Review – Mike Birbiglia: My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend (USA)

It seems like a throwaway joke of a show title, but surprisingly ‘My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend‘ is a recurring theme of Mike Birbiglia’s stand up show.

Taking a longer form approach to a lot of comics, Birbiglia weaves a story of love, loss, dogs eating spaghetti and car crashes that at times becomes tragic or sweet, but is always funny. Being a, presumably, biographical show, ‘My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend‘ encompasses a wide variety of events and emotions that, on their own, wouldn’t have elicited laughs from the mostly packed house, but did as a part of the unfolding narrative.

Birbiglia is a storyteller and has a strong handle on what makes a story compelling. The show starts disjointedly, jumping back and forth between moments of his life, but as he continues it starts to fit together like a jigsaw.

Soft spoken and carefully paced, Birbiglia’s delivery really draws the audience in to this world he is not so much constructing as giving us a chance to glimpse in to. By the time the show reaches its crescendo, you can’t help but become caught up and enraged along with him, even while you’re laughing.

A thoroughly enjoyable show from a captivating performer, ‘My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend‘ is playing at The Arts Centre’s Fairfax Studio every day except Easter Monday until April 4th.