Mike Birbiglia: The New One

The first half is a wonderful journey through the perilous anxieties one has before deciding whether or not to have kids, and is very deep and introspective. Mike lays out all the reasons you shouldn't have kids, and they're all right.

But then he's countered with "but you'd be a good dad," and that's that, he has a kid.

This is where the disconnect happened for me, and is where I just felt disappointment. It's as if Mike spends the rest of the bit ignoring what he just talked about, and goes into how miserable of a parent he is without any self-reflection as to maybe he shouldn't have had kids.

It's not just Mike, we all need to consider that maybe we shouldn't have kids until we sort ourselves out: climate change, concentration of wealth, and all the existential threats coming down the pipe are all reasons why you should not have your own kids. You should adopt or foster. Sorry you miss out on what could've been, but such is life.

I'll be curious to revisit Mike years later to see if he's still miserable. Good luck. You have my empathy, but not my endorsement.

I became a huge Mike Birbiglia fan after watching his previous specials. He's got a gift for storytelling, and in particular the special-long story surrounding his auto accident and subsequent proposal to his wife was brilliantly done.

So I'm not sure what happened here. It's less storytelling and much more yelling at the top of his lungs for some reason. I hate to think he's going to become one of those comedians who believe that loud = funny. I enjoyed some of the material - his list of 7 reasons he didn't want to have kids, for example - but after awhile I found myself just wishing it was over because of the wild swinging between telling a story and then just yelling at me.

He's still one of the funniest comedians going today, and I think if you're not bothered by all the yelling then you would probably enjoy this. But I kind of wish he would go back to a more modulated way of getting his stories across. They're funny and poignant enough on their own without him ramming the punchlines down my throat.

I don't have children (and never plan to - I'm being very clear!), and this was hilarious. So glad to see Mike still doing his thing and as funny as ever.

I have missed him on Netflix! I loved his first three standup routines..especially the one that centered on Catholicism. I was very sad that he disappeared...but was thrilled that he finally had a new show.

He's obviously had some pretty serious health problems, which is why this delightful and charmingly funny man disappeared. He's come back with some bitterness and fear, and I get it. But this new standup is a little dark...

I liked the "Christ is born, Christ has risen, Christ will come at 10." silliness much better.

MB is not afraid to go out on a limb. In fact he does it a lot in this comic monolog about new fatherhood and related issues.