214. Robby Hoffman: It's a New Dawn

Summary

Podcast Summary: Mike Birbiglia’s Working It Out

Episode 214: Robby Hoffman – "It's a New Dawn"
Date: June 1, 2026
Guests: Robby Hoffman (comedian, writer)
Main Theme:
The episode is an energetic, sharply candid, and sometimes vulnerable conversation between host Mike Birbiglia and rising comedy star Robby Hoffman. Together, they cover Robby’s unique career trajectory, her experience navigating comedy and television, her relationship to identity, controversial union meeting moments, marriage, and how to work out rough material. Throughout, the episode reflects Hoffman’s one-of-a-kind voice: unfiltered, incisive, and hilariously direct.

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Main Topics & Themes

1. Robby’s Rise in Comedy and “Overnight Success”

Timestamps: 03:06–06:26

• Robby’s Perspective on 'Success': Robby discusses the misconception of her being an overnight success, emphasizing her slow and steady trajectory.

  “When I met you, I had a lot going on. You were not privy to it. But I have not been the overnight success. I have been very slow and steady.” (03:48, RH)

• Mike's Admiration: Mike notes that, from first meetings, he believed Robby was going to be "huge" in comedy.

  “When I met you, this happens very rarely. You meet someone, you don’t know them. You go, ‘This person’s gonna be huge.’” (05:11, MB)

• Insider vs. Cult Favorite: Robby details the feeling of being both known and unknown: celebrated in some circles, invisible in others.
• The Role of Community: Reddit and word-of-mouth fueled early recognition; establishment spaces came later.

2. How John Mulaney Became Robby’s Ally

Timestamps: 05:42–17:51

• Allyship Praised: Robby credits John Mulaney for using his influence to direct her Netflix special—a gesture she frames as true “allyship.”

  “Who’s John Mulaney? Out of nowhere, decides to put his weight, his power behind me. I mean, this is allyship.” (05:53, RH)

• Origin Story: Their bond sparked at a union meeting where Robby stood up, asked controversial financial questions, and was booed. Mulaney respected her boldness.
• Impacts of Rebellion: Robby was initially intimidated but later received messages from peers acknowledging her points. Eventually, the union saw changes and fallout from leadership issues.

Memorable Quote

“You mean to tell me that a CIS white rich man... is going to tell a young queer woman to sit down when she has a question?... They didn’t even see the optic!” (13:03, RH)

3. Navigating Hollywood, Identity, and Controversy

Timestamps: 17:13–21:48

• On Touring with Mulaney: Robby describes delighting in “roughing up” his well-dressed audiences and their contrasting styles—"like an old Jewish couple” (17:51).
• Hacks and Rooster: Robby discusses landing the part in "Hacks," how surreal and stressful it was to audition for a part written for her (19:20), and how she approaches acting as “variations” of herself.
• On Queer and Jewish Identity: Candid about growing up Hasidic, leaving the community, and how such backgrounds influence her work and worldview.

####Notable Exchange

“I was born into the Labavic community... I was born into conflict.” (24:08, 29:50 RH)

4. Family, Marriage, and Conflict

Timestamps: 22:22–34:11

• Large Hasidic Family: Robby reflects on her upbringing (one of 10 siblings) in Brooklyn’s Hasidic community and escaping a difficult home life.
• Choosing Family: Emphasizes that marriage is the “one time” you choose your family.

  “With marriage, you do. You get to one time. Pick your family. And it’s the best.” (28:58, RH)

• Lessons from Marriage: Robby and wife Gabby have healed from difficult childhoods together. Robby, seasoned in familial conflict, brought more ease with conflict to their relationship; Gabby models not caring what others think.
• Advice for Couples: Open communication—saying what bothers you even if it upsets your partner—brings people closer.

  “It’s not the worst thing if you tell your partner something and it does upset them... you have to say what you’re feeling.” (33:06, RH)

5. Audience Expectations and Boundaries

Timestamps: 35:57–39:12

• No Email Policy: Robby’s unapologetic persona discourages overly familiar or critical emails from fans, unlike Birbiglia’s experience.

  “No, they know not to send me an email. I am not looking at this email... I don't have an email. How’s that?” (36:09, RH)

• On Being Approachable: She frames herself as “not approachable,” a deliberate contrast to the “good guy” image of Will Smith, Ellen, and Birbiglia—setting boundaries from the outset and managing expectations about her accessibility.

6. Workshopping Bits: AI, Identity, and Vending Machines

Timestamps: 43:07–54:11

• AI and Autism: Robby tries out a bit on how “AI is autistic”—a tongue-in-cheek observation about the quirks of artificial intelligence and the often-neurodiverse people developing it.
• Joke Boundaries: They discuss navigating offense in comedy, especially regarding marginalized identities.

  “You can say what you want and other people can have a response. It's not like you can't say anything; you can at your own risk.” (49:31, RH)

• Observational Comedy: Mike shares a joke-in-progress about vending machines at his daughter’s swim meets—Robby’s feedback helps him sharpen the premise by focusing on context and relatability.

  “If I'm at a vending machine, it is bleak. Like my grandmother’s in the hospital... The least of my problems is the vending machine.” (52:04, RH)

7. Activism and Giving Back

Timestamps: 54:29–56:12

• “Not Too Far 1K” Charity: Robby plugs her low-barrier, direct-giving charity run—literally raising money and handing it to Mexican identifying people, without papers or forms.
• Resistance to ICE and Discrimination: This practice directly opposes rigid and aggressive immigration enforcement—“we just give away money.”

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Allyship:

  “This is what we’re asking for. This is all we’re asking for. Is for a tall man from Chicago.” (06:14, MB/RH)

• On Constructive Confrontation in Relationships:

  “I was born into conflict... I always shared a room with multiple of my sisters... I gotta sleep. We can't be in this tension.” (29:50, RH)

• On Comedy & Offense:

  "You can say what you want and other people can have a response. It's not like you can't say anything; you can at your own risk." (49:31, RH)

• On Vending Machines & Comedy:

  "That's why I don't over perform my jokes. I don't want to be the vending machine that's doing a little dance. I just want to give you Gatorade at a fair price." (51:23, MB)

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Highlighted Segments & Timestamps

03:06–06:26

Robby’s “overnight” success and the realities of “making it” in comedy.

11:12–16:17

Union meeting story—Robby challenging leadership, inciting boos, and John Mulaney’s support.

17:13–21:48

Touring with Mulaney, landing ‘Hacks,’ and exploring different versions of herself through acting.

22:22–25:56

Growing up Hasidic in Brooklyn, family dynamics, and leaving the community.

27:35–34:11

The value of choosing a family through marriage; healing from childhood dynamics.

39:01–39:57

Robby’s “no email” policy and boundaries with the audience.

43:07–46:48

Workshopping new bits, especially about AI and humor involving neurodiversity.

54:29–56:12

‘Not Too Far 1K’—Robby’s direct charity for Mexican-identifying people, and her political motivations.

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Tone & Style

• Candid, sharp, direct: Robby doesn’t mince words about Hollywood, unions, or her childhood.
• Warm, mutual respect: Despite the ribbing, there’s clear admiration between hosts and guest.
• Playfully combative: Debates between Robby and Mike are comedic but underline important points about cultural and personal differences.
• Rich insight: The episode balances comedy workshop, showbiz war stories, and thoughtful discussion of identity and relationships.

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For Listeners

This episode is a must-hear if you’re:

• Interested in how comedians build their careers off-stage as much as on.
• Curious about behind-the-scenes union drama and how activism can intersect with comedy.
• Eager for real talk about queer and Jewish identity, family escape, marriage, and the complexity of working in Hollywood as an “outsider.”
• Wanting a front-row seat to unfiltered joke development and the messy, exhilarating process of finding a voice onstage.

