Birbiglia was born in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, the son of Mary Jean (née McKenzie), a nurse, and Vincent Paul Birbiglia, a doctor. He is the youngest of four children.[4] He is partially of Italian descent and was raised Catholic.[5][6] Birbiglia attended the all-boys Catholic school St. John's High School for one year, and graduated from St. Mark's School in 1996.[7][8] He says seeing comedian Steven Wright perform inspired him to begin writing jokes at age 16.[9] He attended Georgetown University, graduating in 2000 with a degree in English.[10][11] During college he performed as a member of the Georgetown Players Improv Troupe with John Mulaney and Nick Kroll, worked as a server in a comedy club, and began performing at DC Improv (The Improv) in Washington, D.C.[9][12]
Career
Early career
Birbiglia began doing improv in 1997. His sister was able to get him an interview on Conan O'Brien's show as an intern, where he worked for associate producer Jordan Schlansky.[13] Birbiglia moved to New York in 2000,[14] and appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman in 2002.[12] He told his first story on stage at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, in 2003, and eventually became a semi-regular contributor to The Moth storytelling series.[15] He released his first album, Dog Years, in 2004,[16] followed by My Secret Public Album, Volume 1a (2005) a compilation of his appearances on The Bob and Tom Show. His next two albums, Two Drink Mike (2006), and My Secret Public Journal Live (2007) were released on Comedy Central Records. My Secret Public Journal Live was named one of the best comedy albums of the decade by The A.V. Club.[17]
In 2008 CBS picked up a sitcom pilot loosely based on Birbiglia's life and featuring him, Bob Odenkirk and Frances Conroy that ultimately never aired.[18][14] He later called the failure of his pilot "the luckiest thing that ever happened to me."[19]
Birbiglia adapted his material into the 2010 book Sleepwalk with Me, and Other Painfully True Stories[24] and the 2011 album Sleepwalk With Me Live. The book debuted at #29 on the hardcover nonfiction New York Times Bestseller List[25][26] and number four on the hardcover nonfiction section of the Washington Post Political Bookworm Best Sellers.[27] The book was also a finalist for the 2011 Thurber Prize for American Humor.[28]Sleepwalk With Me Live debuted at #1 on the Billboard Comedy Charts.[29]
In 2011, Birbiglia mounted his second one-man show, My Girlfriend's Boyfriend, which ran for four months off-Broadway and won the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Solo Show.[42] He toured My Girlfriend's Boyfriend around the world with tour dates in the United States, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. On June 2, 2013, Birbiglia performed it for the last time at Carnegie Hall.[43][44]My Girlfriend's Boyfriend was featured as the number one stand-up special of 2013 by Vulture,[45]Paste,[46] The Laugh Button[47] and Laughspin.[48] It was also named one of Time Out New York's Best Comedy Specials of 2013.[49]Flavorwire listed the special as one of the top 20 funniest stand-up specials of all time.[50]
Birbiglia's Thank God for Jokes comedy special was released on Netflix on February 28, 2017.[55]
In April 2017, Birbiglia announced a tour of his newest show titled The New One.[56] The tour started with 25 cities and, in December 2017, featured a limited podcast titled The Old Ones. The podcast features Mike Birbiglia analyzing his old stand-up with guests including his brother Joe Birbiglia, comedians Pete Holmes and John Mulaney, film producer and director Judd Apatow, contributor to 'This American Life' Ira Glass and his wife.[57]The New One made its off-Broadway debut at the Cherry Lane Theatre on July 26 and was scheduled to run through August 2 before a high demand for tickets extended the show's run to and through August 26.[58]
The show then received a Broadway transfer, with performances beginning October 25, 2018 and running through January 20, 2019 at the Cort Theatre.
In March 2020, Birbiglia created a charity initiative called "Tip Your Waitstaff" with fellow comics to raise money for comedy clubs closed because of COVID-19.[59]
Birbiglia temporarily replaced Jimmy Kimmel for a short time in 2022, as Kimmel recovered from COVID-19.[3]
In 2022, Birbiglia premiered his show titled The Old Man and the Pool at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, where it ran from April 28 to May 22.[62] He later opened the show on Broadway at the Vivian Beaumont Theater, where it ran from November 13, 2022, to January 15, 2023,[63] and at the Wyndham's Theatre in London'sWest End between September 12, 2023, and October 7, 2023.[64] The show premiered on Netflix on November 21, 2023, to positive reviews.
Personal life
Birbiglia has rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder, which causes him to live out his dreams and sleepwalk. While asleep in a motel room in Walla Walla, Washington, he ran through a second-story window. As a result of the accident, Birbiglia received 33 stitches in his leg. His show, a story on This American Life, and subsequent film Sleepwalk with Me largely centers around this event.[15][65][66] He also had a tumor on his bladder at the age of 19.[67]
Birbiglia is married to Jen Stein, whose pen name is J. Hope Stein, and whose work is featured in The New One.[68] They have one daughter, Oona, born in 2015.[69]
^Borden, Jane (December 18, 2009). "Best (and Worst) of 2009". Time Out New York. Archived from the original on August 21, 2014. Retrieved April 2, 2012.
^Vineyard, Jennifer (November 27, 2012). "David O. Russell's Lily Tomlin Rant Came Back to Haunt Him at the Gotham Awards". Vulture: Devouring Culture. Retrieved June 18, 2019. Host Mike Birbiglia shocked and delighted the audience with his opening monologue at the IFP Gotham Awards Monday night when it slowly became apparent that he was reciting honoree-of-the-evening David O. Russell's notorious tirade against Lily Tomlin from the set of I Heart Huckabees.
^Zakarin, Jordan (November 27, 2012). "David O. Russell Explains His Legacy and Reacts to a Very Risque Joke". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 18, 2019. During his opening monologue...Mike Birbiglia sarcastically likened the rant to a famous quote by Elia Kazan ('A film director has to get a shot, no matter what he does') and then recited [Russell's confrontation with Lily Tomlin], without omission of [expletives].
^Morfoot, Addie (November 29, 2012). "Oh, Russell Roasted!". Variety. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
^Schulman, Michael (January 28, 2016). "Mike Birbiglia's 'Thank God for Jokes'". The New Yorker. Retrieved June 18, 2019. In 'Thank God for Jokes,' he recounts the kerfuffle that ensued when he hosted the 2012 Gotham Awards and roasted David O. Russell, who was one of the honorees.
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