You know the quickest way to get comedians to hate you? Do Letterman at age 24. — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
If you tried to sell Mike Birbiglia as a concept, no one would buy it. — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
There's nothing funny the first time about telling a story about getting beat up and it makes you leave high school. — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
Dopamine is a chemical released in your brain and your body when you sleep that paralyzes your body so you don't act… — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
My last name has the word 'big' in it. It seems like a logical progression that if you shed away the Bir… — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
Sometimes people say, 'You're the best at digressions.' And that's actually a real compliment to me. — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
Sometimes you'll have a heckler who's actually attempting to be supportive, but you don't realize it. Their way of expressing it is… — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
Once you start writing something obsessively, it's almost like someone has to rip it from your hands in order for you to… — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
Every sleep doctor I've talked to said it was an urban legend that you shouldn't wake up a sleepwalker. All that will… — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
When you're in high school, you can't even imagine the concept of what the rest of your life even means. — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
You don't really see sleepwalking in films that often. It's weird; I feel like in popular culture we have the perception of… — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
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… — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
You get to the end of something, you're laughing, you're like, 'That's funny, and that's funny,' and then you get to the… — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
Starbucks is the last public space with chairs. It's a shower for homeless people. And it's a place you can write all… — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
As a comedian, you want people to like you. That's part of why you're there in the first place: You have this… — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
Directing your first film is like showing up to the field trip in seventh grade, getting on the bus, and making an… — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
It's a difficult line to tread, where sometimes you go to the movies or you watch someone do publicity for movies or… — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
I listened to this interview once with Jerry Seinfeld that really influenced my comedy and all of my writing, which is that… — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
The thing about storytelling is it's very stripped down; it's very much at the core of 'I'm a person and I'm just… — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
Media is so weird; everything is so accessible now. It used to be this thing where, if you did something on 'This… — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
You can't go to medical school and come out and be like, 'I'm going to be a dog catcher.' That would be… — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
I gravitated toward stand-up because there's no overhead. I mean, literally, there's no overhead: Often, you're outdoors performing in front of groups… — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
You know the expression, 'You're only as sick as your secrets?' I believe that, and I think I try to have my… — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
First time films are hard. Even with some of the greatest directors, you look back at their first film, and you are… — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
It used to be that if you got on 'The Tonight Show,' your career was made. Now, if you're on 'The Tonight… — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
I think your tendency when you play yourself is to accentuate something about you that you think is the funny thing about… — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
How many people do you know who have thrown up on the Scrambler or a carnival ride? A lot of people, is… — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
If you're asked something on a movie set and you say 'I don't know,' you lose confidence in every department. What you… — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
I think that my regrets mostly have to do with my relationship with my ex-girlfriend. Every once in a while, you get… — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
I was completely unqualified to get into Harvard. But then I went to my interview for Harvard, and the woman asked, 'Why… — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
I always have the best story at the party. Anyone telling a story at a party is like, 'No, no, you've got… — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
As artists, we'd all love to not be commercial - to not sell out to the full extent that we are able.… — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
I actually wasn't really the class clown growing up. The class clown was always the mean guy who walked up and was… — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
Sometimes, occasionally, people will make out in the audience, completely not aware that there's a human being onstage just yards away from… — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
Directing a movie is a little bit like being back in student government and putting on the homecoming dance. You're like, 'You… — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
So I went to a club the other day, which is timely because my self esteem had been hovering right around 'normal' and I… — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
My writing process is very feedback-based. When I do stand-up, I listen to the audience. I try to understand what's connecting, what's not connecting,… — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
I've actually always wanted to write like a one-person show that was sort of a romantic comedy - a show that was kind of… — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
It's interesting how sleepwalking in a certain way becomes an accumulation of your outside stimuli that's actually there and what's happening in your brain. — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
I went to the doctor, and they found something in my bladder. And whenever they find something, it's never anything good like, "We found… — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
Bears are simultaneously so graceful and so strong. Bears know who they are, but they often don’t know who you are, which is why… — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
Once you start writing something obsessively, it's almost like someone has to rip it from your hands in order for you to put it… — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
When I met my wife, I was a working comic, so the first week we went out, she saw me perform, and it was… — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
I think because I've been working in front of audiences for so many years, I'm able to take in the input, good or bad,… — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
Directing your first film is like showing up to the field trip in seventh grade, getting on the bus, and making an announcement, 'So… — Mike Birbiglia Copy Share Image