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Follow Robby’s work:

• Instagram: @RobbyHoffman
• Netflix Special: Wake Up!, directed by John Mulaney
• Podcast: Too Far (find via Patreon)

Support:

• Look up the Not Too Far 1K directly via Robby’s social pages or Patreon
• More on Mike’s tour, mailing list, and text alerts: birdbigs.com

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Enduring Message:
Pick your actual family, say what needs saying—even if it ruffles feathers—and remember: “You can say what you want. Just expect a response.”

Transcript

[Robbie Hoffman]

I don't know you. Just like you didn't know me. I don't know you as well. We are getting to know each other.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

And I, I, I'm enjoying this.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Me too.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yeah. We're kind of like two cats, you know, like, oh, yeah, I know. That building's got a cat. I got a cat. And now the cats are like meeting at the, at the gate.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Right?

[Robbie Hoffman]

You know, there's like, they know a cat in common. Yeah, yeah. They know some cats.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

I'm smelling him. He's smelling me.

[Mike Birbiglia]

We're working it out. Cause it's not done working it out. That is the voice of the great Robbie Hoffman. Robbie Hoffman's on the podcast. We are thrilled. Robbie is having quite a moment in culture. She has a new special on Netflix that was directed by my buddy John Mulaney. She is on hacks. She is on Rooster. She is everywhere right now. She's having quite a moment and it is awesome. She's super funny. It's such a gratifying thing when you see someone who's super talented and worked really hard and they're just having everything work for them. Great talk. Today we talk about comedy, the state of the world, vending machines. We cover a lot of ground. She is one of a kind. I loved talking to her. We work out bits, which is one of my favorite things, by the way. If you haven't signed up for Working It Out Premium over there on Working Out Premium. If you go on Apple podcasts and you do click on Working Out Premium and join the birbilia familia, it's 4.99amonth. You get all the episodes with no ads and then you get these bonus episodes. And we've done a bunch where we work out jokes, even more jokes, some of the listeners jokes. So listen to that and thanks everybody who's been signing up for the text message alerts. In addition to joining the mailing list, if you want to get text message alerts about my upcoming tour dates, text the word birbigs B I R B I g s to 917-444-7150. This weekend I actually popped in at the Comedy Studio in Cambridge. The only people who knew the people with the text message alerts. I'll be doing more shows like that soon, so sign up. As always, check on all of my tour [e-mail] for example, I' to Montreal and Nantucket this summer. I love talking to Robbie Hoffman today. This is long overdue. If you don't know Robbie. We talk about her special. We talk about her on hacks, her relationship to her fans, marriage. You're going to love this one. Enjoy my conversation with the great Robbie Hoffman. There's always a couple more jokes to explore, but let's make more.

[Robbie Hoffman]

So how's it. How's it going, Mike? Wow, you have a. You have a printout.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I got questions.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Holy.

[Mike Birbiglia]

You're not gonna get out. You're not gonna get away from here without some questions. This is a professional production.

[Robbie Hoffman]

I love it.

[Mike Birbiglia]

You must have had such a. A year because when I met you a few years ago, you were. I met you.

[Robbie Hoffman]

The seller barely gave me the time of day.

[Mike Birbiglia]

By the way, not true.

[Robbie Hoffman]

By the way, 100 not true.

[Mike Birbiglia]

100 not true.

[Robbie Hoffman]

But go ahead, keep. Do your story.

[Mike Birbiglia]

This is interesting. This is interesting.

[Robbie Hoffman]

I'll do mine.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Okay. I met you a couple years ago. I always found you to be so funny off stage. Well, just like you are now. You're like a live wire.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

But you had, I think, career wise, not a lot going on, and now you have everything going on. You're like massive.

[Robbie Hoffman]

So when I met you, I had a lot going on. You were not privy to it. But I have not been the overnight success. I have been very slow and steady.

[Mike Birbiglia]

You took the words right out of my mouth.

[Robbie Hoffman]

But it really has been, if, you know, you know, like maybe some of the last circles to know me was kind of this, you know, for lack of a. This old guard New York or like, you know, like the big pillars of the scene may not have known about me. That is true. The way that they knew you. But I think the people and the hubbub and the whispers and the deep. The whispers were big Reddits and stuff like that.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I think the Reddits. Yeah, the Reddits were huge.

[Robbie Hoffman]

I think that's where I was, like, it was interesting that I was so well known in some places and then in more established places, I was not very known. So it's interesting that when we met. Yes. We wouldn't have. I would consider you and pretty much like an official standup or, you know, comedy scene.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Okay.

[Robbie Hoffman]

You know, kind of big pillars of standup people who are doing these big tours, big Broadway productions, stuff like that at the Cellar. But I think I was kind of boiling and bubbling in a very word of mouth way.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

So it's. I've always felt kind of known and unknown simultaneously.

[Mike Birbiglia]

That makes sense because when I met you, this happens very rarely. You meet someone, you don't know them. You Go. This person's gonna be huge.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Thank you.

[Mike Birbiglia]

From talking to them, it's just always

[Robbie Hoffman]

nice when I'm like, he doesn't know me yet. Like, he's at the table with the big guns. Okay, I'm here. Don't worry. Sit right.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Slow and steady wins the race.

[Mike Birbiglia]

You always knew.

[Robbie Hoffman]

I love to kind of come up through the rear view. Like, I knew. Kind of in the back, I knew. Come on. I know, but I don't think you did. You didn't know.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah, I did.

[Robbie Hoffman]

No, you think you knew.

[Mike Birbiglia]

100% knew.

[Robbie Hoffman]

You think you knew, but you needed a little bit more. What you needed was you needed other people to tell you. I know, too.

[Mike Birbiglia]

No, I didn't.

[Robbie Hoffman]

You needed the Mulaney. Who, by the way, shouts out to Mulaney, shout out to Mulaney, friend of the show, friend of the show, friend of mine. Incredible. Directed the special. Who's John Mulaney? Out of nowhere, decides to put his weight, his power behind me. I mean, this is allyship.

[Mike Birbiglia]

It is allyship. Yeah. Yeah. This is what we're asking for. This is all we're asking for.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Is for a tall man from Chicago.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Never mind that. He's probably a bigger ally than I am, but, you know, use whatever you need. No, but I think that this is perfect timing.

[Mike Birbiglia]

It's good timing to be John. You met. Because this is a wild story. You said something controversial at, like, a union meeting, and people booed you guys, and he thought it was funny. No.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Are you in the right? We have a right.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah, yeah, we were. We were picketing, but I don't think there was a meeting or. I wasn't at a meeting like the one.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Okay. We had to go to this meeting before the picket, before the strike, that, like, if you didn't go, your demerit points were docked or something.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Part of three years ago or something

[Robbie Hoffman]

like, you had to log in. I remember you had to go on the iPad. Robbie Hoffman is here. Or, you know, and maybe it's because we were just. A bunch of us were just joining the union. I was, you know, just starting to write professionally, and I was pissed about having to be out of work. I just started getting work. I just. I just stopped, bro. I've been like this.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I thought you were a cult favorite.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I thought you were, like, a huge cult sensation, though.

[Robbie Hoffman]

I was. Well, that's true. But writing wise is very establishment.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Right.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Television. You gotta get the mike. Birbigla's gotta let you in. Do you know what I Mean, so I get the card. I get, you know, you see the types of letters that have all this. Okay.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I've never written for intelligence.

[Robbie Hoffman]

And it's actually. It goes through him. People don't know, but if you want to write in this town, you've got to go through and you send them a sandwich in this town.

[Mike Birbiglia]

You mean New York City or Los Angeles? I've never lived in Los Angeles, if that's what you mean.

[Robbie Hoffman]

I just mean the industry, Right?

