If there's a reason to be cautious about {|Mike Birbiglia|}'s 2007 effort for the {|Comedy Central|} label it's that his other albums are a better introduction to the humble, hilarious, and kind of strange standup comedian. One look at the title {|My... Read more

If there's a reason to be cautious about {|Mike Birbiglia|}'s 2007 effort for the {|Comedy Central|} label it's that his other albums are a better introduction to the humble, hilarious, and kind of strange standup comedian. One look at the title {|My Secret Public Journal Live|} and a {|Birbiglia|} fan might correctly guess that this album is based off his blog of the same name. This means there's a lot of storytelling and wandering topics, all delivered at a much slower pace than his normal set. The transitions aren't that smooth, {|Catholic School Sunglasses|} isn't very good at all, and the stories are padded by bits of material that have appeared on earlier efforts, but there's a slow charm to hearing the comedian in this looser atmosphere and a couple moments that are prime {|Birbiglia|}. {|Porno for Parents|} is a hilarious story of the older generation and their befuddlement with computers while {|Roger Clemens Hates Me|} is a great tale of a comedian in an incredibly uncomfortable position. Uncomfortable positions are {|Birbiglia|}'s bread and butter, as the epic opener {|Celebrity Golf|} also displays, but some of these uneasy feelings aren't ones a normal person -- as in non-celebrity -- would ever experience and at times this really feels like a journal in every self-indulgent sense of the word. {|My Secret Public Journal Live|} is a good album for the serious {|Birbiglia|} addict, nothing more, nothing less. ~ David Jeffries Less