On Sept 14, stand-up comedian Mike Birbiglia will perform at Wellin Hall at 7:30 PM as part of his

Stand-Up & Vote

tour. Organized by Campus Activities Board (CAB), the event will include additional guests:

SNL

cast member Melissa Villaseñor, writer and podcaster Phoebe Robinson, and comedian Gary Gulman. All proceeds from the show will go to HeadCount, Rock The Vote, and Vote.org, three non-profit, non-partisan organizations that register voters and encourage voter turnout. Tickets went on sale on Aug. 28 in the Sadove Conference Room. They are still available for $5.

Birbiglia is the author of the

New York Times

bestseller

Sleepwalk With Me and Other Painfully True Stories

. Birbiglia first wrote

Sleepwalk With Me

as an off-broadway show in 2008. After the show garnered popularity and critical praise, the book adaptation was published in 2010. Two years later, Birbiglia wrote, directed, and starred in a movie of the same name. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and critics and audiences warmly received it nationwide. The semi-autobiographical film follows Matt Pandamiglio, a struggling thirty-something comedian juggling personal anxieties, a failing relationship, and a life-threatening sleep disorder. Rapid Eye Movement (REM) behavior disorder causes Matt to physically act out his dreams, usually in the form of sleepwalking. A crucial scene in the movie shows Matt sleepwalking out of a second-floor window, narrowly escaping death but seriously injuring his leg. The incident did actually happen to Birbiglia, and inspired him to write about his disorder in the context of comedy.

Sleepwalk With Me

won the NEXT Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, and Birbiglia was nominated for Breakthrough Actor at the Gotham Awards for his performance. The film also won Birbiglia the title of Best Writer/Director at the Nantucket Film Festival in 2012.

The film version of

Sleepwalk With Me

was produced by Ira Glass, with whom Birbiglia had previously worked on a segment of Glass’s popular radio show

This American Life

. The segment, “Fear of Sleep,” was also about Birbiglia’s sleep disorder. Birbiglia has since contributed to 13 other episodes of the show. Another popular episode of the radio show, “Of Mice and Men” follows Birbiglia, his wife, and his cat on their trip to Massachusetts. Birbiglia elaborates on the story in his 2017 Netflix stand-up special

Thank God for Jokes

.

The New York Times

described Birbiglia’s stand-up set as “an indescribably ridiculous collection of anecdotes and asides that miraculously blend into a whole.” In

Thank God for Jokes

, Birbiglia ponders the definition and limits of a joke, switching seamlessly from anecdotes about yoga class with his wife to a serious rumination on the Charlie Hebdo massacre in France. At its core,

Thank God for Jokes

is an ode to humor. Birbiglia loves jokes for the solace they bring, the power they hold, and even the risks that accompany them. He explains in the opening of the special, “that’s what I love about jokes; they’re just your side of the story.”

Birbiglia wrote, directed, and starred in his second movie,

Don’t Think Twice

, which premiered in 2016 at the South By Southwest Film Festival. Co-starring in

Don’t Think Twice

are acclaimed comedians Keegan Michael Key, Kate Micucci, and Gillian Jacobs. The ensemble comedy follows the members of an improvisational comedy troupe called The Commune as they navigate career struggles and inter-group dynamics. Don’t Think Twice received 3.5/4 stars from

Rolling Stone

, who described Birbiglia as “a film-making talent to watch,” who “allows the emotions in his film to sneak up on you, like they do in life […] You’ll laugh till it hurts.” Bittersweet comedy is one of the hallmarks of Birbiglia’s work; his 2013 stand-up set

My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend

culminates in a heartfelt confession about his marriage. A longtime critic of marriage as an institution, Birbiglia wrestled with his reluctance to wed and his now-wife’s desire to get married. He reveals in the last line of the special “I still didn’t believe in the idea of marriage, and I still don’t. But I believe in her, and I’ve given up on the idea of being right.”

The seemingly effortless transition from silliness to poignancy is Birbiglia’s trademark. In one of his earlier stand-up specials,

What I Should Have Said Was Nothing

, anecdotes about dreaming of pizza turn to political commentary, then to Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Although his teddy bear demeanor and self-deprecation are a substantial part of his humor, Birbiglia does not rely on goofiness alone. His jokes are well-crafted, smart, and relatable all the while. Three of Birbiglia’s stand-up comedy specials can be found on Netflix, and he has appeared in films and TV shows, from the 2015 film

Trainwreck

to

Orange is the New Black

and

Broad City

.

Stand-Up & Vote

will be held in Wellin Hall on Sept. 14 at 7:30 PM.