[Mike Birbiglia]

The industry. Yeah. Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

You know, it's a global town now, Right, Right.

[Mike Birbiglia]

It's a global marketplace.

[Robbie Hoffman]

So I was kind of like. I was pissed because I'm like, bro, I just sort of make it here. Yeah. That's. These rich people in the world, like, what is going on?

[Mike Birbiglia]

Right.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Then they force us to this meeting again, unpaid meeting. At this point, I can't write, so all I could do is stand up. I should be out doing stand up.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Right.

[Robbie Hoffman]

So I'm just going to do standup every day. The writing is on hold. The writing was a great supplement.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah. Who were you writing for?

[Robbie Hoffman]

Okay. I sold my own show. I was writing on many things. Working moms, I was getting.

[Mike Birbiglia]

You had a cult thing going on.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Well, I was getting into establishment writing, if you knew.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And then I could just stand up

[Robbie Hoffman]

every night and would be good. But now here's a night they're telling me, you're not working, you're going to this meeting. It's unpaid. It's a Q and A, though. Ask any questions. Throughout the day, I started to generate a curiosity. Okay. As my anger, I'm like, wow. Like, what a day of nothing. I'm bringing in $0 today by force. I could make money by the time I get to this meeting. I've printed the statements. There are financial statements. And there was a couple things that stood out to me. Just as a layman reading financial statements, you can go to any company now, print out three basic financial statements. Their income statement, their balance sheet, their cash flow.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Okay.

[Robbie Hoffman]

A lot popping up to me on these. When you hear of an Amazon factory striking, it means that that union has exhausted all litigious efforts. They've done everything. Not the Guild. The Guild throws us out first. We haven't even litigated yet. We're about to enter negotiations.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

And we're striking.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Right.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Striking should be a last resort. It's criminal, Robbie.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Don't yell at me.

[Robbie Hoffman]

No, because everything goes through you. And I know you have the connects at this level.

[Mike Birbiglia]

This is shocking.

[Robbie Hoffman]

And. And it was criminal. Yes. I was booed at first. The people were with me. They were like, why do we have like some people don't know like all this is going on.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Interesting point, I think.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yeah. Or why does some of the heads of these unions make like a ton of money and for membership dues. And there was so many things. Why do we have to report our income to payer? Just tell me what I owe you, bitch. Yeah, you know, you know what I made?

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

What are you like taxes now? The government? Guess what you made. Is it this? No jail. Like what? Yeah, just tell me if you have the stubs.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah, yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

We're artists. We're not.

[Mike Birbiglia]

So they were booing you.

[Robbie Hoffman]

So they were with me for a while. So then when I asked the guy,

[Mike Birbiglia]

he checked in on the iPad.

[Robbie Hoffman]

One of the guys who's speaking, the head of the union or head of something. I saw salary 2.1 million. Now that's a, that seems to be a volunteer position.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Are you serious?

[Robbie Hoffman]

For a non for profit.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Real.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yeah. And you know, 2.1 million. 2.1 million to run the guild. So this is what I asked, right. I never got the answer. I said, so it says here executive salaries that you've taken home 2.1 million. I just wanted to know is that, that's coming from membership? The revenue is called membership dues.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

So is that coming like what are we doing with this? That's when it went awry. When I asked him personally and he goes, we have been working tirelessly for three weeks. Three weeks or 2.1. I would do that.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah, yeah. I take that him saying three. Any of us would take that.

[Robbie Hoffman]

He should. For four years, every time he's renewed, he should be working day in and day out for 2.1 a year.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

And they should be litigating, you know, like the biggest. Sony and all these studios have Stanford, Harvard lawyers who had any, any tiny thing. They're litigating, they're suing. We should be revolving door in the courts.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Right.

[Robbie Hoffman]

We're beating them every. We just should have our 2.1 million. All of our money should just go to hiring the greatest lawyers ever. We should be going up against studio lawyers.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Studio lawyers are from Harvard, they're from Stanford. We got a has been writer who's negotiating for us. It's like, it's like bringing a knife to a gunfight. It's, it's so at this point it's bad. Okay. They have, they have booing you.

[Mike Birbiglia]

You're getting booed.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yeah. And what I should have said to this guy, I should have responded to that room in the way that they're used to being spoken to by that I was this guy after that said, you need to sit down. He tells me, so now I'm crying inside.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Whoa.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Okay. You need to sit down. Okay. My friend Carmen Christopher, shout out. He's with me. Very funny as well. He goes, rob, Rob, we gotta get you out of here. Okay. It's starting to boo. It's like 3,000 people. It's like. And by the way, it's a lot of people. By the way. I don't bomb on the road. Like, I'm not used to bombing. You know, people ask me, what's it like? I don't know what it's like. Yeah, now I know what it's like due to my peers at the wga.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Wow.

[Robbie Hoffman]

So I go. So he goes, you need to sit down. So I'm at this point like cry, you know, it's very intimidating and very scary. You know, it's as all those people booing. So I'm sitting down. But what I wish I had the strength for, but I was already done. Once you're crying inside, if somebody even asks you, how are you? You could cry, you know, even if it's a good question or like, you know, of course it's like, it's like it's going to come. So I have to. I sit. We leave. I should have said, you mean to tell me that a CIS white rich man, a CIS straight white rich man is going to tell a young queer woman to sit down when she has a question? Right, Right. They didn't even see the optic. Like they're so. About the language. No, I wish I had. See, that would have been huge.

[Mike Birbiglia]

That would have been huge.

[Robbie Hoffman]

And the dig was like, not that it's just. What I don't care is the point.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Right.

[Robbie Hoffman]

But they care about that stuff so much. It's kind of like. Yeah, like there's a democratic, like, thing that really bothers me. And I don't, I don't pick size in that way where it's like, well, you're going to get the pride parade, but you're not going to get health care. It's like, right, okay. Like, can we just.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah, you know, would be nice.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yeah. Like, you know what I mean? It's just like, it had that vibe.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

So that's. Yeah, I got, I got booed. I should have do you know. But then as time went on, it was just going nowhere with negotiations, with standstills People didn't know really what was going on. We were getting. It kept going. I started getting DMs. I started getting people like, hey, where did you find those statements? Or like, oh, wow. I started getting people like, oh, you had a point. Like, why aren't we litigating? Why do we have this writer from season nine of whatever going to the Lloyd. Why don't we have stand for Lloyd? We have the law money. We're one of the biggest unions.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Right.

[Robbie Hoffman]

What are. What are we doing? You know? And for so long, the union has just not. Because they didn't fight at every little thing.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Then it's like, by the time they get to the negotiations, like, we have the smallest ones. Like, they didn't. You know what I mean? It's like they sign bad deal after bad deal after bad deal.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Studios seeped in, seeped in, seeped in. Slow and steady to the point that, like, now what can we really change this or that Some. They can't give us major.

[Mike Birbiglia]

They've won. They've won big.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yeah, they've won big because we just weren't. We weren't. We should have just been litigate. Like, oh, they want to do this. We're here. Every small change, Katya. Boom. Fight that down. Hit that down. Hit that down. We didn't.

[Mike Birbiglia]

We waited till it's $1 million a year. You'd think that guy would be ugly.

[Robbie Hoffman]

You would think. And by the way, he no longer works there. And I'll tell you something else.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Good on you.

[Robbie Hoffman]

I'll tell you something, and I don't know what happened there, but I'll tell you something else. What's happening right now in the union. I don't know, the own employees, that the union employees are suing the union.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Oh, the union. In the Writers Guild. In the Writers Guild, yes.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Because they see what these guys are bringing home, and they're not bringing home the same. They're going, well, sharing this for embezzling. Let's all embezzle.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Right. Right.

