189. Nick Offerman: The Man Behind the Mustache

Mike Birbiglia's Working It Out

Mike Birbiglia's Working It Out podcast

Mygirlfriendsboyfriend, Interviews, Comedy Interviews, Sleepwalkwithme, Iraglass, Comedy, Thankgodforjokes, Thenewone, Mikebirbiglia, Dontthinktwice, Birbiglia

4.8 • 4K Ratings

🗓️ 27 October 2025

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Mike met Nick Offerman years ago at the Sasquatch! Music Festival in Washington state, which is fitting because Nick is a man of nature, almost as well known for his woodworking as he is for his acting. After examining the Working It Out studio table, Nick tells Mike about what it was like to act as the straight man to Amy Poehler on Parks and Rec, and more recently prep for his drama

Transcript

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0:00.0	We had this guidance counselor in the school, and he had this list of like 31 vocations.
0:06.6	Yeah.
0:07.2	And it's literally like lawyer, doctor, scientist, whatever.
0:11.3	Yeah, carpenter.
0:12.0	And I looked down it, and I was like, there's nothing in the arts.
0:16.1	And I said, I want to be an actor.
0:18.0	And he's like, that's not.
0:19.6	That's not.
0:21.1	And I said to the guidance counselor, well, then I guess I'll play the sax.
0:25.4	I love music.
0:26.9	And he said, now why do you want to do that?
0:31.9	That is the voice of the great Nick Offerman.
0:34.4	Holy cow!
0:36.2	We got Nick Offerman. This is huge. I have known Nick for many years.
0:41.5	We met at the Sasquatch Festival. It was a comedy tent years ago in Washington State,
0:49.8	and I was so enamored by him. I'd been a fan of his for many years,
0:55.6	but then such a sweet, sweet person, so funny, so fascinating.
1:01.8	You might know him, of course, is Ron Swanson from Parks and Rec.
1:05.8	He's a classically trained actor who worked on stage in Chicago for many years.
1:12.2	He was recently the start of a new movie called Sovereign, which is excellent. It's very intense. I will warn you, it's based on
1:19.8	true story. It's really intense film. He is phenomenal in this film. I mean, this is one of the
1:26.5	best performances I've seen in a long, long time.
	...

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