After a series of traumatic life events, and her eventual breast cancer diagnosis, Tig Notaro’s stardom shot up as she openly discussed her diagnosis on stage around the country. Notaro's cancer went into remission after her double mastectomy, thereafter she performed Boyish Girl Interrupted. As she jokes about an embarrassing TSA pat-down, she starts taking off her blazer on stage. The crowd reacts with whistles and cheers, and Notaro says smirking, "Of course I'm not going to take off my shirt on my special!” One thing leads to another, and Notaro is performing completely topless on stage. Notaro revealed her scars and rarely acknowledged it the rest of the performance. Her defiance as a performer and woman was a message that states people should be okay with being open with who they are, without apology and with grace.

Tig Notoro’s Girlish Boy Interrupted is an archive of queer and feminist humanities, and I theorize is a message on open discussion and vulnerability that only an artform like comedy could distribute. The special also archives an early period of time when networks started producing premium content for their own apps to compete with the success of Netflix, in this case HBOGO, now rebranded as HBO Max as of 2022.