Tear-inducing laughter came to an abrupt halt during comedians Patton Oswalt and Tig Notaro's sold-out, co-headlining show when an audience member started vomiting in the middle of Notaro's set.
Oswalt and Notaro performed on Nov. 15 at the Stifel Theatre during Night 2 of the Flyover Comedy Festival. The pair had never co-headlined a show, though they were both featured on a 2018 "Employee of the Month" podcast episode. This is a signature move for Flyover: Festival organizers bring unconventional comedy acts together on stage.
Oswalt and Notaro turned out to be a perfect match both serving up reality-based comedy sets inspired by their families and life experiences.
The show kicked off on a high note. After brief opening sets from host Kari Assad and St. Louis-based comedian Rafe Williams, 53-year-old Notaro hit the stage at 8:30 p.m. Dressed in a red and black flannel shirt and dark jeans, Notaro welcomed guests to the "gay part of the show" as the song "Get Ready for This" by 2 Unlimited blared from the speakers.
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It's no secret that Notaro is a master of observational comedy.
The Mississippi-born, Grammy-nominated comedian has made a living out of finding humor in everyday life even in its darkest moments. She underwent a double mastectomy after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012, and later made a bold declaration by filming her 2015 HBO comedy special "Tig Notaro: Boyish Girl Interrupted" topless.
Her performance was transparent and honest, centering mostly on stories of her family with her wife, Stephanie, and their twin boys, Max and Finn.
It's clear Notaro is enjoying motherhood. She told the audience how her sons gave her the nickname "Mayor;" how they intentionally litter in public to get a rise out of judgmental strangers; and how her son, Max, has picked up her dry humor and personality traits.
Notaro shared how she and Stephanie felt when they realized their sons didn't know that they were gay. Notaro says she didn't know that she had to "come out" to her children, awkwardly fumbling through her words as she attempted to give her 7-year-olds the CliffsNotes on what it means to be gay before dropping them off at school.
"I'm trying to explain what gay is in three minutes," Notaro said dryly into the mic, garnering bouts of laughter from the audience.
It was a memorable joke full of honesty that some may have felt uncomfortable sharing with thousands of strangers. But for a comedian like Notaro, who has tackled personal topics in her stand-up before, the bit was a cakewalk.
Unfortunately, the laughter was short-lived.
Just 16 minutes after hitting the stage, gagging and gurgling sounds could be heard coming from the left side of the theatre. The noise slowly got louder, causing Notaro to stop her performance. After audience members informed the comedian that a woman was sick, the house lights came on, and Notaro began calling out for any doctors in the crowd to come forward.
Notaro exited the stage as the audience attempted to help the sick, young woman before safety and medical personnel arrived. According to guests, the woman staggered a bit and began vomiting down row F. When the paramedics arrived, they escorted her out of the theatre in a wheelchair, summoning applause from the audience as a theatre worker cleaned up the puke.
After the unexpected 30-minute, puke-filled intermission, Notaro returned to the stage to let the audience know she'd never had anything like that happen at a show in her 28-year-long career and thanked them for sticking it out through the emergency.
"We're all just doing our best," she said.
Notaro's recovery from the emergency was spectacular.
She didn't miss a beat and the audience seemed to forget the incident even happened. That night, Notaro's dry humor came with a whole lot of sauce on the side. In fact, Notaro's performance was dripping in sauce and swag, like your mysteriously cool aunt with the funky haircut who smokes hand-rolled cigarettes and wears a beret.
She found humor in life's simplest moments that also brought the heartiest laughs, tying everything together with her almost-monotone voice and wild, descriptive language.
Notaro proved she's the epitome of comedic cool.
Everyone's favorite "Ratatouille" and "King of Queens" co-star Patton Oswalt came out next to perform his full set despite the mid-show emergency delays. He started by letting the audience know his stomach was a bit queasy after eating a tuna salad sandwich backstage. Perhaps a humorous call back to the throw-up fiasco that ensued just before his set.
"When you think about it, we all have a vomiting lady in our lives," Oswalt said as the audience snickered.
Oswalt described the audience member as a "defiant vomiter who refused to leave" and acknowledged the massive hip-hop show for rapper Rod Wave raging next door at the Enterprise Center.
Like Notaro, Oswalt has perfected the art of observational comedy. He's cultivated his humorous flow for over 30 years, writing for shows like "MADtv" and voicing the lead character on the 2007 Academy Award-winning Pixar film "Ratatouille." His style is funny, honest and a tad dark. His wide-ranging set included jokes about his religious beliefs, the woes of parenting a teenage daughter and reading "Pride and Prejudice" to cool off between viewing MMA matches.
His funniest bit came when Oswalt described his fascination with religious rituals as an atheist. Describing Jewish bar mitzvahs, Catholic mass and Islamic prayer times, as "show business," Oswalt's humor also revealed a cynical view of life and beliefs. He even advised the audience to buy a "Stubhub ticket to mass" where they'd get a front-row seat to the coolest, "goth vibes" accompanied by "snacks" and "zombie blood" disguised as wine.
A follow-up joke alluding to Catholic priests and child molestation didn't go over well with some audience members. But Oswalt didn't care. Instead, when the crowd didn't laugh, he casually mentioned how he missed the "vomiting lady," regaining their attention and giggles.
Oswalt wrapped up the night shortly before reminiscing on childhood bullies and revisiting the mid-show hurl fest.
"We've all been through something tonight," he said. "We're forever linked."
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