Okay, PA, I hope all or some of that helps, but I think you should for sure listen to Ron s advice.
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Let s take a break from talking with our guests for a new segment sponsored by BetterHelp Online Therapy.
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I m calling it Therapy Etiquette, where I answer your questions about getting the professional help we need and deserve.
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From Jessica.
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I m looking for a therapist for the first time after lots of family talks, resisting going outside of my church or close family members for advice and help with my problems.
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Just so you know, I m a Black queer woman from a Christian background.
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Would it be beneficial to try to find someone with the same cultural background and or where do I start?
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I m worried it s going to be harder to find someone that s a good fit with all of these layers.
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There are definitely pros to finding a therapist with a similar lived experience, but it s not necessary.
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Sometimes having a therapist who is very similar to you gives them more opportunities to assume they know you really well just because of similar backgrounds.
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Your therapist should be someone you feel safe with and that hears you out and doesn t impose their own belief system or values on you.
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I ve certainly experienced that.
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In a therapy session when I really needed help, somebody assumed they knew something about me and I knew deep down it wasn t true.
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It made me not comfortable sharing anymore in that session.
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And then I ve had really positive experiences where somebody did understand or relate to my identity and they gave very great feedback.
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You just have to really examine who you re meeting with and what your needs are and listen to yourself.
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You might not find somebody with exactly your background.
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Keep that in mind and keep yourself open.
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And remember that it s okay to ask your therapist about their experiences in life and their background.
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And even if you don t have the exact, perfectly lined up backgrounds and experiences,
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just maybe find out how they imagine bridging these two worlds.
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And also, you know, finding a therapist can kind of be like dating.
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If it s something that you are wanting to get out into the world and do and experience, then you re going to have to go through a few people to find who you re looking for.
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There s a lot of bad dates and there s some not great matches in the therapist client world.
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So, um, it can be good to ask people for referrals if you know of people with a really great therapist.
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Also with so many new therapists joining the field of therapy, it seems to be getting even more diverse.
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So I wouldn t assume that you can t find your ideal match because they might be out there, especially over the internet.
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I mean, that s the entire world.
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There s gotta be somebody, right?
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There is.
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Well, I hope that s been helpful or at least somewhat reassuring.
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Thanks to BetterHelp for sponsoring this Q&A.
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Now let s return to our conversation with Ron Funches.
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All right, Ron, this is our final question.
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It comes from Chris.
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Chris writes, hey Tig and friend, how do you deal with overly sensitive people being offended by your playful teasing?
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Like you, I have a very dry, sardonic personality and playfully tease the people I like most, often less, though, than you re teasing.
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How can I reassure them that no offense is intended?
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Should I wink?
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As you know, having to explain that it s a joke is tacky.
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Oh, Chris, do you really think I m going to say, yes, after every joke, you should wink?
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I don t feel like that s the answer, Chris.
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Ron, do you?
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I don t think it s the answer.
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I mean, you d see me on TV making jokes and winking all the time, which kind of actually in a corny way sounds appealing to me.
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Maybe I ll try it out in my standup.
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feel like maybe are the jokes that good.
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If everybody is bad at you, then you got to be willing to take feedback.
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Sometimes it s not going well or that you re not putting it in the proper place.
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I know a lot of times before I did stand up.
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Oh, you couldn t have a serious conversation with me at all.
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I was just looking for a place to put a punchline.
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I was looking for you to make some type of conversation mistake that I could jump on you.
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And maybe you put in too much energy in that.
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And people are just like, Hey,
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Can you just talk to me?
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Can you just answer the question that I am asking you?
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Right.
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Sometimes it s like that.
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Sometimes it s too much.
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And so it doesn t matter your intention.
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If people don t like, even my wife, I am very playful.
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And sometimes I have to, she ll be like, you re joking too much with me right now.
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I m not your bro, I m your wife.
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And I ll have to be like, oh, okay, I understand.
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Right.
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And you know, to go back to the word intention, I do think intention is important, but you could have the intention to be teasing somebody and show that you like them.
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or care about them and want to have a good time, but you might also have another intention simultaneously, which is trying to make them laugh, like Ron is saying.
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So you have these two intentions going, because oftentimes when you have the correct intention, the right intention,
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Jokes like this will typically go over pretty well, especially if you re saying that s your personality.
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You re known for being dry and sardonic, and you playfully tease people.
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You have to think about what is the element missing?
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Are you trying too hard to get these jokes in like Ron s saying?
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Or do you have some deep-seated part of you that s actually irritated with this person, and you re trying to say it s just a joke?
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Chris, what s going on?
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We don t need a follow up.
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Are you secretly just trying to cut them down?
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Yeah.
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Jokes and you re not saying your honest feelings.
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What I do walk away from this knowing full well is there should be no winking.
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That s what I know more than anything.
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But you can maybe, he could come up with a catchphrase to let people know.
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Or she, we don t, we don t know.
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This is Chris with a K. Ooh.
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Yeah.
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So we don t know, we don t know what s going on here.
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We don t know what s going on anywhere.
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People don t know what s going on when they look at me.
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But one time I winked at somebody and it was really, it was out of nervousness and it like sent the wrong message.
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I had somebody sitting with me at lunch that I didn t know.
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I was just in between flights.
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Have you ever done that, nervously wink?
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Yeah, no, I m actually second guess even saying this out loud, because I can hear my wife in my background.
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But we were walking down, I think in Europe, we were walking in the elevator and this like 12 year old- You were walking in an elevator?
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Walking and got to the elevator.
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All right.
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And then this like kid who could be more like 12 or 13 year old, she s just staring at me for some reason.
