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letters@metro.us
09
TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2012
mybooks
Mike Birbiglia’s make-out memories
Read the book that inspired the movie ‘Sleepwalk with Me,’ in theaters next Friday The new edition of the memoir is introduced by Ira Glass
M
ike Birbiglia is a comedic Renaissance man, dabbling in many paths to produce laughter: film, theater, stand-up, radio and a book. His 2010 memoir, “Sleepwalk with Me: and Other Painfully True Stories,” has been republished with a new foreword by Ira Glass for the wide release of his movie of the same title. Birbiglia has Louis C.K.’s intrepid honesty, without the intense cynicism toward relationships. He has Demetri Martin’s low-key personality and subtle delivery. And he has Jim Gaffigan’s all-American appetite. (“I would marry pizza, but it would just be an elabo-
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rate ploy to eat her whole family at the reception,” Birbiglia quips.) For fans, the book doesn’t contain too much new content, which is a blessing and a curse. Readers who are familiar with Birbiglia’s two appearances on “Comedy Central Presents” and his extended special, “Mike Birbiglia: What I Should Have Said Was Nothing — Tales from My Secret Public Journal,” will recognize the vast majority of his popular jokes. However, Birbiglia followers will enjoy seeing how his jokes translate from stand-up to text. Although Birbiglia’s style is often personal — sometimes uncomfortably so — he gains emotional traction by explor-
ing his familial relationships to a greater extent than he has ever done in his stand-up. From Birbiglia, expect depictions of awkward experiences that most sane people would strain to repress. What’s best about the comic is that he looks his audience square in the eye, and then proceeds to detail his most embarrassing memories, from his first makeout session to his infiltration of a NASCAR focus group in order to snag some free cookies. This is what makes “Sleepwalk with Me” so appealing — it’s a no-holds-barred look into the psyche of an average guy, who, through his own modest nature, is exceptionally funny.
Birbiglia enjoyed early literary success.
KILLIAN YOUNG letters@metro.us