[Robbie Hoffman]

So I stand with the employees at the wtf. So I'm gonna credit it all of this with. I don't know what I'm talking about.

[Mike Birbiglia]

All of this is. All of this I'm gonna just cite as something that John Mulaney agreed with.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yes. And then over. And then over time, people came back and people were like, wow, that was really bold. Or brave.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I think so. Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

It shouldn't be brave to, like, say, you know, I'm on our side. And, like, guys, I like. I'M here for the people, by the people of the people.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Of course. I'm not. This is our money.

[Mike Birbiglia]

That seems great. So then John, I think, saw you do that.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yes.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Thought it was funny.

[Robbie Hoffman]

I thought it would never work again.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Okay. And so then John reached out to you, and then the rest is history. Directed your special, took you on the road. I. I go on the road with him sometimes, and he talks about how much you kill, but then also, like, split the crowd in half sometimes. And he loves it.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yeah, I like to rough up his crowd. What I love about Mulaney and I is we're like an odd. You know, I was really taken aback when somebody like that is a. Likes me or gonna throw their weight behind me, because he is a buttoned up.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

You know, guard of comedy. Kind of, like, really classy. Like, I think he's, like, the classiest man I know. Probably.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

And then it's like I'm some, like, rat that he, you know, that he, like. I'm, like, surprised. Like, I feel like it is unbecoming for him to be in a room with somebody like me. But then at the same time, it really works. It's such a.

[Mike Birbiglia]

You're like an old Jewish couple, I feel.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yeah, it's really, really.

[Mike Birbiglia]

He's not Jewish, and you're estranged.

[Robbie Hoffman]

He's class all the way.

[Mike Birbiglia]

He's class all the way. Super generous, and it makes sense perfectly why he would love your comedy.

[Robbie Hoffman]

We both do have a polishedness about us, I think maybe his. It's funny. We both have both. Like, he seems polished, and then he has some real grit. See, this is a dichotomous individual that I like. I like somebody who's got both, for sure.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I think that you're. You're saying this really nice thing about John, that he's dichotomous. I think you're missing that. I am also dichotomous.

[Robbie Hoffman]

I don't know you, just like you didn't know me. I don't know you as well. We are getting to know each other, and I'm enjoying this.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Me too.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yeah, we're kind of like two cats, you know, like, oh, yeah, I know. That building's got a cat. I got a cat. And now the cats are, like, meeting at the gate, you know, there's like,

[Mike Birbiglia]

they know a cat in common.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yeah, yeah, they know some cats. Smelling him. He's smelling me.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I was really happy for you when I saw you pop up on hacks.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Oh, thank you.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I was just like, great. Robbie's hilarious. This is a score. This show's hilarious.

[Robbie Hoffman]

It was great.

[Mike Birbiglia]

You fit right in.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yeah, no, it was great. It was great.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Were you nervous when you showed it? I mean, you don't seem nervous ever. So, like. But like, how'd you feel when you

[Robbie Hoffman]

got hired for that with the hacks thing? What was nerve wracking about it? And this, I blame them is the process of getting the hacks thing because they called me. They wrote this part for me, obviously, but then I got to audition for it and so that's even. Let's say I didn't get it, right? Let's say you psych yourself out. You know, the pressure's too much. Whatever. All you have to do to tap it in and you missed it. Yeah, okay. It's even worse.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah, you auditioned for yourself, you didn't get it, then you have to kill yourself.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yeah, it's even worse. It's like, okay, if I had to audition to play Meryl Streep, cry, you know, okay, fine, like, you know, I didn't get it. They were looking for somebody around 72, you know, they thought they could, like, I'd be like, okay, you did what you could.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah, yeah, sure.

[Robbie Hoffman]

But if it's for you. And then I'm thinking, well, what if they cast for it?

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

First of all, anti Semitic. And second of all, it's like, am I getting a writing credit? Like, you told me you wrote it for me based on like, what's. Like, you can't, right?

[Mike Birbiglia]

What kind of AI bullshit is this?

[Robbie Hoffman]

What is going on? But thank God I dunked it. The fuckin. The funkin. I dunked it. The fuck.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I dunked it.

[Robbie Hoffman]

I got it.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

And I got the job to play a very similar variation. And that's what I do with all my characters. Somebody goes, oh, you know her and roosters. Yes. I'm doing Imagine Ben Stiller in different things. Okay. We are doing slightly different versions of us. I was a very sexual character and dying for people were like, oh, I didn't see you as I was. Well, there it is. There it is. So, yes, it's still going to be me, but I'm just going to be doing different roles.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I always say that to people. I go, if you. You've seen me in things, you want that to be in your movie.

[Robbie Hoffman]

It's like the same. Yeah, it's just real. It's really nice to play with different ver, you know, and hacks. I'm very eager. I'm a very eager, hardworking, very type a person. But Hax and Rob, my real life character, we have so much in common in that, like in the show. She wants to be a good assistant. She wants to make it, you know, she wants to keep this job. She wants to be in the industry and in real life. It was like my first acting. I wanted to get at it.

[Mike Birbiglia]

That's nice.

[Robbie Hoffman]

I want to keep on the show. Will they write me in more? So we kind of are. My character and me had a very similar thing going. I'm due well as an actor.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

You know, do that justice. Am I enough of the, you know, the eagerness and what they wanted to achieve that version of me and we, you know. And then in Rooster, I'm a very lazy at home grad student and that's another part of me that I can tap into. I can sit in a robe all day. I don't mind that.

[Mike Birbiglia]

You grew up in Queens?

[Robbie Hoffman]

No, originally from Crown Heights. Right here.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Oh, from Grand Heights. So you have a Hasidic family growing up?

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yes.

[Mike Birbiglia]

You're one of 10?

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yes.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And was it. Tell me what the level is? Because I see Hasidic people. I don't know, I think, I don't know any of them.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Them. No. They don't want to know you.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Right. I don't think they want to know me, but I see them. They live in Brooklyn.

[Robbie Hoffman]

That's fine.

[Mike Birbiglia]

But like, what is the level? Is it the outfits? Is it the walking behind people?

[Robbie Hoffman]

Like, what do you mean the level?

[Mike Birbiglia]

What are the, what are the conventions of Hasidic that your family was going by? That I, as a non Hasidic person.

[Robbie Hoffman]

What do you mean? What's conventions mean?

[Mike Birbiglia]

Like, like for example, the hats. I see the hats.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yes, they wore the hats.

[Mike Birbiglia]

What is the hats? What are the hats?

[Robbie Hoffman]

Beautiful hat.

[Mike Birbiglia]

But like, what is it from? I'm sorry to put you on the spot, but I just don't understand a

[Robbie Hoffman]

lot of these Hasidic communities and fact checkers get me wrong, because there are a lot of them, but for the most part they come from Eastern Europe, Russia, Poland, you know, and a lot of the sects names come from the people who originated them back in Eastern Europe. Turn of the century, turn of the last century, 1900, not, you know, 2000. And so I was born into the Labavic community, which is what you find in Crown Heist. Now that is more. If there's also Chabad, which is more of an outreach, it's a more what we would say a more casual. It's like a little more relaxed to You. It might look as insane, but to me, when I look at them, they seem more chill than what I was born into.

[Mike Birbiglia]

It's like a more reformed version of

[Robbie Hoffman]

it almost, but it's still, you know, it's still. They're still in the black hats and whatever.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Okay.

[Robbie Hoffman]

The hat and the yarmulke specifically. So the hat is more traditional based on the area. But the kippa is to always remind. It's to remind you of ego. That there's always something bigger than you.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Why'd you leave?

[Robbie Hoffman]

My mother left.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Your mother left? And did you. At the time, did you think, okay, this is a good idea.

