Tig Notaro on the crushing “50-million-page email” her future wife sent after they first made out

Comedian Tig Notaro has shared a funny story about the start of her romantic relationship with her future wife, Stephanie Allynne.

Notaro appeared on the most recent episode of the Why Won’t You Date Me? podcast with Nicole Byer. She explained how things developed between her and Allynne.

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The two women met on the set of the 2013 movie In A World. They were playing “love interests.” At the time, neither had any idea they would fall for each other in real life. Although Notaro was an out lesbian, Allynne had not dated a woman before.

They struck up a friendship via text. Notaro says she’s not much of a texter, and when she found herself eagerly replying to Allynne’s texts, she wondered if she was developing a crush on the actress.

First kiss

At the same time, Notaro was busy touring with her stand-up appearances. Months later, Notaro found herself back home, working on a book.

“I hadn’t showered. I hadn’t looked at myself in the mirror,” she said, not expecting to see anyone.

Then Allynne texted her to say she was in a bar with friends. She invited Notaro to join them. It happened to be Valentine’s Day.

Notaro said she pulled on some clothes. However, she made no effort to look special as she didn’t think Allynne was interested in her as anything but a friend.

The One Mississippi star put on a large, woollen sweater with an eagle on the back. Incredulously, she arrived at the bar to find Allynne was also wearing a wool top with an eagle on the back!

They laughed and swapped tops. A friend of Allynne’s then said he’d take a photo of them.

“We put our arms around each other and just started kissing,” recalls Notaro. “We immediately started, and I am not a public PDA person, and so our first kiss was captured.”

She adds, “And so I was like, ‘Hey, do you want to like go out to my car and make out more?’ And she was like, ‘Sure.’ She had never made out with a girl before, too. So, we make out.”

However, the next day, Allynne suprised Notaro with a lengthy message that burst her bubble.

“Then the next day, I’m of course on cloud nine. She sends me this 50-million-page email about how she’s straight, she doesn’t want to lead me on, that she likes me a lot as a person, and that she’s not gay, but she’d love to just be friends with me. And I was like, ‘Oh, boy.’”

“I just thought, well, I can’t push somebody into liking me or being attracted to me. So, even though I was bummed, I just wrote back, um, ‘okay, dyke.’”

Allynne apparently found this blunt response to her lengthy email hilarious.

Falling in love

The women began dating. A couple of months later, Allynne casually revealed she’d fallen in love with Notaro.

“We had gone out to eat in downtown LA,” Notaro told Byer. “And we were sitting there, and she [Allynne] was talking to me. She said, ‘Yeah, you know, I was telling’ whatever, her friend or mother, that this and that happened, ‘and I was telling them I was so surprised that I’ve fallen in love with a woman.’

“And I was sitting there going, ‘Oh my God, she’s in love with me.’ Because she hadn’t said that yet. And so I was trying to play it cool and I was like, ‘Right, uh-huh.’ And in my head, I was doing cartwheels. I was just stunned, you know.

“Then we finished dinner. I had a loft downtown at the time. We go back to my loft and we’re sitting there talking, and uh, and I just said, ‘Um, oh, and I love you, too. And uh, and she goes, ‘Oh my gosh, you caught that.’ And I said, ‘Of course I did. I couldn’t think about anything else in the world when you said that.’

Watch below.

The clip was also shared on Instagram, where it went viral.

In the replies, one person quipped, “A 50-page email about where the relationship is at is VERY GAY.”

Marriage and motherhood

Notaro and Allynne married in 2015 in Notaro’s hometown of Pass Christian, Mississippi.

They recently celebrated their tenth wedding anniversary, and Allynne marked the milestone with a post on Instagram.

“10 years ago we got legally married in Mississippi,” she said. “In a vortex of love. here’s to a lifetime of love and the continued mission to bring light where we can. Happy Anniversary Tig! I love you immensely.”

They became parents to twin boys, Max and Finn, born via a surrogate, in June 2017.

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