Reading week 1

Reading – Week 1

Birbiglia, M. (2010). Sleepwalk with Me: and Other Painfully True Stories. London: Simon and Schuster.

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‘Please Stop the Ride’

Highly autobiographical account of childhood and adolescence. Focuses specifically on ‘making out’ and his account of it, but with side stories and links. Good use of short analogies that lead back into the main point. Uses hindsight to see the humorous side of something that was then a troublesome time for him. The story is highly personal to Mike, with people that are named specifically as characters in his life, but it is something that everyone in the audience can relate to because it is a universal subject. This is why it is so funny, because it is a normal everyday situation that everybody will or has found themselves in, which is why it works so well in comedy. It is a universal story, not far-fetched or absurd, which are funny and work for other comedians, but something that the whole audience can share without feeling alienated or left out. It also helps that some of the themes he discusses are rude, such as masturbation. Mike brings to life, and centres the story in real life, by referencing people by their full names, and listing actual films, titles, dates and places. He breaks up the narrative with conversations, thought processes and sidelines. He makes it sound like an adult story in the way he delivers it, but points out the immaturity of it, such as ‘no alcohol, just warm sprite.’ The story keeps moving and changes. It is all about kissing and relationships, but it doesn’t stay in one place, it works autobiographically because he tells the audience about other relationships and why they failed, usually with a punch line. The stories and jokes take a while to build and end with a punch line or amusing situation, not just a whole group of one-liners with a similar theme. This is another thing which makes it personal, he is telling us about his life too, not just pouring out one-liners.

‘Something in My Bladder’

This follows the same theme as ‘Please Stop the Ride’ in that it is autobiographical stories with amusing sidelines. However, personally I don’t find this story as personal or intimate as ‘Please Stop the Ride’ because it deals with something that almost everyone knows about, even if they haven’t experienced it, so it is still emotionally touching and the audience can still identify with it. ‘Something in My Bladder’ makes light of what is otherwise a potentially depressing and very dark and life-changing experience. It doesn’t ridicule the problem of cancer in the bladder/prostate, but sees the funny side of it. Probes and tests are not funny, but by setting them within stand-up, Mike Birbiglia seems to be getting therapy from his story by sharing it with people. It shows humour through ignorance. The story is riddled with punch-lines, and he acknowledges the scariness of his situation, but has taught himself to laugh at it through hindsight.