[Robbie Hoffman]

We all wanted to get out. Yeah. Like, I mean, we left for a multitude of reasons. I mean, my father was extremely abusive. My parents had a terrible marriage due to his, you know, the way that he was. And that didn't exist. We knew some very good families who didn't have that, who had great fathers and great parents, but for the most part, yeah, my parents had 10 kids by 30. I think it's extremely reckless, and I think, you know, I think it's. Yeah, they're bound by. Yeah, it's a very oppressive. It can be very oppressive. And I think particularly of women, of course. And I would say that for most traditional religious communities in Judaism and beyond to other religions, I think most fundamentalists, sects of any religion, they're originate at times when women weren't.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah, they're bros before hoes, which is one of the names of my jokes on the wall. Bros before hoes.

[Robbie Hoffman]

That's. Yeah, that's how they would categorize it.

[Mike Birbiglia]

You're one of 10 siblings.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yes, I give short answers. Huh? I give short answers. Okay, got it.

[Mike Birbiglia]

How many kids is too many kids?

[Robbie Hoffman]

I'm having no kids.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Oh, you got no kids.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yeah. Gabby's my baby, I'm hers. That's why we're doing it.

[Mike Birbiglia]

That's your wife?

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yeah, that's my wife. 10 is a lot, but I'm seventh down the line.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Can you.

[Robbie Hoffman]

So it's tough to say.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Can you rank your siblings from funniest to least funny?

[Robbie Hoffman]

There's so many who are funny. I mean, I come from such a funny family, but, yeah, a bunch of them are funny. A bunch of them are funny. Chaya's really funny. Yehudis is really funny. I can't say this brother's name because he's like, I don't have people coming up to me. Nobody is coming up to you. You know, he acts like he's like the most Famous. He's like, I can't even go to work anymore. And. But he's very funny, as you can imagine. My brother Shmuley is so funny. I mean, I come from. We're very funny.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Joe, your wife is Gabby. What are the top three lessons your wife, Gabby has taught you, and what are the top three lessons you've taught Gabby?

[Robbie Hoffman]

These are hard questions because when you say top three or something, it's something that I'd have to take a long time to think about, or I would only be giving you things off top of my head. And then I'll be going home later and being like, you know what? That wasn't the top.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Let me rephrase.

[Robbie Hoffman]

I actually thought of this.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Okay.

[Robbie Hoffman]

You know, but it's like, what's the top I can think of now?

[Mike Birbiglia]

Let me rephrase.

[Robbie Hoffman]

It's like somebody asking my favorite color. I go, well, I like a lot of them now, because I'm not six.

[Mike Birbiglia]

No, you're right.

[Robbie Hoffman]

So it's hard to pick one. You know, one. What's your favorite movie?

[Mike Birbiglia]

Mabel's question.

[Robbie Hoffman]

I go, look, I like a lot of movies now. I'm at a point. I've had.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I've seen some point this to Mabel.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Mabel, top of the head right now. Brokeback Mountain. Best movie.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Okay, I'm gonna rephrase. Is there a thing in marriage that you feel like you've taught Gabby and a thing Gabby's taught you?

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yes, twofold. First of all, love being married.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

I really recommend it if you find the person that you really are excited to get married. Because I don't care. I didn't care otherwise, you know, I wasn't sure if I would get married or not get married, but it wasn't. But now I, meaning Gabby. I needed to be married to Gabby, and I just love that. Marriage to me, feels like a hack. You know, I used to come home and see, you know, a bunch of my brothers. I have five brothers. And, you know, and, yeah, they just. And I have a brother a year older than me. I have a brother two years older than me. I have a brother three years old than me and a brother a year younger. I'm really in this cluster of boys, which explains a lot. I used to look at them and

[Mike Birbiglia]

be like,

[Robbie Hoffman]

these fucking guys. Like, I can't even. I would tell my mother, like, ma, let's take a good picture of me. Throw me up for adoption, see if something comes up. Yeah, I could, you know, move to the city. I could. I feel like I could do well, because my brothers, I really hated them. And she would say things like. And we were violent, and they. You know, we all were. We were poor and living on top of each other, and it just wasn't good. And she would say, they're your brothers. They're your brothers. You know, you don't pick your family. You don't choose your family. I realized with marriage, you do.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

You get to. One time.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

One time, pick your family. And it's the best. I'm like, these fuckers don't. This is my family, man.

[Mike Birbiglia]

This is my family. This is the actual family.

[Robbie Hoffman]

So I. That is. That was a huge hack that I chose my family.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

And it's Gabby, and it feels unbelievable. So that's one thing. Something that I've taught her is I think Gabby always. Gabby doesn't like conflict at all. Like, she used to. Not like. Like, if she thought she would be worried that I'm mad at her or something, let's say. Right. Versus, like, I don't know. Like, it's. She would think that she grew up in a house and she'd have to speak to this and you'll have to have her on. But she grew up in a house where if she did bring something up, it was. She was in trouble, something was wrong.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Right.

[Robbie Hoffman]

And I was born into conflict. I was born where six of my siblings were already there. Three more were coming. I was. You know, we were living on top of each other. I always shared a room with multiple of my sisters. So let's say we had a fight.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

See, my sister and I were arguing over some. That bitch wore my shirt.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Okay. And now it's dirty. And now laundry's not. You know, Ma's not gonna wash this again. Who knows what it is?

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

It's not like I could just say, well, you. I'm going to my room. And you know. And close. We didn't. The. Is in my room.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Right.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Right. So we gotta go.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Conflict is present.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yeah. It's like. It's not like we could go to our own room. Bye. Bye. Not talking to you. It's like, well, we gotta sleep somehow. Like we're resolving this because lights. Like, I. I gotta sleep.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

We can't be in this tension.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah. There is something to that.

[Robbie Hoffman]

So I'm very good at, like, the dated. Like, and she would be like, think I was mad at her.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Like, let's say her. Her dog went outside.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Right outside the door. I said, maybe does. He's got to go by the door.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Can you go a couple feet? And she would be like, you know, but we. Now. She. She. Now it's like, I always.

[Mike Birbiglia]

At first she would think you're mad at her. Meanwhile, you're like, no, no, I just want the dog to move away.

[Robbie Hoffman]

But she would also then not tell me things.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Right.

[Robbie Hoffman]

She'd think it would make me mad at her if she told me something that I a bothered her or she thought maybe it would make me. It's just anything. She would think that if she brought me whatever she was thinking about our relationship, that I would be mad.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I relate to this.

[Robbie Hoffman]

So. But that's. But that was, like, so early on.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Um, but it's just so nice, like. Like, so that's something that I think I brought to her and something that she brought to me.

[Mike Birbiglia]

That's great. That's a good breakthrough. Was that after you married or before?

[Robbie Hoffman]

No, it was before. Like, this was in our first few months of dating. I noticed that, like, so many small. Like, we almost have nothing.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Like, now you're like, this is nothing.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yeah. Like, she was like, oh, my God. Like, you know, And I'm like, babe, we're gonna have a million of these things.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

In my head, I'm like, are you kidding? Gonna move in. There's gonna be millions of things. I'm not mad. You're not mad. We're figuring it out.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

You know, but she would not want to bring me her feelings sometimes because thinking I'm gonna be upset.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I guess I would unpack that.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Which, by the way, let's say I am upset. Let's say something uncomfortable. Okay. Who's expecting. It's like when somebody's offended by my comedy. Sometimes what you think to live a life of no offense.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Is that what we were doing?

[Robbie Hoffman]

Is that what we're.

[Mike Birbiglia]

A life of no offense.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Like, it doesn't make any sense. It's like, that's okay. It's okay that you're offended and it's okay that you're sad to unpack this

[Mike Birbiglia]

for people who might be listening to this and go, oh, my God, that's my marriage. What would be your advice to those people?

