“Directing a movie is a little bit like being back in student government and putting on the homecoming dance. You're like, 'You put up the streamers, and you hire the DJ, and you get the punch bowl.' Some people are just like, 'This dance sucks.' And you're like, 'No no, this dance is awesome!' You have to be really positive.”

American comedian, actor, director, producer, and Emmy-nominated writer

Mike Birbiglia is an American comedian, actor, director, producer, and Emmy-nominated writer. He has built a career around solo performance, with six one-person shows that played worldwide and had successful runs on and off Broadway. Those shows include Sleepwalk With Me, My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend, Thank God For Jokes, The New One, The Old Man and the Pool, and The Good Life, several of which became Netflix comedy specials. He also wrote, directed, and starred in Sleepwalk with Me and Don’t Think Twice, and has appeared in films such as Trainwreck, The Fault in Our Stars, Popstar, and A Man Called Otto, as well as on Orange Is the New Black and Billions. He hosts the podcast Mike Birbiglia's Working it Out.