ARTIST: Mike Birbiglia
TITLE: Sleepwalk With Me
LABEL: Comedy Central
GENRE: Comedy
BITRATE: 247kbps avg
PLAYTIME: 1h 10min total
RELEASE DATE: 2011-04-19
RIP DATE: 2011-05-02
Track List:
1. Don't Tell Anyone 6:31
2. There's Something In My 8:17
Bladder
3. The Hovering Jackal 6:29
4. Abbie 4:13
5. Delusion 3:48
6. I'm A Bear, Etc. 6:19
7. Dustbuster Olympics 2:31
8. The Promise Of Sleep 4:56
9. Wedding Story 6:22
10.My Brother Joe's Wedding 4:48
11.Fight Club 4:24
12.The Missile 11:40
Sleepwalk with Me Live finds comedian Mike Birbiglia taking his easygoing
storytelling style into "one-man show" territory, blurring the lines between
standup and off-Broadway with pleasing results. The main story here is
Birbiglia's problem with sleepwalking, a problem which has put him in the
hospital a couple times, once because of a tumble out a hotel window which is
covered in the closing piece "The Missile." Since this is Birbiglia, that's the
funny part, and every broken bone or odd occurrence are told in that Steven
Wright-in-cute-pajamas style that has earned the man a loyal, laughing
following. But now, there's a trick. What makes Sleepwalk meatier than the
everyday comedy album are the underlying issues that cause such funny trauma,
including a hands-off attitude from the parents, leaving Birbiglia with a big
ball of anxiety that has, over the years, grown into "The Hovering Jackal." How
the comedian gets from here to there would be certifiably masterful if he
sounded as natural as he did on earlier releases. Here, he sounds a bit too
familiar with the material, switching back and forth between comedy club and
live reading mode, but it's a small complaint, meant to leave room for any
coming masterpiece. As it is, Sleepwalk with Me Live is a near masterwork, but
more importantly, it's a big step forward for Birbiglia and a fascinating
exploration of standup comedy as theater.
http://www.birbigs.com/