Tig Notaro reflects on first Oscars, late friend Andrea Gibson

Patrick Ryan, USA TODAYSun, March 15, 2026 at 7:06 PM UTC

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LOS ANGELES – Tig Notaro is suddenly rethinking her Oscars footwear.

The stand-up comedian and actress earned her first Oscar nod as a producer on Ryan White’s “Come See Me in the Good Light” (streaming now on Apple TV), which traces the ups and downs of Notaro’s longtime friend Andrea Gibson, a Colorado poet who died last summer at 49 after a four-year battle with ovarian cancer.

Nominated for best documentary film, "Come See Me in the Good Light" joyfully captures the resilience and love between Gibson, who used they/them pronouns, and their wife, fellow poet Megan Falley.

After Gibson’s death, “Meg reached out to different people, like, ‘Oh, do you want these shoes of Andrea’s?’ ” Notaro recalls, seated on the back patio of a Larchmont neighborhood coffee shop. “My wife was like, ‘I just picture you all showing up to the Oscars in these dirty little desert boots going: We’re in Andrea’s shoes!’ We really should have done that. I think they’re 7½.”

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Stef Willen, left, Megan Falley, Ryan White, Andrea Gibson, Jessica Hargrave and Tig Notaro attend the Sundance premiere of "Come See Me in the Good Light" on Jan. 25, 2025, in Park City, Utah.

Bringing “Come See Me in the Good Light” to the Oscars is understandably emotional for the documentary’s team, who have found catharsis in celebrating Gibson’s life and work with audiences, many of whom will share their own experiences with terminal illness and grief.

“Andrea was very big on community, and the instant connection we find with strangers has just been amazing to me,” says Stef Willen, Gibson’s close friend and a producer on the project. “Andrea once said that they thought their death would make their friends become more who they are. We weren’t sure what the hell they meant when they said that. But now, I just have this feeling of being in the right place and surrounded by the right people.”

Notaro, 54, was introduced to Gibson 25 years ago at a show in Boulder, Colorado.

“It’s funny, because Andrea claims they were in a cow suit when I first met them, but I don’t think so,” Notaro recalls with a smile. “Andrea was tatted, possibly in a cow suit, and looked very much like a rock star – not how I pictured a poet. But as soon as Andrea went on stage, it confirmed they were a rock star. The audience was crying and laughing so hard, and that’s the balance Andrea struck so effortlessly. Nothing was too precious to laugh about.”

Those close to Gibson remember their gleefully inappropriate sense of humor, as well as their shared love of Shania Twain with Falley. Gibson was the sort of person who loved to cheer on strangers at marathons, and eagerly spent hours just letting their friends vent.

Stef Willen, left, and Tig Notaro attend the Film Independent Spirit Awards in Los Angeles on Feb. 15.

“It helped them to help others. It made them calm,” Willen says, who was inspired to make the documentary after Gibson’s diagnosis. “Every time I left their place, I felt so jazzed, like, ‘I know how to live now.’ This person integrated death into living by not denying it. There would be moments of really freaking out and they would feel all their feelings, and then they’d move past it. You’d see this person accept death and go on living happier than they were five minutes ago.”

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Making the film, Gibson wanted it to be clear that “there was no villain in this story, not even cancer,” says producer Jessica Hargrave. “They absolutely wanted to live – they did not want to die – but they could still find space to appreciate what they had learned through this diagnosis.”

Andrea Gibson, left, and Megan Falley in a scene from "Come See Me in the Good Light."

Notaro says she was “floored” by Gibson’s defiance and resolve in the face of something so terrifying. The Grammy and Emmy nominee was diagnosed with cancer in both breasts in 2012, and underwent a double mastectomy. She has been cancer-free since.

“I remember when I was going through it, people would tell me that I was brave,” Notaro recalls. “Meanwhile, I was in fetal position crying on my couch – I didn’t feel brave at all. But bravery is moving through something; you’re still moving forward.”

Even in the final year of Gibson’s life, they got dressed up every day and wore their shoes inside. “They were like, ‘I am showing my body that I am alive. The moment I start wearing sweatpants and lie barefoot on the couch, it hits a different path,’” Hargrave recalls.

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Gibson also kept on working out and lifting weights as much as they were able.

“That really stuck with me,” Notaro says. “This is somebody who believes something positive could come along and maybe something could shift. It’s so indicative of somebody who has not lost hope.”

Andrea Gibson, left, and Megan Falley at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.

Gibson had a chance to watch “Come See Me in the Good Light” at Sundance Film Festival in January 2025, where it won the Festival Favorite Award. Their friends believe they would be “so thrilled” by the Oscar nomination.

“They would be like, ‘What the hell?’ I don’t even think they’d have the words,” Willen says. “Andrea was still alive when there was talk like, ‘Oh, this movie could be an Oscar contender,’ and Andrea would say, ‘That is so crazy people are even talking about this!’ But they’d be so happy for Meg.”

After the Oscars, the filmmakers hope that viewers will be inspired by Gibson and Falley’s love story, and seek out their poetry.

“Prior to knowing Andrea, the only thing I knew was, ‘Roses are red, violets are blue,’” Notaro jokes. “I feel like this film and this person is going to birth so many new poets. Andrea said, ‘What kind of poet would I be if I could only make life beautiful on the page?’

“That is ultimately Andrea’s legacy: They’re continuing to make life beautiful beyond the page.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tig Notaro reflects on first Oscars, late friend Andrea Gibson

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