Sleepwalk With Me

The comedian and storyteller Mike Birbiglia is an awkwardist. In his routines, he speaks awkwardly. On his blog, he makes awkward social and personal observations. His voice sounds as if it’s headed straight on, then it can take a big swing upward in a way that turns declarative statements into questions, the way certain drunk girls would if they were a whiny, homely-dressed man in his 30s. His best jokes are built around awkwardness, like the time he was moving a bed into his New York apartment building and a woman just let him in the entryway door without any questions. Obviously, that’s an urban no-no. But she said, “I’m not worried because a rapist wouldn’t have a bed like that.” He interrupts the story to interject that he should have said nothing. Instead, he said: “You’d be surprised.”