Mike Birbiglia Quotes

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Mike Birbiglia

Profession : Comedian

Birth : June 20, 1978

You can't go to medical school and come out and be like, 'I'm going to be a dog catcher.' That would be so pointless.

Mike Birbiglia

I actually wasn't really the class clown growing up. The class clown was always the mean guy who walked up and was like, 'You're fat. You're gay. I'm outta here!' I was always more kind of awkward and introspective.

Mike Birbiglia

Directing your first film is like showing up to the field trip in seventh grade, getting on the bus, and making an announcement, 'So today I'm driving the bus.' And everybody's like, 'What?' And you're like, 'I'm gonna drive the bus.' And they're like, 'But you don't know how to drive the bus.'

Mike Birbiglia

Louis C.K. directs his show, which is very much like a series of short films.

Mike Birbiglia

I am diagnosed with what's called 'REM behavior disorder.' As far as the disorder goes, there's no cure, but it's going pretty well as far as these things go. I see a sleep doctor, take medication, etc.

Mike Birbiglia

One of my favourite movies is 'Annie Hall' because it's about the silver lining of the break-up.

Mike Birbiglia

The economy of film forces you to make choices.

Mike Birbiglia

If you're asked something on a movie set and you say 'I don't know,' you lose confidence in every department. What you need to say is 'I'll have that for you in five minutes.'

Mike Birbiglia

It used to be that if you got on 'The Tonight Show,' your career was made. Now, if you're on 'The Tonight Show,' maybe 14 more people show up to your gig in Tulsa.

Mike Birbiglia

I'm a comedian, and the other comedians are played by comedians, the same way that in 'Once' there are the musicians that hang out together.

Mike Birbiglia

I grew up in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts and went to college in Washington D.C.

Mike Birbiglia

I drank the Kool-Aid of being a network star. Once it didn't happen, I realized it wasn't the best version of my comedy.

Mike Birbiglia

When I moved to New York, I was wide-eyed. I was nice to everyone, which comedians hate.

Mike Birbiglia

You know the quickest way to get comedians to hate you? Do Letterman at age 24.

Mike Birbiglia

Over the years, I managed to develop this comedy career, went from opening act to headliner at comedy clubs, to playing concert halls, and had an off-Broadway show with 'Sleepwalk With Me.'

Mike Birbiglia

The one thing you're most reluctant to tell. That's where the comedy is.

Mike Birbiglia

I've read that Steven Wright's style was born out of genuine nervousness.

Mike Birbiglia

Every comedian comes to a fork in the road where they have to decide if they're going to make jokes about other people or make jokes about themselves. I chose myself.

Mike Birbiglia

When I was in high school I saw Steven Wright, a brilliant one-liner comedian, and I thought: 'That's what I should do; I should write one-liners.' And I did. My first album is mostly one-liners.

Mike Birbiglia

I think serious situations actually make for the best kind of belly laughs. But they're also the hardest to convert into comedy at the outset.

Mike Birbiglia