[Robbie Hoffman]

What do you mean? When they're like.

[Mike Birbiglia]

They're listening to this, they go, oh, my God. That's like me and my wife. That's like me and my husband, where the person thinks I'm mad at them all the time. What's the way to attack that? Because I feel like I. Jenny and I have dealt with that over the years too. Probably baked into our childhood in some way. But it's like, is there advice that's outward for people?

[Robbie Hoffman]

It just brings us so much. Well, no, like, I. I think. I think first of all, it's not the worst thing if you tell your partner something and it does upset them. You know what I mean? I think you have to say what you're feeling, and if it upsets them, okay, they're up. They can talk that out now too. But it just brings us so much closer, like, since having those few hiccups.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

And the. And what solved it for Gabby to give you this was. She was. Was the commitment was when we became girlfriend. Girlfriend. Even early on.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

She felt just so much safer. Then when we got engaged, like, everything married, she, like, doesn't have any fear, I think.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I think we had this too. It's so funny. I never believed in marriage until I got married. And then once we're married, I'm like, oh, yeah, this is easier, because the barrier of exit is much more extreme than it was previously.

[Robbie Hoffman]

But it's also. She knows I'm not going anywhere.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I mean, that's. That's what I mean. It's like, you're not going anywhere. And if you are, it's gonna be a whole thing.

[Robbie Hoffman]

But she. What we had. Yeah, we unpack our childhoods with each other. I mean, a healthy marriage, a healthy relationship can help you heal each other, heal yourselves. You know, you get your reflected. Yourself is reflected back to you through another partner. You can see your behavior. Because it's hard. It's hard from this vantage point. It's not objective at all. What does Gabby impart on me? See, I answer very pithy. I have pithy answers to everything. Gab, at the same time, is just. Has allowed me to care less about what other people think. She doesn't give a shit. Yeah, she doesn't give a shit about other people. What I mean by that is she won't do what she doesn't want to do. If she wants to stay home at 7, she's in bed. She's in bed. And I used to get kind of. Because I grew up without any connections or any pedigree. And then I'm navigating kind of this Hollywood elites thing. I. I'm thinking, like, oh, I should go to that thing, because I could meet Mike Birbiglia maybe. Mike Birbiglia.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I don't.

[Robbie Hoffman]

You know what I mean? No. Could help me in Hollywood, you know? And she.

[Mike Birbiglia]

That you're putting this on me.

[Robbie Hoffman]

And she doesn't like, think like, that she'll be like, I'm tired. I'm not going. Yeah, like, we'll get. You know what I mean?

[Mike Birbiglia]

That's a good quality.

[Robbie Hoffman]

And so I'm a lot more, like, I just trust in us a lot more. You know what I mean? Versus others. Because she just doesn't give a shit who you are, what you are. She just wants to sit in the corner, have a ciggy and go to bed.

[Mike Birbiglia]

How? Like, when I do shows, if I do, like, an edgy topic in a show, I'll often get, like, emails from people being like, hey, I prefer, you know about this, etc. Do you have that from your audience?

[Robbie Hoffman]

No, they know not to send me an email. Okay. I am not looking at this email. Okay. And you. And that's that. No, they know.

[Mike Birbiglia]

They just know.

[Robbie Hoffman]

No, if they're a fan of email, why is your email even there? I don't have an email. How's that?

[Mike Birbiglia]

Okay.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Okay. I know they don't. It's because maybe you set yourself up. I think when you set up, you know, when you're the Will Smiths, the Ellens, the Mike Birbiglas of the world. The problem is you purport this.

[Mike Birbiglia]

What was that grouping again?

[Robbie Hoffman]

This woke.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Who were those people?

[Robbie Hoffman]

Nothing wrong with it, too. Because I'm. I'm all these things too. But I'm saying if you just want

[Mike Birbiglia]

to unpack who those three people are. You said Will Smith.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yes.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And you said Ellen and then said Mike. Okay.

[Robbie Hoffman]

I just want to understand when you have. Or maybe this was painted for you, or maybe you set it up like you're, like a good guy is what I mean.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Right.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Okay. Will Smith's a good guy.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Right?

[Robbie Hoffman]

Good guy. Was a good guy. Promotes being a good guy. Ellen, she is kind. She's out there dancing, okay? You can't beat the dancing. Okay? Nothing kinder than dancing through her audience. Okay? And so maybe you're like, oh, mister. Like, I'm Mr. Ally, I'm Mr. You know, I love everybody. So then people hold you to that standard.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Right?

[Robbie Hoffman]

Right. So then when Will Smith slaps a bitch out on stage while we're going,

[Mike Birbiglia]

wait a minute, the shit shatters, okay?

[Robbie Hoffman]

When. When Ellen, you know, waterboards her employees, you go, holy shit. You go, holy shit. The world crumbles. See, I don't come at it. I have never purported to be the nicest person alive. In fact, if you see me, do not say hello.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Do not say hello. Okay, I get it.

[Robbie Hoffman]

You know, I come off rough. Around the edges, I am aggressive. I'm not approachable. I don't think anybody thinks sending me an email is gonna go well, you know, so they don't do it because they're absolutely. They're wise to it. That said, it will come out one day that I'm kind. You wait and see. Because even though I'm rough around the

[Mike Birbiglia]

edges, that'll be a good scoop.

[Robbie Hoffman]

I'm actually a fucking delight to work with. Was it I come in here? Nice.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah, you were nice. Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

So, you know, I'd rather that. So I would say for you. Don't even email Mike. He's done with your emails. Start it now. Okay.

[Mike Birbiglia]

All right, here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna create a clip of you saying that. So maybe say that to camera here.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Did you answer these emails?

[Mike Birbiglia]

No. Here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna make a clip of it and then I'm gonna send them the link.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Do not send Mike an email. He's done with your emails.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Why am I done with that?

[Robbie Hoffman]

You had a good run. You had a good run where he would write them back and he felt bad. He said some shit. Those days are over. He has since met Robbie Hoffman and it is a new dawn.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Thanks for doing that. The.

[Robbie Hoffman]

That said, follow Robbie Hoffman on Instagram. Too far, Patreon. Only my podcast.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Oh, Jesus. Support for working it out comes from Mint Mobile. When people hear that Mint Mobile plans are only $15 a month, a lot of people wonder, what's the catch? Certainly I did. I can tell you from firsthand experience, there isn't a catch. No gimmicks, no gotchas. Just unlimited talk, text and data, fast, reliable coverage on the nation's largest 5G network, and an award winning care team. I guess that makes Mint Mobile a catch. Aha. You got me. After years of overpaying for wireless, I finally got fed up with crazy high wireless bills, bogus fees, and free perks that actually cost more in the long run. And I switched to Mint Mobile to get your new wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month. Go to mintmobile.com burbigs that's mintmobile.com biggs. Cut your wireless bill to 15 bucks a month at mintmobile.com bigs that's it. No catch. 45 upfront payment required. Equivalent to 15 bucks a month. New customers on first three month plan only. Speed slower above 40 gigabytes on unlimited plan. Additional taxes, fees and restrictions apply. See Mint Mobile for details. Someone should get hired for voiceovers, Working it out supported by Rula let's talk about therapy for a second. We talk about therapy all the time on the show. I talked about it with Gary Goleman with Sarah Sherman. That was a good episode where we talked about her face. I've been in therapy for a long time. Some people in the comment section of my YouTube say too long, but I've been for 25 years. Anyway, we talk about a lot. I know firsthand. Sometimes navigating mental health care can be challenging. Here's the thing about Rula. Rula helps to make that part easier. Rula works with major insurance plans. Sessions can cost as little as $15 and in some case, $0, depending on what your benefits are. Rula isn't just a directory. They help book appointments. They stay on top of your schedule. And Rula sticks with you throughout your journey, checking in to make sure your care is actually helping you move forward. Thousands of people have already used Rula to finally get the care they needed. Don't keep putting it off. Go to rula.compurbigs and get started today. That's R U L A.com bigs take the first step. Get connected. Take control of your mental health. Support for working now comes from Warby Parker. It's summertime. Do you need sunglasses? Check out Warby Parker.

