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DVD Review: Comedian Mike Birbiglia's "What I Should Have Said Was Nothing!" Is Out Today
Comedic somnambulist Mike Birbiglia's new DVD is out today and it's pretty damn good. Birbiglia is a Comedy Central darling with multiple TV specials and album releases to his credit and the kid ain't even 30 yet. OK, so you somehow can't or won't watch Comedy Central, well then, you've had plenty of opportunity to see Birbiglia performing on every late night show on every network since 2002.
"What I Should Have Said Was Nothing" is a live performance of a set of Birbiglia's "Secret Public Journal" material that he began blogging long before online blogging was made easy by Blogger, Wordpress, etc.
The very funny Birbiglia relates several anecdotal gems that aren't jokes as much as they are just incredible stories from both his younger days growing up in Shrewsbury, MA as well as a comic on the rise. Oh wait, there is a Bush impersonation in there but it's dead-on and actually left me wanting some more. Very reminiscent of Bob Saget's act, he closes the show with some very humorous guitarwork - a song summary of his performance.
Birbiglia has legions of devotees, Birbigs-heads, who show up at his appearances with handmade t-shirts and other fan-wear - let it be known that this DVD is not an exclusive offering to these obsessed individuals. In addition to an excellent encore, there's a little documentary in the "extras" that profiles his 2006 college tour (with John Mulaney) but this DVD is very accessible and a great intro to Birbiglia's act if you somehow have managed to miss him.
Soon Mike Birbiglia will be hitting primetime as he is in LA right now working on a pilot for CBS and in a few weeks he will be headlining at the Hollywood Improv on May 1st, I suggest you get tickets as that show will sell out. In the meantime "What I Should Have Said Was Nothing" can hold us over for a little while - but we will be seeing a lot more from this comedian who has made a lot a good decisions with his great material.
Mike Birbiglia Website
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Photo Credit Brian Friedman
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