Mike Birbiglia on how improv made him a better director

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Comedian Mike Birbiglia's new film Don't Think Twice follows a close-knit improv group that starts to feel the strain when one of its members gets a big break on a hit TV show. Birbiglia tells us what improv and directing have in common, and how he's set out to "hand-deliver" his film to theaters.

For his first film, comedian Mike Birbiglia turned his one-man off-broadway show Sleepwalk with Me, about the struggle to make it as a stand-up, into an indie movie. Now he's again writing, directing and acting in a new film, Don't Think Twice. This time Birbiglia shifts his attention to a close-knit improv troupe, and the fallout when one member gets a dream job on a hit TV show. He tells KCRW's Matt Holzman how improv made him a better director and why he's traveling around the country holding free improv workshops.

Photo: Comedian Mike Birbiglia, director of Don't Think Twice. (Evan Sung)

From this Episode:

Credits

Host:

Kim Masters

Producer:

Kaitlin Parker