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" I couldn't recommend more that people put themselves in a situation where they can see a lot of work that they admire, and for free. "
Mike Birbiglia
Situation
Free
Work
Related Quotes:
" I think the thing I had to be careful about while writing a book was not to say anything that was revealing about other people that they would be uncomfortable with. I didn't want to make people angry - that's a real risk. "
Mike Birbiglia
Angry
Writing
Think
" I just like, when you look at people who have long careers in film, they're able to make films that are far away from themselves, because they're metaphorical. It creates more opportunities, I think. "
Mike Birbiglia
Opportunities
Look
People
" Directing your first film is like showing up to the field trip in seventh grade, getting on the bus, and making an announcement, 'So today I'm driving the bus.' And everybody's like, 'What?' And you're like, 'I'm gonna drive the bus.' And they're like, 'But you don't know how to drive the bus.' "
Mike Birbiglia
Driving
You
Today
" The one thing you're most reluctant to tell. That's where the comedy is. "
Mike Birbiglia
One Thing
Tell
You
" The list of fun and easily-fixed brain diseases is very short. "
Mike Birbiglia
Fun
Short
List
" As a comedian, you want people to like you. That's part of why you're there in the first place: You have this unquenchable need to be liked, and then when you divert from that and take a chance at doing something that has moments of fierce unlikeability, you can hit some real low points. "
Mike Birbiglia
Moments
People
Place
" I end up talking about really mundane things with my fans, and then they're kind of like, 'This is boring. I want to go talk to somebody else.' I think I bore my fans to death by over-talking to them. "
Mike Birbiglia
Kind
End
Death
" Over the years, I managed to develop this comedy career, went from opening act to headliner at comedy clubs, to playing concert halls, and had an off-Broadway show with 'Sleepwalk With Me.' "
Mike Birbiglia
Me
Concert
Opening
" The way I view comedy clubs is, people are drinking, they're ordering food, they're out for the night, and there's also a person onstage talking. And with the theater, they came to the theater, and they're waiting to hear what you say. So you'd better have something to say. "
Mike Birbiglia
Night
Waiting
You
" In some sense, Comedy Central has made their audience into comedy connoisseurs. "
Mike Birbiglia
Some
Audience
Comedy
" Once you've made your first feature, you know what you can do wrong and how hard it is to shoot a feature. Before you do it, you just don't know how hard it is. Once you've done it, when you're writing a second one, it's almost like you're preparing, and it's almost holding you back. "
Mike Birbiglia
Know
Done
Back
" When I started out, I really struggled as a comic because no one knew who I was, and sometimes I was telling stories, so it would take a while for people to get on board for things. "
Mike Birbiglia
People
Started
Out
" There's something about small venues that's amazing for developing material. It's almost like you can not only hear people's response, but you can understand it. In bigger venues you lose that, but you gain this sense of camaraderie in the audience. "
Mike Birbiglia
Lose
You
Amazing
" Creepy people do the things that decent people want to do, but have decided are not a great idea. "
Mike Birbiglia
Want
Things
People
" After I perform 'My Girlfriend's Boyfriend,' it takes a lot out of me emotionally; and, at the end of it, I feel like I know the audience and the audience knows me. It's this weird unspoken bond that we'll kind of always have with each other. "
Mike Birbiglia
Bond
Know
Feel
" What I always studied in screenwriting from my mentor John Glavin was that the most interesting characters are characters with shades of gray. "
Mike Birbiglia
Interesting
Most
Mentor
" I listened to this interview once with Jerry Seinfeld that really influenced my comedy and all of my writing, which is that when you're starting out in comedy, it's the audience that tells you what's funny about you. And you need to listen to that and make a note of that. "
Mike Birbiglia
Writing
You
Out
" Film is so immersive. "
Mike Birbiglia
Film
" If you're asked something on a movie set and you say 'I don't know,' you lose confidence in every department. What you need to say is 'I'll have that for you in five minutes.' "
Mike Birbiglia
You
Say
Need
" Sometimes, occasionally, people will make out in the audience, completely not aware that there's a human being onstage just yards away from them, who can see them. Sometimes people think that you're on television while you're onstage, so you're not even a person. "
Mike Birbiglia
You
Audience
People
" I love 'Bullets Over Broadway,' but I'm pretty sure Woody Allen hasn't killed somebody. "
Mike Birbiglia
Broadway
Bullets
Pretty
" Sometimes people say, 'You're the best at digressions.' And that's actually a real compliment to me. "
Mike Birbiglia
You
Say
People
" I drank the Kool-Aid of being a network star. Once it didn't happen, I realized it wasn't the best version of my comedy. "
Mike Birbiglia
Star
Once
Being
" I was very much a late bloomer. That's not to say that girls didn't express interest in me from time to time, but I just, I did not know how to respond to that. "
Mike Birbiglia
Know
Me
Late
" You have to be delusional to be a comedian. "
Mike Birbiglia
Delusional
Comedian
You
" I was a screenwriting major at Georgetown, and I was in class with some really strong writers like Jonathan Nolan, who co-wrote 'The Dark Knight' with Chris, his brother. He wrote 'The Prestige,' the story for 'Memento.' "
Mike Birbiglia
Strong
Who
Class
" I always live tweet 'SNL.' "
Mike Birbiglia
Tweet
Live
SNL
" I've become good friends with Lena Dunham, and the thing I had in common with Lena when I was 24 is I was as ambitious as she was. What we don't have in common is that I was not as talented. My voice was not as clearly defined. "
Mike Birbiglia
Voice
Good Friends
Good
" Comedy is tragedy plus time, but the time is different for everybody. "
Mike Birbiglia
Different
Comedy
Plus
" Backup dancers are completely respectable. They're the studio musicians of dance. "
Mike Birbiglia
Dance
Backup
Musicians