Coming soon: Tig Notaro, Jethro Tull and maybe Alec Baldwin

Tig Notaro was a very funny second-tier comedian who specialized in silly, semi-absurdist one-liners until five years ago, when, in quick succession, the sudden death of her mother, a devastating break-up of a serious relationship and a diagnosis of breast cancer changed her life and comedy.

In one now-legendary, confessional performance that longtime friend and fan Louis CK pushed out to the public, (“I was crying and laughing and listening like never in my life,” Louis CK said of the set), Notaro became a pop culture icon. She has since won a Grammy Award and her memoir “I’m Just a Person” is on the New York Times Best Sellers list.

A few days ago, the Straz Center for the Performing Arts in Tampa announced that Notaro will be performing there on June 16. She’ll be in Ferguson Hall, the mid-sized venue at the center. Tickets are $27.50-$39.50, plus service charge. They went on sale Friday and you can expect this show to sell out quickly. Call 813-229-7827 or go to strazcenter.org.

Living in the past

Also just announced this past week is an appearance by Ian Anderson at the Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg. Or maybe an appearance by Jethro Tull.

Anderson, of course, was the colorful flute-playing front man for Jethro Tull, the classic rock/semi-prog rock band. The show is billed as “Jethro Tull by Ian Anderson,” and Anderson’s band consists of some of the more than two-dozen musicians who have been part of Jethro Tull over the decades. So whether it’s an Anderson concert or a Tull concert is unclear.

The concert promises “a solid collection of the best-known Tull repertoire from 1968 to date.” Most songs will be accompanied by big-screen video elements. (Jethro Tull was one of the first bands to use big video screens for arena and stadium concerts back in the 1970s. Back then they called their video screens “Tullivision.”)

Among the songs on the set list for the new Tull tour are “Dharma For One,” “Bouree,” “Nothing Is Easy,” “A New Day Yesterday,” “Living In The Past,” “Aqualung,” “Locomotive Breath,” “My God” and “Thick As A Brick,” but the band says that the set may vary a bit from one show to the next.

Tickets are $49.50-$124.50. 727-893-7832, themahaffey.com.

While we’re on the subject

Two other bands best known from the days of yore have announced anniversary tours that are coming to St. Petersburg. The great classic punk band X will be at the State Theatre on May 14 with their 40th anniversary tour, and popmeisters Hanson will be at Jannus Live on Sept. 19 with their 25th anniversary tour. (It’s the 25th anniversary of the band, even though no one knew about them until 1997.) Both bands still feature all their original members. Information: 727-895-3045, and statetheatreconcerts.com for X, 727-565-0550, jannuslive.com for Hanson.

Only if ‘SNL’ can spare him

The Sarasota Film Festival held its annual kick-off event Monday evening, and the festival president Mark Famiglio addressed a question that a lot of people have asked.

Diane Lane is going to be one of the festival’s featured guests, and her new movie “Paris Can Wait” is the Closing Night Film. Lane’s co-star in the film is Alec Baldwin. Festival officials have been peppered questions about whether Baldwin will make an appearance.

The answer, Famiglio said, is “Maybe.”

Baldwin had called the festival several times and expressed interest in attending. But that was a couple of months ago.

Since then, as Famiglio put it, “he got that gig on ‘Saturday Night Live,’ and that guy became president.” So don’t count on seeing Baldwin on the streets of Sarasota, but don’t count him out yet either.

The festival runs March 31-April 9. Check sarasotafilmfestival.com for information.

This story was originally published March 17, 2017 at 4:56 PM with the headline "Coming soon: Tig Notaro, Jethro Tull and maybe Alec Baldwin."