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.
In this week’s episode, Ronny Chieng, one of the earliest and most popular Working It Out guests, makes a triumphant return. Ronny and Mike discuss the significance of Ronny’s chic onstage wardrobe, the similarities between practicing law and performing comedy, and whether or not it was Ronny who planted the Hasan Minhaj New Yorker story after all. Plus, why Ronny absolutely refuses to reveal his actual birthday.
In 2016, Chieng got notice when he gave an expletive-laden criticism of a Jesse Watters clip on FOX News deemed by many as racist. Watters interviewed Chinatown residents on their choice in the 2016 presidential elections, suggesting that Asia-Americans, several of whom spoke only Mandarin or Cantonese, were uninformed about the issues.
Chieng revisited Chinatown, where Watters had mocked residents and conducted more respectful interviews in Mandarin and Cantonese. The video went viral and received coverage in The Washington Post and on Slate.com The incident inspired a protest at FOX headquarters in New York and Watters issued an apology.
Chieng has also been vocal in his support of the COVID-19 vaccine, as has Tsai. Last fall, after anti-vaxxers attempted to storm Barclays Center in support of Kyrie Irving’s refusal to get the shot, Chieng made fun of Irving.
Checkout more episodes of Mike Birbiglia’s Working It Out featuring Tom Papa, Liz Kingsman, Jim Gaffigan, and many more HERE
