432 - Mike Birbiglia
The Comedian's Comedian Podcast
Stuart Goldsmith
4.8 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 13 July 2023
⏱️ 67 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
We finally got him! Mike Birbiglia arrives in Edinburgh for the first time this August with his smash hit new stand-up/story show “The Old Man And The Pool” and shows us why he's 'Broadway’s greatest comic storyteller' (Deadline).
We talk about the minutiae of his creative process, from the rhythms of his jokes and his deft use of implication, to the glue between bits, and a walkthrough of his “process guy” process, and find out why he’s only beholden to the owner of the circus…
30 unmissable mins of extras available exclusively to the Insiders Club include a fascinating study of the application of Jimmy Carr’s brain to a Mike Birbiglia bit; the codification of the language in his shows; how to chisel away the possibilities that aren’t part of this particular statue; and how to get the best feedback out of Daniel Kitson.
Go to www.comedianscomedian.com/insiders for ad-free episodes, extra content from every show that has it, and much more - including exclusive Insiders Q&As plus the incredible “self-help for comedians” special with Amanda Donnet.
Catch up with Mike:
DO NOT MISS Mike’s incredible new show “The Old Man And The Pool”
Aug 22-27 Underbelly Bristo Square, Edinburgh
Sept 12 - Oct 7 at The Wyndham’s Theatre, London
IG/TW: @birbigs
Everything Stu's up to:
Stu’s new Edfringe show “Spoilers” (WINNER Best Show 2023, Leicester Comedy Festival, woo!) is ON SALE NOW at
www.stuartgoldsmith.com/tickets
And find preview dates as well as podcast community links, social media handles and comedy clips, and Stu’s official YouTube channel, all at linktr.ee/stuartgoldsmith
Or join the mailing list for unspecified freebies at:
Stu offers remote and in-person talks to business, distilling insights from over 400 comics on cultivating resilience and the ability to bounce back, to all levels from C-suite to team members.
“There’s perfect and there’s perfect; and that was perfect.” David Cooper, Chief People Officer Circle Health Group
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hello Stu here just popping in before the show starts to let you know that my comedy special |
| 0:04.2 | I need you alive is now available at Stuart Goldsmith dot com |
| 0:08.1 | There's a link there where you can watch it on an breathtaking array of places for the rest of the month |
| 0:13.2 | Including the 800 pound gorilla website Amazon Prime in the UK and US X-Box |
| 0:17.8 | God knows how they do that as well as loads of other links to catch it on audio go to Stuart Goldsmith dot com and |
| 0:23.6 | Watch this show that I am staggeringly proud of and do watch it if you can because it's very pretty |
| 0:28.7 | And thank you |
| 0:45.3 | Hello, and welcome to the show I'm Stuart Goldsmith. This is the comedians comedian and today |
| 0:50.3 | I am very pleased to bring you this conversation with Mike Babiglia |
| 0:54.8 | Who is someone I've been trying to get on to the show for years and years and years? |
| 0:59.1 | I was thrilled to spend some time with them |
| 1:02.0 | I'm so grateful to him for making time in his astonishingly busy creative life |
| 1:07.4 | We spoke in his in his studio from in a little corner of his studio from where he |
| 1:13.9 | Produces his fantastic |
| 1:15.9 | Working it out podcast, which is recently celebrated episode 100 with his frequent collaborator Ira Glass of this American life fame |
| 1:24.2 | And we are going to talk about everything we're going to talk about there's lots and lots of process stuff |
| 1:31.6 | I'm really calling babigs there |
| 1:33.8 | His website is babigs. I don't know that I'm on babigs toes with him, but |
| 1:38.2 | Mike is coming to Edinburgh for the very first time with his smash hit new show the old man and the pool |
| 1:44.8 | Which I have seen and it is just I mean, it's brilliant and it's just as good as all of his other brilliant brilliant shows |
| 1:50.8 | We're going to talk about the minutiae of his creative process from the rhythms of his jokes and his very |
| 1:57.5 | Deft and subtle use of things like implication and letting your needs catch up with you and |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Stuart Goldsmith, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Stuart Goldsmith and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.