--Hey everybody! It's me, Susan Blackwell and today I'm side-by-side my favorite
Broadway bag of doughnuts. From The New One, now playing at the Cort Theatre,
look everybody, it's Mike Birbiglia! Birbigs...
--Hey. Thanks.
--Tell our friends at home where
we are and what we're doing today?
--Sullivan Street Bakery, not on Sullivan
Street, not a bakery. Thanks for being here.
--[laughs] We're getting you powered up before
your show. You got a show tonight, son. --It's so good.
I'm making jokes, but it's great. --It's so
good. --This food is phenomenal, coffee's
phenomenal. These people are very serious,
serious about their work. They're doing good work over here.
[music]
--I'm gonna put 30 seconds on the
clock, --Oh gosh.
--And you tell me your whole life story. Don't leave out the awesome parts.
Starting now.
--Born in Worcester, Massachusetts. Grew up in Shrewsbury
Massachusetts.
--Shrewsbury...
--Was shy kid and then I came out of my shell with writing poetry
and jokes and stories. And then when I was in high school, I started writing satire
in college. --Ten seconds
--I started doing improv, and after college I did stand-up
and theater. And now I'm here. --Five seconds.
--You've got a hearty three seconds.
--I got married and
had a child. --Bam! Well done.
[music]
--You have literally traveled the world
performing
--Yeah --Your one-man show.
--Yeah. --About the life and times of Mark
Twain. JK!
--[laughs] --Performing one-man shows. What the
what is it like to do The New One on the Broadway?
--Oh, on Broadway? --Meow
--It's special. There's the history and the weight of
Broadway and you go, This is where
uhh This is our Youth
was performed and this is where
you know, all these brilliant masterpieces
were performed.
And you try not to get that in your head, but then people ask you
that all the time. --Yeah.
--But, the truth is, it's just... the reason why it has a mystique is
because it's this beautiful group of theaters, just so happens the one I'm
is better than almost all of them.
--It's purdy.
You depict yourself as this sort of couch potato,
pizza-loving dude.
But there are a few people that get more shit done than you.
You are a writer, you are a performer, you're a film director, you're a
memoirist. --Yeah, Wow.
Good pronunciation. --How the [bleep] do you
get all that shit done?
This is a real question. How do
you get all that shit done. --I'm addicted to work.
It provides me a sense of self-worth. It makes me
feel like I haven't disappointed my parents.
--Oh my god! Is that the flame
under your ass? --I'm giving you a therapy session version
--It's true! --You asked a real question!
--I look in your eyes and I know it's real.
--Yeah yeah yeah. You ask me a real question I give you a real answer.
--That's the flame. --Yeah. My
dad's a doctor who, when I was growing up, got his law degree in his free time.
[laughs] So...
--I went to Home Goods last week.
--Hahahahaha --Really?
--So, when I became a comedian, there's
this pressure like You gotta figure this out really fast. Like they really did not want this to be
what I do...
[music]
--I have to believe that you were in a little talent show when you were younger.
Did you ever do a little talent show?
--In college I did. --What'd you do?
--Funniest person on campus competition. Nick Kroll was in it
with me. --But you won
--I won. Yeah. --What
did you do to win funniest person on campus. Don't...
--It was so stupid
--Come on. What --What I did...
I did like like a really extreme Boston
accent. [laughs]
--You know like I do this guy named Peter McAvoy. I was like, My best friend
is my rubber bouncy ball. You know, it was crazy, like it was a crazy person from
Boston. But it was funny. I ended up with, I ended with a musical number.
Like it was really...
--How long was this like a tight 90? What was it?
--It was uhh
like six minutes I think.
--You took all the marbles, Peter McAvoy.
--Yeah, Peter McAvoy.
It was, I mean it was terrible. If you watched it today, you'd be like how did
he, how did he win? How did he even do this? Why would he do this?
--Let's... roll clip.
[laughs]
-- I wish we could roll clip.
You have ... spent over ten thousand hours touring
extensively. You've been in so many theaters, and now you're currently at The
Cort Theatre on Broadway. What is the weirdest, if these walls could talk, what
would be the weirdest like batshit craziest thing you have ever seen in a theater,
in the audience, backstage, in the parking lot, if these walls could talk...
