Recap Mike Birbiglia at Pabst Theater

At this point in his career, Mike Birbiglia transcends stand-up comedy. The 32-year-old’s well-crafted everyman shtick—strengthened all the more by his receding hairline, shabby physique, and social shortcomings—has shot Birbiglia past small stages and two drink minimums, and elevated him into rarified comedic air.

With the support of his comedy albums, a successful off-Broadway show, regular spots on NPR’s This American Life, and a brand new book, Birbiglia came to Pabst Theater Saturday with little left to prove. He told onlookers as much with a predictable 90-minute set composed of well-known punch lines, acted-out book excerpts, and loosely transitioned tales that ultimately preached the importance of love…or something. He was essentially sleepwalking through his greatest hits, though, judging by the laughs, nobody seemed to mind.

Birbiglia wasted little time introducing Milwaukee, the final city he was to see on his “Sleepwalk With Me” tour, to Jenny. “I knew when I met her that I wanted to sleep with her at least once,” he said of his eventual girlfriend. From there, he backtracked to memories of middle school and his arduous quest for his first kiss, which included pantomimed detours in the form of stories about puking on a carnival ride and fast-dancing at the Cattle Call Dance.

Birbiglia shifted haphazardly between childhood recollections, drawn-out segments about Jenny, his brace-faced first kiss “Sondra,” and his unfaithful high school girlfriend “Amanda,” with a few contemporary bits from his albums and specials liberally thrown in. As sporadic as the endearingly disjointed anecdotes initially seemed, it became obvious that this loose format was deliberate. A joke rooted with Birbiglia’s hatred of Texas touched on the odd rituals of bachelorette parties, a story about a forgotten hickey, a segment about being kicked in the balls—and then ended, as always, with Jenny.

The show was one part stand-up, another part in-store author’s reading, with a dash of overtly sappy one-man show; it wasn’t always apparent what tone Birbiglia was going for during his performance. But the laughs persisted throughout. It makes sense that Birbiglia, with his comedic stylings reaching continually more mediums, would satiate the diverse audience. No matter how people were brought to the Pabst, they heard their favorite jokes and were force-fed a sugary concoction of optimism along the way.