[Robbie Hoffman]

I knew it.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I knew it. Great selection of sunglasses. Prescription glasses start at just $95. Am I reading this correctly? That's for the frame and the lenses. I know you're probably thinking, what's the catch? Are $95 glasses any good? Have you ever looked through a Warby Parker window when you're walking around your neighborhood? They look amazing. Warby Parker has an amazing virtual try on. You can try their glasses on in the comfort of your own home. It's actually wild how well the virtual try on works. You can do it any time of day. Let's say it's 3am you can't sleep because you're stressed out about getting new glasses. Try them on right at 3am right in your apartment right now. Buy one pair of glasses and get 20 off. Any additional pairs at warbyparker.com forbigs that's 20 off. Any additional pairs? When you purchase one pair at W A R B Y P A R-K-E-R.com for Biggs warbyparker.com for Biggs. I think we're gonna go to Material. I have a question. Do you have new material you're working on? Sometimes we Work out ideas for premises. Half premises.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Oh, I have tons because I just went on tour.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

One of the premises I really want to work on is. I think AI is autistic. Like, the bitch is off. Like, I can't. Like, I'm trying to work on this thing that's like, like nothing wrong. Also nothing wrong. As somebody who's been accused myself, like, nothing wrong. But it's like, she's cool sometimes. It's like, sometimes I'm like, are you okay? Like, you know what I mean? Like, some of my answers, I'm like, yeah, okay, I see what you're saying. But like, oh, she's okay. You know, I'm going to tell her this.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah, that's that, you know, on the spectrum.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yeah, AI is for sure on the spectrum. And then. And I think she's on the spectrum because I think, well, who's inventing her? We got guys like Elon Musk and Sam Altman.

[Mike Birbiglia]

That's right.

[Robbie Hoffman]

We got the most autistic on the planet.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Right.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Who are at the base of her.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Right, right.

[Robbie Hoffman]

And so now all of our AI is going to be autistic. Like.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Right.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Autistic's going to be the main way, the standard.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Right, right.

[Robbie Hoffman]

It's. It's going to be way bigger disaster, social, socially speaking, than we realize. I think people know, like, people know the, the, the. The economic, you know, fallout from this and all that. But I think socially, you're going to be at the bar with a bunch of autistic robots.

[Mike Birbiglia]

All the, the vibe of that. It's like, I'm always just like, hey, you guys, I'm impressed by the AI, but when's cancer again?

[Robbie Hoffman]

No, exactly.

[Mike Birbiglia]

When's the. When's the cure for anything?

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yeah. By the way, we ever very. Cures. We're getting very good cures for a lot of stuff.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Oh, are we? Yeah, that is true.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Well, you could die of AIDS 10 years ago. Look at you.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Well, that's true. No, that's true. But I don't think that's because of AI.

[Robbie Hoffman]

No, no. I'm just saying. But we've had, like, who thought that AIDS would be curable. When I was a kid, we would like, scare each other with aids.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Unbelievable. That's a good bit, though.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yeah. I think that. Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Have you done on stage the. The AI on the spectrum?

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yeah. So I just did. AIs on the spectrum, but I haven't worked out. I'm still gonna. I'm gonna start talking about why. I think now it's because of like these guys are on. And by the way, nothing wrong, but I just think, no, like, you know, it's kind of like who wrote history? Right. I had this debate with this guy years ago, friend David in Toronto, and I was telling him I was doubting history. You're talking about things I didn't believe.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah, sure.

[Robbie Hoffman]

And I was like, well, who wrote the actual books of history? It's probably white men who, like, you know, you don't have, like, had an agenda. Black historians, you don't have. Female historians, certainly.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Like, like, so who wrote the actual story down?

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

So it started doubting it. That's like what we're doing with AI. Who's writing the AI?

[Mike Birbiglia]

A hundred percent.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Like, so that's what it's going to be. It's like who puts it down on paper.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Is an important part because it means whoever's not part of that process is not reflected in the process.

[Mike Birbiglia]

No. A hundred percent.

[Robbie Hoffman]

So I think socially speaking, forget economically. Sure. But your chill is also nothing wrong. Like just you're hanging out. Like, sure, your job may be.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

You know, and all this stuff. But also it may be is like hanging out with all these AI robots. Which by the way, if you're already autistic and you like that, fantastic.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Good for you.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yeah, but

[Mike Birbiglia]

yeah, that's a good bit.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yeah, I'll work that out.

[Mike Birbiglia]

That's a, that's a bit that, for example, I would get emails about. But you would not get emails about.

[Robbie Hoffman]

What would they say?

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah, they would just go like, well, it's not, it's not nice to joke about autism, etc, And I would just go, no, no, I'm not joking of it. I'm. I'm joking about a thing that is a real thing.

[Robbie Hoffman]

But also it's like, it's kind of like when people weren't joking, like, well, you can't make fun of they. Them. This is like, what are we the most. First of all, it's like, is it the most. It's the one. Not like, it's like, okay, so do we want to be considered equals or not? Everybody's getting it.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Autistic people like autistic comedy.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Just like I want, you know, people yell at me for being a dyke. Whatever it is. Okay. Yeah, it is what it is. And I might be both, by the way, people, you know, now that people, when people put me on the spectrum, I consider that my territory until proven otherwise.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Wait, what's your. Wait, you talked about in the special. But what's your where do you stand on they. Them?

[Robbie Hoffman]

You go, I joke about it.

[Mike Birbiglia]

You go, she. Right.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yeah. Because it was too annoying. I'm already Jewish. How much more annoying could I be?

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

If I did they. Them. I don't. I don't actually care. People go, well, you're so respectful in life. Like, you know, I have some. I have, you know, trans fans, and I have a. And I go, you don't actually care. I just think it's annoying. It's not illegal to be annoying. Yeah, it's annoying, and we'll do it.

[Mike Birbiglia]

It's annoying and we'll do it.

[Robbie Hoffman]

It's like, fine.

[Mike Birbiglia]

It's annoying and we'll do it.

[Robbie Hoffman]

It's fine.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

It's another thing on the plane. Actually, do you have. Actually, do you have. Do you have the cutlery? My box didn't come with it. And they go, it's annoying, but we'll go get you. So What?

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

What is so wrong? It's like, when people don't want to be offended, people don't want to be hurt. I told Gabby in our relationship, I'm going to be hurt.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Sometimes you will hurt me.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

And that is okay. You're not intentional. Yes. But unintentionally being hurt. Because you're saying, like, we will hurt each other. We don't want to, but it is a reality. We love each other and care for each other so much, we're gonna have hurt feelings. I don't.

[Mike Birbiglia]

But where it gets weird is when people are malicious.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yes.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And then they go, no, I'm not calling you that.

[Robbie Hoffman]

No, we're all joking on it.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

We're all in on it. And

[Mike Birbiglia]

there is that, by the way. There is the malicious version.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yeah. There's the malicious version, by the way.

[Mike Birbiglia]

That's where it gets muddy, I think.

[Robbie Hoffman]

And there's people who are allowed to be mad at me, too.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah, for sure.

[Robbie Hoffman]

It's. It's like, people can be mad at me, too. It's. It's. That's okay.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Like. Like, it's kind of like, you know, a few years ago, Chappelle was saying something like, you can't say anything anymore. You know, you can't say bitch. You can say whatever you want.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Of course you can.

