Mike Birbiglia's Working It Out Mike Birbiglia

In Chris Fleming’s recent Peacock stand-up special Hell, he calls out some audience members who are married and shouts, “This show is not for people who have wives. You have a wife?! Go see Mike Birbiglia!” Fleming is fearless about dragging the names of other comedians into his bits: from Bo Burham to Nikki Glaser to Bert Kreischer and more. Chris is a Massachusetts theater kid turned comedian and it manifests in stand-up comedy that is simultaneously avant-garde but also crowd pleasing. Mike and Chris sit down for a truly productive session of working out new material and they break down why Massachusetts is so darn repressed. Plus, they do no-holds-barred impressions of each other in what is one of the most unhinged episodes of Working it Out of all time.

Mike welcomes Rory Scovel, whose special made Mike laugh so hard he spit water all over himself. Rory talks about how telling the truth and being vulnerable on stage led him to his best bits, how his taking up abstract painting is similar to comedy, and how a week of fully improvised stand-up shows gave Rory a new perspective on his career. Plus, the best and most off-the-rails “Working It Out” section the podcast has had yet.

Mike welcomes back the poet J. Hope Stein, aka Jenny, aka Clo, aka Mike’s wife of fifteen years. A frequent collaborator on Mike’s comedy specials and movies, Jenny describes her favorite type of creative feedback and why she’s most impressed by poetry that crosses over to audiences who don’t always understand poetry. The couple shares candid and embrassing stories from the early days of their romance including two stories that might make it into Mike’s new live show. Plus, Jen reads two new poems in celebration of Earth Day and announces the audiobook of her poetry collection “Little Astronaut.”

Chicago improv performer and teacher Liz Allen taught a workshop for Mike’s college improv group almost 25 years ago. Since then, Mike and Liz have found numerous ways to reunite and collaborate, most notably on Mike’s film Don’t Think Twice. Now Mike sits down for an in-depth chat with one of his favorite improvisers about the unique roots of Chicago improv, Liz’s (in)famous teacher Del Close, and the one-in-a-million coincidence that connected Liz and Gillian Jacobs.

On the heels of the release of his new special “Just For Us” on Max, Alex Edelman returns to the podcast for the fourth and best time yet. Mike and Alex break apart the story of the time Alex’s bank lost all his money, how a protestor recently disrupted his show, and what it feels like to be releasing his special after the death of his beloved director, Adam Brace. Plus, Alex’s recent and very strange run-in with Bill Gates.

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Mike sits down with comedian, actor, and writer Esther Povitsky to discuss her special Hot For My Name. Mike has a lot of questions about the time Esther crashed her fiancée's bachelor party in Vegas. Plus, Esther figures out Mike’s attachment style, and they discuss the differences between the LA and New York comedy scenes. All this, and jokes about adults dressed as babies, watching OnlyFans with your partner, and being outed as a comedian on the subway.