Monologist and comedian Mike Birbiglia has always had a mile-long dark streak. Even if he’s never been diagnosed with clinical depression, he’s recognized his own lack of capacity to feel joy and is constantly aware of a kind of existential dread that haunts him. But rather than shy away from all that, he picks at it. Mike fills us in on how he deals with that darkness and the inner meaning of a lot of his work.

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Mike Birbiglia Faces His Darkest Fears and Puts Them On Stage