VIDEO: Mike Birbiglia Talks About How He Got His Start Off-Broadway

By: Dec. 05, 2019
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Mike Birbiglia was a guest on the most recent episode of "Hiking with Kevin," to talk about his newest special The New One, on Netflix. Birbiglia also discusses his troubled relationship with Hollywood and how being turned down changed his whole life.

Birbiglia tells host Kevin Nealon, "After being in the business since I graduated in 2000, I got a CBS pilot. It was based on my life, and I was a comedian and all this stuff. And then it didn't get picked up. I went back home and I was so upset, I felt so hurt by the experience - judged, rejected and all this stuff that people often feel in this town for good reasons. My takeaway from it was, well I have this show 'Sleepwalk With Me,' which I love and I'm passionate about. I should just do that but with the level of commitment and production value that Hollywood puts into their shows. So I put it up Off-Broadway and I convinced a producer that we should have this up, and it ran for eight months and Nathan Lane agreed to present it. It changed my whole life. I've been in New York ever since doing these solo shows. It was honestly the best thing that ever happened to me."

The two also discuss his experience interning on the Conan O'Brien show, the moment he realized he wanted to be a road comic, his most extreme sleepwalking experience where he jumped through a second-story window, and more.

Watch the full video!

The New One, directed by Seth Barrish, played its final performance on Broadway on January 20, following 81 performances and 18 previews. Written by Mike Birbiglia, with additional writing by Jennifer Hope Stein, the play was directed by Seth Barrish.

It was also recently announced that Birbiglia would turn The New One into a book! The comedian will write a memoir version of The New One, which will be released in 2020.

Birbiglia is a comedian, storyteller, director and actor who has performed in front of audiences worldwide, from the Sydney Opera House to Broadway. His shows, "My Girlfriend's Boyfriend" and "Thank God for Jokes," were both filmed for Netflix. In addition to performing live, Mike is an author and filmmaker who wrote, directed and starred in the films Sleepwalk with Me and Don't Think Twice. Mike's book "Sleepwalk with Me and Other Painfully True Stories" was a New York Times bestseller and a finalist for the Thurber Prize for American Humor. As an actor, Mike has appeared on "Inside Amy Schumer," HBO's "Girls" and "Broad City," as well as in the films Trainwreck, The Fault in Our Stars and Popstar. He plays the role of Danny Pearson on "Orange Is the New Black" and Oscar Langstraat on Showtime's "Billions." He is a contributor to "This American Life" on public radio. In 2017, Mike was honored with the Kurt Vonnegut Award for humor.



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