Mike Birbiglia: Thank God for Jokes (2017)

March 8, 2017 2:04 PM

Birbig's latest movie/performance/stand-up thing. Mike explores the nature of jokes while riffing on cats, bears, mice, God, yoga, cops, and that time he hosted the Gotham Awards.
posted by Stanczyk (8 comments total)

Available on Netflix.
posted by Stanczyk at 2:09 PM on March 8, 2017

I JUST watched this last night and it was a delightful palette cleanser after hate-watching the Amy Schumer special.
posted by Windigo at 6:49 AM on March 9, 2017

This was a great special. I had not heard about the David O. Russell rant and this was the best way to learn about it. The story reminded me of his Eckersley and the blind sportswriter bit but it was fresh enough to not feel like a retread.

His terrible singing of the Acclamation also hit home and there might be new lyrics sung by me the next time it comes up. I'm a grown man, but "Christ will come at 10" - how can I not?

Windigo, I watched these two specials in the wrong order. I watched Birbigs the other day and Schumer last night. I like a lot of Amy Schumer's stuff including some of her other stand-up, but the new one was not for me. I need to watch Thank God for Jokes again to clean out my brain.
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 8:17 AM on March 9, 2017

I was most impressed by the structure of this show as one long Russian nesting doll. He just kept spinning into aside after aside and I knew at some point it would happen and it did, he started reversing and doing callbacks and building to the jokes he had promised at the very outset. Very well engineered.
posted by komara at 8:45 AM on March 9, 2017 [1 favorite]

The "woman cop put me in a headlock" thing was weirdly perfect. You've got to love how it was handled, but just like with the people who came in late, he was having a joke at their expense, even though at the beginning he noted that you can't tell jokes in front of the subjects of those jokes. As if he was disproving his own rule, which he does again with his story about David O. and the Gothams and the end of the piece.

I saw Amy's new special too, and while I don't think it was her best work, I still laughed at quite a bit.
posted by Stanczyk at 11:16 AM on March 9, 2017

That trip into the audience was absolutely sublime handling of that sort of thing. I really dislike comics who interact with the audience because they are usually doing it to make fun of the target. This target couldn't have been more deserving and Mike made it seem so simple and easy.

"I don't like the way you said that."
posted by M Edward at 4:23 PM on March 9, 2017 [1 favorite]

I loved the Muppet story. It was worth the whole special for that.

(I also was not crazy about Schumer's new special, but I haven't watched it a second time yet. It might seem better on rewatch.)
posted by wittgenstein at 6:43 AM on March 11, 2017

At some point in the past I must have mistaken Mike Birbiglia with some else who I must have disliked, so I reluctantly watched it when I saw it here. Thanks for posting, because I loved it. I have a little cramp in my side and it was hurting to laugh but I couldn't turn it off. He had me at "What you late people don't understand about us on-time people is that we hate you."


komara: I was most impressed by the structure of this show as one long Russian nesting doll. He just kept spinning into aside after aside and I knew at some point it would happen and it did, he started reversing and doing callbacks and building to the jokes he had promised at the very outset. Very well engineered.

This is a beautiful description. I was really at a loss for words how to describe it.
posted by Room 641-A at 6:38 PM on March 12, 2017 [1 favorite]