Last night marked the world premiere of Mike Birbiglia’s new one-man show, My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend, at Just For Laughs Toronto. Having seen his wildly successful off-Broadway run of Sleepwalk With Me last year, this was unquestionably at the top of my list of “must-sees” for the Festival. And it remains there.
It isn’t just an hour of standup with a title slapped on it — not to disparage the shows that are that, but the story arc is the key ingredient in making this show a substantial meal.
The format of weaving a single story throughout, and jumping back through time for asides, is almost identical to that of Sleepwalk. It’s a winning formula for Birbiglia, who has a knack for steering the audience away from the main narrative for long stretches without anyone getting impatient.
His courtship with his wife Jenny is the cornerstone of the tale, which ties in awkward school dances, a missed flight, a hilariously graphic account of puking on an amusement park ride called the “Scrambler”, and the life-altering experience of making a girl laugh really hard for the first time.
Mike Birbiglia at Just For Laughs Toronto. Photo by Sharilyn Johnson
The heartbreak of realizing you’re not someone’s first choice feels very real, and is literally authenticated with relics of his tales. He brings with him the police report detailing a car accident he was involved in, and what we’re told is the actual napkin he wrote down ideas on during a turning point in his relationship with Jenny. The napkin has seen better days, and I suspect it’s unlikely to survive its inclusion much beyond next week’s Montreal dates.
It feels as though this style of lengthy storytelling is exactly what Birbiglia should be doing always. Despite the minor lapses in judgment he recounts, his decency shines through and he doesn’t even need to try to convince us he’s The Good Guy. He could probably take us just about anywhere, and we’d stick with him. Ultimately, I suppose we relate to Jenny just as strongly as we do to him.
My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend runs through Saturday at the Berkeley Street Theatre, and then heads to Just For Laughs Montreal July 15-17.
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