Mike Birbiglia
Mike Birbiglia
Mike Birbigliais an American comedian, writer, actor, and director...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionComedian
Date of Birth20 June 1978
CityShewrsbury, MA
CountryUnited States of America
creepy dad growing lead personal phrase soccer telling wrong
Growing up, I was discouraged from telling personal stories. My dad often used the phrase 'Don't tell anyone.' But not about creepy things. I don't want to lead you down the wrong path. It would be about insignificant things. Like, I wouldn't make the soccer team, and my father would say, 'Don't tell anyone.'
dad goes novels toast war
My dad goes through war novels like I go through boxes of Cinnamon Toast Crunch.
mom dad thinking
I think spending a lot of time with my mom, who's a talker and a storyteller, and my dad, who has kind of a soft-spoken, understated sense of humor, I think that's how I became what I am, which is sort of an understated storyteller.
funny dad humor
I didn't realize how good I was with technology until I met my parents... my dad told me "You're good; you should be a computer programmer." I said, "You're bad... you should be a caveman."
board comic knew people struggled telling
When I started out, I really struggled as a comic because no one knew who I was, and sometimes I was telling stories, so it would take a while for people to get on board for things.
bands people
I sometimes think of not doing Twitter or Facebook anymore, but that's how people find their favorite bands and comedians.
came clubs comedy food hear onstage ordering people view
The way I view comedy clubs is, people are drinking, they're ordering food, they're out for the night, and there's also a person onstage talking. And with the theater, they came to the theater, and they're waiting to hear what you say. So you'd better have something to say.
films time
First time films are hard. Even with some of the greatest directors, you look back at their first film, and you are just going, 'That movie is kind of bad.'
almost amazing bigger developing gain hear lose venues
There's something about small venues that's amazing for developing material. It's almost like you can not only hear people's response, but you can understand it. In bigger venues you lose that, but you gain this sense of camaraderie in the audience.
audience fan four gene guy knows literally note random shows
Random people, celebrities of note come to your shows over the years, and I've had some really strange ones. Like the guy from Kiss. Gene Simmons has literally been in the audience at my shows, like, four times. I don't know if he knows me; he's just a big fan of comedy.
coming opposed people purpose shows
People come to my shows on purpose as opposed to coming to a 'comedy show.' Which was always my goal.
compared five million people release ten
The thing with film is that it's so wide-reaching compared to comedy. When I release my comedy special, half a million people will see it. If I release a movie, five to ten million people will see it.
believe connected core saying stripped telling trust
The thing about storytelling is it's very stripped down; it's very much at the core of 'I'm a person and I'm just telling you this thing, and I need you to trust me and believe that what I'm saying is true, and if you believe that what I'm saying is true then we are connected to each other.' I think there's something really beautiful about that.
ambitious clearly common good voice
I've become good friends with Lena Dunham, and the thing I had in common with Lena when I was 24 is I was as ambitious as she was. What we don't have in common is that I was not as talented. My voice was not as clearly defined.