This is the 119th post in our Celebrity of the Day series.
Mike Birbiglia was born in 1978 in Massachusetts. He went on to attend Georgetown University where he won the "Funniest Man on Campus" contest his senior year, this gave him the opportunity to perform at D.C. Improv.
Mike continued to work on his comedy and at 23 he was chosen to appear in the "New Faces" category in Montreal's Just for Laughs Comedy Festival. It was when he was performing here that he attracted the attention of the booker for the Late Show with David Letterman. He also attracted the attention of Lucien Hold, who was the booker for the World Famous Comic Strip Live in New York City. Lucien began promoting and supporting Mike's career and even called him a young Jerry Seinfeld.
Perhaps one of the most bizarre things about Mike Birbiglia is that he suffers from rapid eye movement disorder, which is a disorder that sometimes causes people to move about and act out portions of their dreams. This disorder nearly got Mike killed when he was staying at a hotel. He dreamed that he was being chased by a guided missile and he jumped out of bed and out the window. Luckily he was staying on the second floor, so when he woke up (still running) he made his way to the nearest hospital.
He created an off-Broadway show entitled Sleepwalk with Me that was inspired by the event. The show opened to rave reviews.
Since 2004 Mike has released four comedy albums and one DvD.
To learn more about Mike Birbiglia visit his official site or the official site for Sleepwalk with Me.
