Mike Birbiglia on ‘The Old Man and the Pool’

Larry Wilmore: Black on the Air

The Ringer

Society & Culture

4.8 • 3.6K Ratings

🗓️ 13 August 2022

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Larry is joined by writer, director, and stand-up comedian Mike Birbiglia to talk about his new one-man show ‘The Old Man and the Pool,’ and they start their conversation by examining Mike’s extremely honest storytelling style and how it’s applied in theatre vs. comedy club settings. Next, they dive deep into the magic of the “inevitable non sequitur” in comedic storytelling and dissect the building blocks of a great joke (6:35). Mike then shares the journey that led him into the world of stand-up and how he navigates the inclusion of real-life family anecdotes within his material (11:15). After the break, Mike details his struggles with both cancer and a rare sleep disorder and talks about the effect they’ve had on his life view and career (33:10). They end the pod by offering aspiring comics tips on relatability and break down the importance of the zen state of mind for a successful performance (45:00). Host: Larry Wilmore Guest: Mike Birbiglia Producer: Chris Sutton Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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1:04.6	Alright everybody, welcome back. This is Black on the Air.
1:09.2	This is like one more black on the air. I told you this is going to be a fun summer. I promised
1:13.9	you that, and I am delivering that every single freaking week to you guys. And tonight, or tonight,
1:21.1	or today, whatever you want to do, don't care. It's another fun one. This gentleman is one of
1:27.4	the funniest people just in the world today. He's so funny. It's so human, this stuff he talks about.
1:32.4	And I know so many of you are fans, and I'm sure you've seen his many specials there,
1:36.4	everything, but he has a new show out that's at the market, perform here in Los Angeles,
1:41.0	the old man in the pool, and it's so good. And I'm so happy to have him in my podcast.
1:44.5	Mike, but briefly, welcome to Black on the Air. My friend, how you doing?
1:47.5	Thanks, Larry. I'm honored to be here. I saw you at the show that I'm going to show the other
1:52.0	night, and I was thrilled. I was so honored. I think you're royalty, you're comedy royalty.
1:56.9	No, no, hardly. But it's so fun to see you, you know, to see you here on the West Coast,
	...

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