Comedians working together is a beautiful thing.
Comedian Mike Birbiglia welcomes a different comedian or creator each week and together they work out original, untested material. And, occasionally, uncomfortable topics. Join them as they work it out.
Mike Birbiglia: A comedian, storyteller, director and actor who has performed in front of audiences worldwide, from the Sydney Opera House to Broadway. His shows, “My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend” and “Thank God for Jokes,” were both filmed for Netflix. His most recent show, “The New One,” ran for 99 shows at the Cort Theatre.
In addition to performing live, Mike is an author and filmmaker who wrote, directed and starred in the films Sleepwalk with Me and Don’t Think Twice. Mike’s book “Sleepwalk with Me and Other Painfully True Stories” was a New York Times bestseller and a finalist for the Thurber Prize for American Humor. As an actor, Mike has appeared on “Inside Amy Schumer,” HBO’s “Girls” and “Broad City,” as well as in the films Trainwreck, The Fault in Our Stars and Popstar. He plays the role of Danny Pearson on “Orange Is the New Black” and Oscar Langstraat on Showtime’s “Billions.” He is a contributor to “This American Life” on public radio. In 2017, Mike was honored with the Kurt Vonnegut Award for humor.
This week’s episode, comedian Ray Romano has an iconic sitcom and a celebrated stand-up career under his belt, so what drives him to keep challenging himself artistically? Mike and Ray, who often follow each other at the Comedy Cellar, ponder the complicated answer to that question.
Plus, discussion of comedy craft, joke-writing technique, and the two separate times Ray was held up at gunpoint.
When he translated that accessible, everyday-guy persona into a sitcom, he made television history with “Everybody Loves Raymond” (CBS, 1996-2005), one of the best-loved, most critically acclaimed sitcoms of the era. A Top 10 ratings earner for over half of its nine-year run, the show’s success was rooted in its outstanding ensemble cast and its relatable focus on the minutiae of family life, with adults taking center stage.
The show transformed Romano into one of the top TV stars of the day, with a best-selling memoir and a Grammy-nominated comedy album to complete the picture. When he ventured out onto the big screen, however, it was hit-or-miss, with several failed attempts at buddy comedies and darker independent films but blockbuster success arrived in the shape of Manny, the wooly mammoth who Romano amusingly voiced in the animated “Ice Age” franchise.
In the wake of nearly a decade spent on the CBS sitcom he created, Romano branched out in 2009 with another primetime project, “Men of a Certain Age” (TNT, 2009-11).
The hourlong comic drama proved that Romano could ably inhabit less autobiographical material than his previous hit, yet still draw in audiences with his intensely likable persona and timeless wit.
Checkout more episodes of Mike Birbiglia’s Working It Out featuring Tom Papa, Liz Kingsman, Jim Gaffigan, and many more HERE
