Mike Birbiglia Bio: In His Own Words – Video Exclusive, News, Photos, Age

Mike Birgiglia is an American comedian, actor and filmmaker who is best known for his successful one-man shows such as My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend. This Mike Birbiglia bio will let the comedian tell his story in his own words.

Mike Birbiglia Bio: Early Life, Age, Education

Mike Birbiglia was born on June 20, 1978 (Mike Brigiglia age: 38) in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. His parents are Mary Jean and Vincent Paul Birbiglia. During his youth he explored different creative paths including poetry and rap. Neither stuck. It wasn’t until he went to one of Steven Wright‘s shows as a teenager that the idea of doing stand-up comedian came to him. He attended Georgetown University in Washington D.C. as part of the class of 2000. He continued to develop his comedy chops as a student there and joined the Georgetown Players Improv Troupe.

Mike Birbiglia Bio: Comedy, Standup, Tour, Early Career

While in Washington D.C. Birbiglia began to refine a comedy routine and perform in local venues. It was then that he decided to give his routines biographical themes. He moved to New York City in hopes of expanding his fanbase.

His first real break came when he impressed the manager of the Comic Strip Live, Lucien Hold. Hold helped the young comedian book shows in bigger venues, meet scouts, and most importantly for Birbiglia’s career, expose him to a national audience by landing him an appearance on The David Letterman Show.

While the Letterman appearance did not skyrocket him into fame, it did substantially increase his fanbase. He was able to begin touring nationally and gain more opportunities.

Mike Birbiglia Bio: Comedy Central, Netflix, Albums

Birbiglia’s began his longstanding relationship with  Comedy Central with the debut comedy album he made for their record label, Dog Years. He also appeared on the label’s compilation CD of New York City comics, Invite Them Up. The network would go on to partner with Birbiglia to produce three specials and three subsequent albums based off of the routines: Two Drink Mike (2006), My Secret Public Journal Live (2007), and Sleepwalk With Me Live (2011).

Birbiglia had regular spots on The Bob and Tom Show, a radio show focused on comedy, with his segment My Secret Public Journal. He released an album based off these segments titled My Secret Public Album, Volume 1a. Furthermore, he would spin and build off the material developed in these segments to develop a comedy special inspired by the format of his radio segments.

Healso contributed to the radio show This American Lfe, on multiple occasions.

Mike Birbiglia Bio: One-Man Shows, ‘Sleepwalk With Me’

In 2008 Birbiglia put on the off-Broadway one man show Sleepwalk With Me. It was a hit with both audiences and critics. It was nominated for various awards and Birbiglia managed to win the Nightlife award in the Outstanding Comedian in a Major Engagement category.

Birbiglia expanded his material into a non-fiction book titled Sleepwalk with Me and Other Painfully True Stories. It ranked in the New York Times Bestseller List as 29 in the hardcover nonfiction category. The book was also a finalist for the 2011 Thurber Prize for American Humor.

Birbiglia also spun his one-man show into a film where he acted as writer, director, and star. It premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Birbiglia took home the festival’s NEXT Audience Award. He was also nominated in the Goham Award’s Breakthrough Actor category.

His next-one man show was My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend. It premiered off-Broadway and was followed by an international tour that spanned locations in the U.S., Australia, the U.K., and Canada. While Off-Broadway, the show won the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Solo Show.

In February 2017 Birbiglia released the comedy special Thank God for Jokes in partnership with Netflix.

Birbiglia  writes, stars and directs the film Don’t Think Twice. While most of his work is autobiographical, Don’t Think Twice is a fictional story, but grounded in reality. “It’s a fictional film, but I definitely think it has autobiographical themes,” Birbiglia told uInterview. “I mean, it’s about a group of friends, and it’s about jealousy, and it’s about feeling like someone else got something that you deserve and I know what that feels like. But, it’s certainly not my story.”

The comedy film is not all laughs.”Keegan-Michael Key always describes the movie to people as what happens when your dreams come true for someone else,” Birbiglia said. “I feel like that’s part of it. It’s isolation, like what happens when you realize not everybody’s gonna get the same thing in life. It’s definitely a revelation I had in my 30s that I did not have in my 20s.”

Birbiglia also has minor and supporting roles in  Trainwreck, Going the Distance, Cedar Rapids, Your Sister’s Sister, The Fault in Our Stars and Annie, to name a few

Mike Birbiglia Bio: Personal Life, Wife

Mike Birbiglia is married to his wife Jen Stein. He has REM sleep behavior disorder which causes him to, at times, act out movements when he is sleeping.  His disorder inspired the material in his show Sleepwalk With Me.