Author Elizabeth Gilbert wrote one of Mike Birbiglia's favorite books about creativity, Big Magic. She also wrote a book that, to her surprise, become a cultural phenomenon: Eat, Pray, Love. Mike and Liz discuss the unexpected impact of Eat, Pray, Love, and what it was like for Liz to watch…
In the 90s, Michael Ian Black’s college sketch group The State got a show on MTV, spawned another iconic group, Stella, and led to the classic movie Wet Hot American Summer. Now Michael sits down with Mike Birbiglia on Working it Out to talk about how all 11 members of…
Bridget Everett, star of the hit HBO series “Somebody Somewhere,” joins Mike Birbiglia on the Working It Out this week to discuss creative risks and processing grief and loss through their work. Plus, that time Bridget and Patti LuPone performed together at Carnegie Hall. Also, Bridget describes the most outrageous…
On today's episode of Mike Birbiglia's Working it Out, in celebration of his new album, Warriors, Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton, In The Heights) sits down with Mike for a wide ranging talk about writing musicals, riding the subway, and taking big creative risks. Lin explains why you need so many ideas…
Hannah Gadsby joins Mike Birbiglia in the studio for the first time. The two talk Hannah’s new solo show “Woof!”, a painful celebrity encounter with Anna Kendrick, and how to keep track of multiple contradictory ideas in the creative process. Plus, a robust Working it Out session solves the mystery…
11-time Grammy winner, celebrated rock star, and noted Working It Out theme song composer Jack Antonoff returns to the podcast. Mike Birbiglia and Jack discuss Jack’s performing with Taylor Swift and collaborating with Sabrina Carpenter, why cynicism can’t exist in a live performance, and the joys of Tim Robinson’s sketch…
This week on Mike Birbiglia's Working it Out Podcast, Matteo Lane joins Mike for an episode that has something for everyone. From Matteo’s hilariously scorching takes on modern pop stars to tales of secret families to insight about what Matteo did when he hit a wall in his comedy career.…
Comedian Jon Laster returns for his third appearance on Mike Birbiglia's Working It Out. Longtime friends from the Comedy Cellar, Mike and Jon catch up on Jon’s app Blapp, which highlights black-owned businesses, Jon’s more personal comedy material about his struggles with alcoholism, and why Jon calls his company “Thanks…
This week filmmaker and actor Zach Braff joins Mike Birbiglia to talk everything from Garden State to Ted Lasso to what it’s like to direct Morgan Freeman. Zach discusses the story of his ex once following him through Europe and Mike and Zach discuss the possibility that a story like…
Beloved Irish comedian Aisling Bea returns to Working It Out. Mike and Aisling discuss how to find your people, Catholic school health class, and dating app fails. Plus, new jokes about what Mike’s dad was doing while his family went to church and the most obvious and best thing about…
Mike welcomes fellow comedian and podcaster (Giggly Sqaud, Berner Phone) Hannah Berner to the pod. Known for her “Han on the Street” videos, Hannah discusses her journey from college tennis champ to stand-up sensation. Hannah also teaches Mike the meaning of the term “zaddy.” Plus, an athlete at heart, Hannah…
This week living legend and giant human Stephen Merchant joins Mike for an all time great episode of Working It Out. Stephen and Mike talk about actionable advice for creatives starting out, the behind-the-scenes politics of co-creating “The Office,” “Extras” with Ricky Gervais, and how Stephen could turn his story…
Mike welcomes the multi-talented Cat Cohen to the podcast to discuss making doctors laugh, lessons learned from the Ashley Madison documentary, and the medical ordeal that Cat went through last summer. She and Mike break down the best ways to work out a long story in small increments and how…
Mike welcomes back old friend and Working It Out hall of famer Tig Notaro. They discuss the inevitability of finding your own comedic voice, how Tig had to come out as gay to her own children, and the time her brother fell into her stepfather’s grave. All that, plus tales…
This week Neal Brennan returns to Working It Out in celebration of his new Netflix special, “Crazy Good.” Neal and Mike go deep on what to do when friendship isn’t reciprocated, what all comics have in common with Seinfeld, and the irrelevance of the question “Is Kevin Hart humble?” All…
Jesse David Fox is one of the definitive voices in comedy history and analysis. He’s written for Vulture and New York Magazine and now he sits down with Mike to discuss his new book Comedy Book, which covers among other things the comedy boom of the past 20 or so…
In celebration of his new special “Terrified,” the Impractical Jokers star Sal Vulcano joins Mike for what starts as a normal interview and then turns into a podcast full of stories stranger than the last: Sal’s prank on an overbearing TV executive, how Sal ended up with *multiple* photorealistic tattoos…
Comedian Janine Harouni and Mike have a lot in common. They both survived severe car accidents, they have similar relationships with their parents, and they both value the quality of being vulnerable on stage. Mike and Janine discuss the process of turning a traumatic experience into a comedic story, and…
From the studio of Pete’s podcast, You Made It Weird, Pete and Mike record an all new episode of Working It Out. Pete brings new and improved roasted of Mike while retroactively responding to Mike’s roasts of Pete from their previous episode. Plus the two comics have one of the…
Working It Out hall-of-famer Rachel Feinstein returns to the podcast on the heels of her hit Netflix special Big Guy. Rachel explains why her firefighter husband loves being roasted in her special and why he pronounces the word “cash” like “quiche.” Rachel shares an absurd road story featuring Kevin Hart…
For this special episode of Working It out, Mike welcomes John August, the screenwriter behind Charlie’s Angels with Drew Barrymore, Tim Burton’s Big Fish, and his breakthrough film Go, which is celebrating its 25 year anniversary. John co-hosts the screenwriting podcast Scriptnotes with Craig Mazin (The Last of Us), which…
This week the legendary Judd Apatow returns to Working It Out for his fourth and best appearance yet. Judd tells behind-the-scenes stories from Bridesmaids and Funny People, as well as the most helpful filmmaking advice he’s gotten from other greats along the way. Judd and Mike also break apart the…
In Chris Fleming’s recent Peacock stand-up special Hell, he calls out some audience members who are married and shouts, “This show is not for people who have wives. You have a wife?! Go see Mike Birbiglia!” Fleming is fearless about dragging the names of other comedians into his bits: from…
Mike welcomes Rory Scovel, whose special made Mike laugh so hard he spit water all over himself. Rory talks about how telling the truth and being vulnerable on stage led him to his best bits, how his taking up abstract painting is similar to comedy, and how a week of…