For years, comedian Mike Birbiglia has been mining his personal life for material for his stand-up act, and he's found plenty of comedy gold. He's also become a regular contributor to This American Life's podcast, and spun his autobiographical antics into the celebrated book and stage play Sleepwalk With Me. Later, with the help of This American Life host Ira Glass, Birbiglia molded Sleepwalk With Me into a quirky feature film that won praise as well as the audience award in the Best of Next category at the Sundance Film Festival last year.
Remarkably, Birbiglia co-wrote, co-directed, and starred in the insightful comedy combined two running themes in his stand-up act, his wariness about marriage and his troubles with sleep that sometimes are life threatening. Lucky for us, Birbiglia's life has been flush with wild stories, and he'll be using others as inspiration for his follow-up, based on his latest stand-up act My Girlfriend's Boyfriend.
THR has uncovered the comic is currently adapting the comedy special into a narrative screenplay. But—perhaps to avoid confusion—he warned that the movie will not share the same name as the stand-up routine, which will be shot concert style in a month's time and available for sale by the fall. While Birbiglia shows an interest in directing, and appears set to star in this untitled follow-up, it's currently unknown if Glass and Sleepwalk With Me co-helmer Seth Barrish will be reteam with him, or when this production is projected to shoot.
Devoted This American Life listeners will remember the title My Girlfriend's Boyfriend as one of the radio stories Birbiglia has contributed to the show. This tale centered on Birbiglia's embarrassing high school romance with a cool kid called Amanda, who hasn't exactly broken up with her old boyfriend. You can listen to it for free here.