--One time I was doing a show in Pittsburgh
--Sure -- And people would say to me and they
were like, you know, Pittsburgh is a real crazy town, like people, not crazy like
it's a great town, but it partied a lot.
--Yeah. --Have you heard that about Pittsburgh?
--You know...
--Like on the weekends, people drink a lot there. -- I don't want to speak ill of Pittsburgh.
--No, I'm not speaking ill of them! -- They party hardy.
--They celebrate. And one night, I went out . I had
some drinks with... Did a show, had some drinks with some friends,
and we just decided to go for a walk around
the neighborhood, the hotels we were staying at.
And there were two people having sex on a
car. But the key the key term here is on a car, not in a car.
We've all like a
--Like a White Snake on the hood of the car
situation. Hood of the car?
--Hood of the car, --Roof of the car.
--Not roof. --Hood.
--Hood of the car, but here's a key detail.
Both, not exaggerating,
both people 100% naked.
--Get it, Pittsburgh!
Get it!
[music]
--The first laugh I ever got was...
you remember?
--Shitting in my backyard.
I was, I think it was about four years old
I had to use the restroom and so I ... I never thought it through and so I
was like, Well I could do it right here. I pulled down my pants and I pooped in the
backyard.
I think my my neighbor Leslie Saliba, who came to opening night
--Ah! --She thought was the funniest thing she'd ever seen.
And then and it really lived
on in lore in the neighborhood .Like, Mike Birbiglia, he just took a shit on
his own backyard. --Sure. A comedy record that I
loved listening to was.... --Let's Get Small
was a great Steve Martin album. --Good god damn it is.
--Yeah. --Yeah.
He sort of created his
own language, and then he spoke the language. --Yeah.
--And that's a really cool
thing to do. --The first joke I remember crafting was...
--One of the early jokes I wrote is that like and it's not a good joke, but I
still enjoy it. It's like, I would hate to be a stick insect, cuz all the other
insects are always bumping into you and you got to be like, Watch it! And they're like
You look like a stick! And you're like, Yeah, I have eyes! And they're like, They were closed.
--The joke I wish I could have written is...
--My buddy John Mulaney wrote this joke
about the current president being like a whole like in a horse in a hospital.
--It's a good joke! --It's so funny.
--A joke I'm really proud of is...
--A few in the show that
when I say them, I'm like, Oh. That's nice because I'm saying... There's so few words,
but it's a joke. --And then it kills?
--Yeah. And like one of them is like, I've lost a lot
of great friends to kids.
[Music]
--A zombie apocalypse has has struck midtown
Manhattan. You've been stricken. --Yep.
--Which Broadway brain or brains would you
most like to feast upon?
--I'd take the the lyricism of Ln
Miranda. I would take the the voice of Sara Bareilles, and then I would take the
emotion of Laura Donnelly in The Ferryman.
--That is the most thoughtful response to a zombie
apocalypse question I've ever heard. [laughs]
[music]
--Guess what time it is?
It's time for Susan's fantasy
jukebox. I have your nose. You can have it back, but first, sorry dude, you have to
sing me a song.
--[laughs]
--I'm sorry. It's the show. You have to.
--[sings] I wanna get better
I didn't know I was lonely til I
saw your face. I wanna get better, better, better, I wanna get
--Keep singing. This --I wanna get...
has been another amazing episode of Side by Side— keep singing.
--[sings] I didn't know I was --by Susan Blackwell
with Mike Birbiglia. Do yourself a favor
and go see The New One,
now playing at the Cort Theatre.
--[sings] I wanna get...
-- I swear to Christ you will not regret it.
--[sings] Doo doo doo doo de doo doo doo doo doo doo buh doo doo ba doo ba doo
I want to get better...
[chuckles]
Wow. --Well done.
[music]
--Kids are the best improvisers.
Like yesterday, Oona had a popsicle, and she
goes, I have a popsicle. And I'm like.. And I took a popsicle and I go, I'm Mr. Popsicle. And
she goes, I'm Mrs. Popsicle!
And I go, We're in a popsicle house!
And then and then
she goes, It's waining popsicles! And then it's just like, This is the best improv
scene ever!