Mike Birbiglia: Biography

• Overview
• Discography
• Biography
• Related Artists

• Stephen Lynch
• Mitch Hedberg
• Demetri Martin
• Steven Wright
• Eugene Mirman

• Mitch Hedberg
• Richard Pryor
• Steve Martin
• Margaret Cho
• Brian Regan
• Woody Allen
• Spalding Gray

Genres:

Comedy & Spoken Word, Spoken Comedy

Decades Active:

2000's

Growing up in Shrewsbury, MA, future comedian Mike Birbiglia tried many different outlets for his creativity. Poetry held his interest early on, but by his teen years he had switched to hiphop and written a rap for the graduation ceremony of his school's antidrug program. Going to see Steven Wright on his 16th birthday steered Birbiglia toward standup. He would be writing quirky oneliners in the Wright style all the way up to his early years of college in the Washington, D.C., area. He began working the ticket window at the D.C. Improv, and there he decided to develop his Wrightlike act into something more real and biographical. After studying the work of Woody Allen and Richard Pryor, Birbiglia developed a mix of oneliners and personal stories that would instantly connect with audiences. He refined his act around D.C. before he moved to New York City and took any gig he could get.

A successful night at the Comic Strip Live introduced him to the club's general manager and talent coordinator, the late Lucien Hold. Hold would set up a string of shows that would introduce the comedian to talent scouts and land a David Letterman appearance. Success snowballed from there and soon Birbiglia was touring nationally, appearing regularly on the Bob Tom radio show with his "My Secret Public Journal" segment, and developing projects for the Comedy Central network and record label. In 2004, Dog Years became his debut for the label. The fan base grew quickly and soon indiestyle Tshirts quoting Birbiglia routines were virally spreading the word. As "Cracker, please" and "Only we can call each other Cracker" shirts were being spotted on hipsters, the comedian returned with the CD/DVD combo Two Drink Mike in early 2006.

- David Jeffries, All Music Guide