Comedian Mike Birbiglia to sleep on the job

[January 22, 2011]  CINCINNATI (AP) -- Standup comedian Mike Birbiglia's next act will be a one-man, one-bed show.

Birbiglia is the featured attraction in a joint promotion of Procter & Gamble Co.'s Downy fabric softener and Macy's Inc. bedding that will find him spending a week in a display window at Macy's Herald Square store in New York City. He'll talk with fans, interact online, and, it's planned, sleep.

Birbiglia, whose sleepwalking problems have included jumping from a second-story motel window and were featured in his off-Broadway show and book "Sleepwalk With Me," discussed the promotion by e-mail as he returned this week from a preview in Australia of his upcoming show, "My Girlfriend's Boyfriend." Next week's gig is "a little different," he said, but added that he's "really looking forward to having a job where there's a queen-size bed right next to me at all times. It's kind of the best-case scenario."

Other excerpts:

Q: Are you worried about sleepwalking in Macy's, or waking up at the top of the Empire State Building?

A: I am not worried about sleepwalking in Macy's, but it could be an interesting twist. The truth is, Downy is going to great lengths to make sure that I am comfortable and safe. I will be under constant sleep supervision by a security guard who is prepared to feed me warm milk and read me emergency bedtime stories.

Also, sometimes when you sleepwalk, you think you're in a place you're not, or being chased by a wild animal. The good thing about sleeping in the window of a Macy's department store, is that there is a good chance I could run around in my sleep thinking I am trapped in a department store, and I would be right. I'm unlikely to have a dream that is stranger than the reality I'm living.

Q: How are you doing with your sleep issues?

A: I am diagnosed with what's called "REM behavior disorder." As far as the disorder goes, there's no cure, but it's going pretty well as far as these things go. I see a sleep doctor, take medication, etc. Going to Australia was unsettling for my body clock, because right now it's Tuesday in New York and that means in Australia it could be any other day in the future. Or past. Just not Tuesday. Also, it might not even be 2011.

Q: Some busy people say sleep is the "new sex." What's your opinion on that topic?

A: I have not heard that saying. I don't know what you mean by "the new sex." I just recently discovered the old sex, and to me that is much better than sleep. It seems like an expression that may have been started by mattress manufacturers.

___

Online:

Mike Birbiglia's website: http://www.birbigs.com/

[Associated Press; By DAN SEWELL]

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.