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
bit hard life school since telling
I got out of school in 2000, and I always wanted to be on 'This American Life,' since I first started telling stories. And that, I mean, that show is a little bit of a fortress. It's really hard to get stuff on that show.
life
Nobody knows the life of the working comic.
accessible david heard life people remember year
Media is so weird; everything is so accessible now. It used to be this thing where, if you did something on 'This American Life,' this predates me, but when David Sedaris did it, for example, it would just play, people who heard it heard it, and then the book would come out a year later, and people would be like, 'Ahh, I kind of remember that.'
comedy desired famous life philip starting
When I was starting out, I thought I would go into comedy and there would be a mentor, like the Philip Seymour Hoffman character in 'Almost Famous,' in my life, and there just wasn't. It was really frustrating for me because I desired that so much.
concept high life
When you're in high school, you can't even imagine the concept of what the rest of your life even means.
best gave life manager piece steal
Someone gave me a piece of advice once, my first manager Lucien Hold. He said, 'If you do stand-up about your own life, no one can steal it.' I always thought that was the best piece of advice.
affect concept high life moment rest school walking
In real life, I first started sleep walking in high school because that was when this concept of getting into college first appeared. I had this moment of, 'Oh! This is going to affect the rest of my life.'
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.