Sleepwalk With Me

I like low-key humor. I've never been a fan of the crazy, out-of-control or silly styles of Robin Williams, Jim Cary and their ilk. I'm much happier with monologues from Julia Sweeney and Spalding Gray. Or insightful political comedy from George Carlin and Bill Maher. Tonight's treat was more from the former category, specifically from the genre of comedy where personal medical tragedy plus time and comedic talent can translate into one hell of a funny evening.

Mike Birbiglia in one funny guy, in a very quiet way. He comes on stage, carefully through a jagged edged hole in the vinyl blue wall onto the vinyl blue stage. He's wearing what most young Brooklynites wear, good sneaks, jeans, loose-fitting and comfy long-sleeved pull-over shirt with T underneath. He softly mumbles to get the audience to pay attention, shifting their focus from their neighbor to the show. He simply and naturally goes into a bit about turning off cell phone, his inability to grasp the iPhone multi-takings thing, basically taking some time to give the audience some warm-up. I was sure he'd work in Patti LuPone's recent outburst on stage at Gypsy, but he keeps the show firmly planted on the blue floor, in the blue box that is his world. 

Mike starts. He eases into the main pivot event of the show by introducing his stay at La Quinta in Walla Walla, Washington. Having lived in Eastern Washington, I immediately thought of Whitman College. He must have been playing there. I enjoyed his take on the different ways to pronounce La Quita and Walla Walla and he teased the audience with a setup of the dream he was having, a missile coming towards him, endangering him and the men he was with. He then comes back to all the small but universal details of his life - thrilling if not stellar comedy gigs, his first major relationship, gym class and playing with that damn stupid parachute. In between are telling vignettes about his dream world, inhabited by a big jackal bug and a bookcase climbing moment when he smashed their TiVo. Sure, Mike knows he has a sleep problem but when it rears it's jackal head, he thinks, "Maybe I'll have dinner," my equivalent of taking a nap. When he finally returns to the room in Walla Walla, the audience has taken a fun ride on a very meandering and funny route through Mike's daily brain walks. When the sleep walk comes back, it become a nice ah-ha moment. 

Mike gives a wonderfully natural and sleepy delivery. We were there on a Wednesday night when he had an "Awkward Moment With" segment post-show with another comedian or guest. I highly recommend going on Wednesday's for this impromptu event. But any night is a good night to just enjoy some good comedy telling and a little sleepwalking with Mike.