Mike Birbiglia
Kyle Ericksen
Though he’s not the first comedian to discuss how hard it is to make people laugh instead of just pissing them off in these ever-shifting, uncertain times, Mike Birbiglia — the almost preternaturally lovable force propelling Sleepwalk with Me, What I Should Have Said Was Nothing and My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend to heights sometimes transcending stand-up — is quite possibly the best comedian to examine the topic in a way that does more than incite even further ire. Though he should have his latest show Thank God for Jokes polished to a Netflix-ready sheen by the time the tour gets to San Antonio, he’s been performing a show called Working It Out, where he takes bigger risks with unproven material to gauge exactly what gets a chuckle anymore. As the blurb for the show says: “The same jokes that elicit laughter have the power to produce tears, rage, and a whole lot of getting yelled at.” Knowing Birbiglia, he’ll engage the offended with empathy and turn some of the most unexpected reactions to his jokes into astonishingly insightful comedy gold. $27.50-$32.50, 8pm Fri, Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, 100 Auditorium Circle, (210) 223-8624, tobincenter.org. — Jeremy Martin
