Sleepwalking with Mike Birbiglia in NYC

I first heard a portion of the show on "This American Life" a while back; the sleep-deprived comedian told an almost unbelievable tale that involved a guided missile and jumping out of a hotel window.

"Sleepwalk with Me" was basically the extended version of what I'd heard, tracing the evolution of a sleep disorder and how it affected his life, and also, evidentally, how his life affected it.

Despite having heard the punchline already, I was unable to contain my laughter for the duration of the show. It helped that we were in a really small theater, so it felt like we were listening to our best friend talk about their recent visit to the urologist (I imagined the men in the audience were cringing during this portion of the show).

Birbiglia immediatly connected with the audience.

He probably owed this in part to the fact that he just looks so - normal (not p'awkward, just normal!). And beyond the weird sleep problems that cause him to see strange beasts on his ceiling or his obsession with pizza-ice cream, he is painfully normal.

He tells a story about moving in with his girl friend and becoming "engaged" and then "planning a wedding" (we knew it was going downhill when he put "planning a wedding" in air quotes) and about how he wasn't really ready for any of it, but how he couldn't tell her. This time all the woman in the audience cringed simultaneously and I got the distinct feeling that we all either wanted to punch him in the face or give him a hug -- because really who hasn't dealt with an enormous elephant in the room by just tip-toeing around it?

According to his "Secret Public Journal", on Wednesday night's after the show you can have "10 Awkward Minutes With Mike". If I had gone to a Wednesday show and had my awkward minutes, I probably wouldn't have punched him or hugged him (that would turn it in to "10 Inappropriate Minutes With Mike" and I imagine after that they'd be forced to discontinue the awkward minute option). I probably would've told him how I can listen to his bits over and over again and laugh every time. Also, I'd probably share with him my views on pandas (which is that they shouldn't exist because they're such picky eaters and don't like makin' babies).

In sum, if you get a chance, go see "Sleepwalk With Me." It's totally worth the trip. When you're done, there's a shop on the corner called Think Coffee, stop in for a grilled cheese.