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And I got there and so then I just winked at her.
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And I was like, wait, you shouldn t wink at a 13 year old girl.
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That was similar to me, like this girl that was probably around 20, you know, walking around the airport and she was looking for a place to sit.
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And I winked at her.
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I was mortified.
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I don t wink at people.
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I m not a Chris, okay?
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I m not a Chris with a K. And this girl sat down with me, and I happened to be eating a California roll, so my mouth was full.
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I was mid-huge California roll bite, you know?
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And I was like, oh.
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And then I was sitting there with somebody that I was, I just really wanted to eat and leave.
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And I just wanted to say, Hi, I m sorry, I don t wink at people.
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I you were looking over at my table.
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So I just winked and but I didn t mean for you to sit with me.
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I got a run for a flight and winking is never good.
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No, I think mine was more of a weird ego thing where I thought for some reason that she s staring at me.
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I was like, I was like, Yes, I am Cooper from Trolls.
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That s me.
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Yeah, she s like... I m going to start saying that.
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If I wink again, I m going to say, yes, I am Cooper from Trolls.
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Ron, I think we ve gotten Chris the information that Chris needs, which is drop the winking.
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I think you just need to think more about all these different intentions you might have.
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And again, also pick up a catchphrase.
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Hey!
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Hamburger, something like that.
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Right.
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Hamburger.
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That s perfect.
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Or how about, yes, I am Cooper.
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That s the catchphrase.
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Why would you go to hamburger?
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That s true.
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All right, Ron, that was our last question, but I need you to help for one last thing.
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Okay.
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It s called name that thing.
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Name that thing.
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Yeah, it s a segment where people write in when they need us to name that thing for them.
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Okay.
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Anything from a beehive to a houseplant.
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The catch is that they must use the name.
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This is binding, so we can t mess it up.
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Okay.
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You re up for the challenge?
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Absolutely.
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All right.
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Heather writes, My husband and I are starting an adult league co-ed softball team.
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This is our first season, and so far, we ve only recruited my parents and sisters.
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What should we name our team?
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My gut, just right out of the gate, is the sad sacks.
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Why?
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Do you feel like this is a sad tale?
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Well, I mean, if you re trying to start a league and you can only round up your parents and your sisters, I would proudly wear a shirt that said the sad sacks.
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And then somebody s like, why are you called the sad sacks?
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And I say, well, I tried to start a league and I could only get my parents and my sisters.
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You know?
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No, you re right.
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I try to think of a name that s better, and I can t.
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I can t think of a better name than the sad sack.
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All of mine are just about home is where the bases are.
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I got too long.
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That s too long.
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My names are too long for me.
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Yeah, but there s something fun about... I could be swayed, because I would also be very charmed if on somebody s T-shirt it said, home is where the base is.
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The home is where the bases is, is.
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Right?
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Yes.
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I mean, I d love to see that game.
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The sad sacks versus the home is where the bases is, is.
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The bases is, is.
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The bases is, is.
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Yeah.
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Wouldn t you want to see that game?
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Yeah, definitely want to see that game.
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Yeah.
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As long as they got cotton candy, I m there.
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All right, I m going to leave it up to you.
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And I m not precious about this at all.
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What in your gut?
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Home is where the basis is.
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That s the name?
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Yeah, because it seems so, like such a long name to try to put on a shirt.
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And I want to see the design.
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Please take a picture, tag us.
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Me and Ron Funches, tag us with your t-shirts that you have to have made that say, the home is where the base is.
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Or however it goes.
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All right, that s the name.
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Okay, done.
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Your new softball team is now called the home is where the bases is is.
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All right, Ron, that s the end of the show.
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Thank you for spending your time with me today.
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Always a pleasure to spend any time with you, Tig.
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Thank you for having me.
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Of course.
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And is there anything that the world and I mean, the world, my podcast is a big sensation.
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What would you like the world to know?
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Just maybe check out my podcast.
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I like it.
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It s called Getting Better with Ron Funches.
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We just talk about getting better at life and stuff.
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And I talk to nice people.
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That s about it.
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Great.
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I hope to see you soon, Ron.
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I hope so as well, Tig.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
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That s what you have
2
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Don t Ask Tig is hosted by me, Tig Notaro.
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It s produced by Thomas Ouellette, Shana Deloria, and Ryan Lohr.
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Our executive producer and editor is Beth Perlman.
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Engineering and sound mixing by Johnny Vince Evans and Eric Romani.
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digital production by James Napoli, talent booking by Marianne Ways, production support from Pizza Shark, Elena C, and Dan Latou.
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Our theme music is Friend in Tig by Edie Burkell and Kyle Krushem.
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and Listen to Your Heart by Edie Burkell.
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Special thanks to Hunter Seidman, Lily Kim, Alex Schaffert, and Lauren Dee.
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Concept developed by Tracy Mumford.
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Our executive consultant is Dean Capello and Gobsmack Studios.
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You can always ask for advice at DontAskTIG.org.
2
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Just write in with your problem or send us a voice memo.
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Remember to follow us on social media at Don t Ask Tig.
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Don t Ask Tig is a production of American Public Media.
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And as always, thanks Dana, and I ll tell Becky.
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Hi, I m stand-up comedian and sex symbol Tig Notaro.
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And I m actor and writer Cheryl Hines.
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Before Cheryl and I got into the big business of podcasting together, we were just simply friends.
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And we re still friends.
2
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But now we talk about a different documentary every week on our podcast, Tig and Cheryl, True Story.
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So whether you love documentaries or just want to hear us slowly lose our minds, check out Tig and Cheryl, True Story, wherever you get your podcasts.
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Alright, cool.