Birbiglia Biography
Mike Birbiglia is an comedian, actor, director, producer, and screenwriter from the United States. He has contributed to This American Life and The Moth, made comedy albums, and appeared in films such as Sleepwalk with Me and Don’t Think Twice. His book Sleepwalk with Me and Other Painfully True Stories, published in 2010, was a bestseller and a finalist for the 2011 Thurber Prize for American Humor.
How old is Birbiglia? – Age
This American Life contributer is 46 years old as of 20 June 2024. He was born in 1978 in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, United States.
Mike Birbiglia Family – Education
Among the four children born to physician Vincent Paul Birbiglia and nurse Mary Jean (née McKenzie), he is the youngest. He was brought up Catholic and has some Italian ancestry. After a year at the all-boys Catholic St. John’s High School, Birbiglia graduated in 1996 from St. Mark’s School. He states that hearing comic Steven Wright perform encouraged him to start making jokes at the age of 16.
He later attended Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and graduated in 2000 after meeting future A-list comedians John Mulaney and Nick Kroll through an on-campus improv group. During college, he participated with the Georgetown Players Improv Troupe, worked as a server in a comedy club, and began performing at DC Improv (The Improv) in Washington, D.C.
Who is Birbiglia’s wife? – What is Birbiglia’s daughter’s name?
Birbiglia is married to Jen Stein, also known by her pen as J. Hope Stein, whose work appears in The New One. They have a daughter, Oona, born in 2015.
Birbiglia Car Accident
Birbiglia remembers being in a car accident with an inebriated motorist who hit and ran. Although Mike wasn’t at fault technically, the person who crashed into him thought Mike would pay for the damage. Fortunately, he was shaken but not severely hurt. He provided the authorities with all the information they required, but then an unsettling event occurred. The police report contained errors, and he was told the expense of fixing the man’s automobile would be his responsibility.
Birbiglia Health Problems
Due to his rapid eye movement sleep behavior condition, Birbiglia sleepwalks and lives out his dreams. He fell asleep in a Walla Walla, Washington, motel room and ran through a second-story window. Thirty-three stitches were placed in Birbiglia’s leg following the injury. This occurrence is the main focus of his show, an article on This American Life, and the ensuing movie Sleepwalk with Me. At the age of 19, he also suffered a tumor on his bladder.
Birbiglia Sleepwalk
2008 saw Birbiglia launch Sleepwalk with Me, an off-Broadway one-man production that blended theater with stand-up comedy at the Bleecker Street Theater. Nathan Lane presented the show, which the New York Times praised as “simply perfect”. It was named “Show of the Year” by Time Out New York in 2009.
Sleepwalk with Me, and Other Painfully True Stories, published in 2010 by Birbiglia, and Sleepwalk With Me Live, an album released in 2011, are adaptations of his writing. The hardcover nonfiction New York Times Bestseller List premiered the book at number 29, while the Washington Post Political Bookworm Best Sellers hardcover nonfiction section debuted the book at number 4. Additionally, the book was a nominee for the American Humor Thurber Prize in 2011. First place on the Billboard Comedy Charts was occupied by Sleepwalk With Me Live.
Birbiglia wrote, directed, and performed in Sleepwalk with Me, his directorial debut, which was based on his one-man show. The movie took home the NEXT Audience Award after making its Sundance Film Festival debut in 2012. It debuted at the Nantucket Film Festival, where it took home the best writer/director prize, and was chosen for the “Festival Favorites” section of the South by Southwest film festival in Austin, Texas.
Ira Glass of This American Life and Jacob Jaffke produced the movie, which has cameos by Glass, Kristen Schaal, Wyatt Cenac, David Wain, Jessi Klein, John Lutz, and Marc Maron. The film stars Birbiglia, Lauren Ambrose, Carol Kane, James Rebhorn, and Cristin Milioti. During her Gotham Awards presenting gig, Birbiglia teased director David O. Russell of I Heart Huckabees by reciting a transcript of Russell’s altercation with actress Lily Tomlin during filming. The joke and the events that followed became a significant portion of Birbiglia’s subsequent show, Thank God for Jokes.
Birbiglia Movies and TV Show Credits
Birbiglia has appeared in many films including;
Movies
♦ 2010 – Going the Distance
♦ 2011 – Cedar Rapids
♦ 2011 – Your Sister’s Sister
♦ 2012 – Sleepwalk with Me
♦ 2014 – The Fault in Our Stars
♦ 2014 – Adult Beginners
♦ 2014 – Annie
♦ 2015 – Digging for Fire
♦ 2015 – Hot Pursuit
♦ 2015 – Trainwreck
♦ 2016 – Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping
♦ 2016 – Don’t Think Twice
♦ 2016 – Tramps
♦ 2017 – The Guardian Brothers
♦ 2022 – A Man Called Otto
TV Shows
♦ 2012 – Girls
♦ 2014–2015 – Inside Amy Schumer
♦ 2015–2016 – Orange Is the New Black
♦ 2017 – Broad City
♦ 2018–2020 – Billions
♦ 2018–2021 – Summer Camp Island
♦ 2020 – The Shivering Truth
♦ 2022 – Human Resources