[Robbie Hoffman]

You are.

[Mike Birbiglia]

You are.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Right now we're watching you on the thing where people can say stuff to you, too. So that's it. You can say what you want and other people can have a response. You have to know that. It's not like you can't say anything you can at your own risk. Yeah, you can do whatever you want at your own risk. You can kill someone if you want, but expect to face a trial. Yeah, you might be on trial for that. You might get away with it. And most murders are unsolved. This is a fact that really it actually is much easier to kill someone. Quite a turn than you realize. I didn't realize that. You know, you can just. Most drive bys, you could just drive, kill somebody, move on with your life.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Gary's thinking about it.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Oh, This is a thing that I feel like you would. I wrote down that. That I feel like you would be also annoyed by, which is sometimes you go to a vending machine, you click D6 or whatever and it like spins the Gatorade around, you know, Especially if

[Robbie Hoffman]

it's like a soft drink.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah. Does a little dance now. And I'm just like, you could just have it, not do that and be 50 cents less. I don't need the dance.

[Robbie Hoffman]

But where are you going? To these vending machines. You're still at the Greyhound stops. Where are you? That really got Mabel? Is he at the Grand?

[Mike Birbiglia]

No, no. This is very on brand. I'm at swim meets. I wrote that down. At the swim meet, my daughter's swim meet the other day. Oh, yeah, because we're at like high schools and colleges with. With pools.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yeah, because the vending machine has been. It's been a minute.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And then I wrote this down as a possible.

[Robbie Hoffman]

I mean, we're in a brown, so we're in a beautiful. You know, I. I don't think Mike were bigly at the. At the vending machine with the Doritos in the Gatorade. My God. Jesus.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Okay. And then I wrote. That's why. That's why I don't over perform my jokes. I don't want to be the vending machine that's doing a little dance. I just want to give you Gatorade at a fair price.

[Robbie Hoffman]

I don't. This vending machine.

[Mike Birbiglia]

You're not into it?

[Robbie Hoffman]

No, because it's not my world. Because it's. Yes. I don't know if enough people know it does the dents. Because we're not at the vending machine.

[Mike Birbiglia]

That's interesting.

[Robbie Hoffman]

We're not at the vending machine a tremendous amount anymore.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Oh, that's interesting.

[Robbie Hoffman]

If I'm at a vending machine, it is bleak. Like my grandmother's in the hospital. Like I'm trying to think like I'm Greyhound.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Here's what I'll say.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Like I'm not like the least of my problems is the vending machine.

[Mike Birbiglia]

This is good feedback.

[Robbie Hoffman]

You know what I mean?

[Mike Birbiglia]

This is good feedback because. Because this is just making me go because I have a bit about my daughter being a swim meets, and. And how miserable it is because you basically have to watch other people's kids swim for four hours, and then you watch your daughter swim for 90 seconds.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Why do you have to go to the swim meet?

[Mike Birbiglia]

Well, when you have a child, you go to their events.

[Robbie Hoffman]

You know what I mean?

[Mike Birbiglia]

You go to their swim meet.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Nobody ever came to see me.

[Mike Birbiglia]

This is the kind of thing that parents.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Okay, that. That's a good thing.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I'm really teaching you a lot.

[Robbie Hoffman]

No, it's amazing because I think you're an amazing dad, and I actually think that that's great. But it reminds me of when Gnome came to watch me at the Cellar. So I killed at the Cellar when I started. Like, I started doing the Cellar, really having fun, and then esti and Gnome wanted to watch me.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

But I've never been watched my whole life. Nobody came to a recital. Nobody came to anything interesting. I'm not in the mood to be watched all of a sudden by somebody. And it really threw me off that he watched.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

And I. But then over the years, I've started. I had to tell myself, you've got to get comfortable people watching you. I got to get to be like Tiger woods, which doesn't matter, Right. How many people are around him. He's got to make this putt this, whatever. All he has to do is tap it in. It's. That's not the hard part. It's a. Everybody is watching. I got to be able to do it alone. I got to be able to do it stadium. I got to be able to lock in no matter what. And so I think it's very good that she's gonna get used to people watching her and the judgment of it, because that is part of so many things that you. It might not be part of a world, but if it does, if she does enter something where that is part of it, that muscle will have been developed.

[Mike Birbiglia]

The thing that's helpful in the feedback. A lot of times on the show, it's like, a joke will work, a joke won't work, or you'll learn something about a joke that. Oh, the next time, I'll put it with this, which is. I'll put it with the swim meet thing and the vending machine so that people have a context of why the hell I'm using A vending machine?

[Robbie Hoffman]

Because now I have the full narrative.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Oh, the vending machine is a mahaya. It's the light of this. Of this swim meet.

[Mike Birbiglia]

That's right.

[Robbie Hoffman]

If you're at the swim meet and you're like, oh, maybe I'll get a snack. If they have a vending machine, thank God. Because the swim meet is so boring, and swimming seems like the most boring.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Oh, it's so boring. Except when your daughter swims and then it's amazing. You're like, oh, this is the best.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yeah. But you know what? They should have, like, set lists, like, comedy. Like, when is she up?

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah. So the final thing we do is working out for a cause. And if you have a nonprofit you like to contribute to, we will contribute.

[Robbie Hoffman]

We give money to Mexicans on my podcast.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Okay.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Okay. We're doing this. We're running the not too far 1K. Are you in LA for the Netflix fest?

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yep.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Well, we're doing a 1K. I don't know when this comes out. May 10th, the Sunday.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Okay.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Okay. It's called the not too far 1k.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Not too far 1k.

[Robbie Hoffman]

We're gonna be running about 1km.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I would do it if I were there.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Okay. And we're gonna be raising money. Pay what you can. And money goes to Mexicans. What we mean by that is we don't take. Take IDs, we don't look at papers. If you are Mexican, come up to the table after and say you'd like some money. We're gonna give it to you.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And just. We've been doing that a little bit. If you're Mexican.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

You just get money at the 1K.

[Robbie Hoffman]

That's it.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Okay.

[Robbie Hoffman]

We just give cash.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Mexican, American or Mexican, I don't care.

[Robbie Hoffman]

I don't check anything.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Either.

[Robbie Hoffman]

One. I don't care. We do it based on. You tell me. I don't care.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Is it because. I mean, I could get.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Because of ice.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Oh, because of ice. Right, right. Because ICE doesn't discriminate, actually. Weirdly. Or in their discrimination. They don't discriminate. They don't look at.

[Robbie Hoffman]

I'm not looking at papers.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Right. They don't care.

[Robbie Hoffman]

They don't care.

[Mike Birbiglia]

They're just barging into any.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Right, right.

[Mike Birbiglia]

So you're just like, I'd like to

[Robbie Hoffman]

not care for a positive.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Right. It's like your way of saying, like, hey, this is insane what ICE is doing. We're just gonna give away money.

[Robbie Hoffman]

We give away money. Yeah, yeah. It's. It's on my Patreon.

[Mike Birbiglia]

The Too Far podcast.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Patreon.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Patreon. And also people can just find it on your Instagram.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Yes, that's correct too.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Robbie Hoffman on Instagram. Robbie, I think this is a. The beginning of a long, really friendship? I think so. Yeah.

[Robbie Hoffman]

I think so.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I feel like we have a lot in common.

[Robbie Hoffman]

What do you think we have in common?

[Mike Birbiglia]

I think we both like shooting from the hip.

[Robbie Hoffman]

The hip?

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah, you ever heard of that?

[Robbie Hoffman]

No.

[Mike Birbiglia]

It's an expression. Shoot from the hip.

[Robbie Hoffman]

What does that mean?

[Mike Birbiglia]

It just means tell your own truth. Speak your own truth.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Well, I think there's only one truth.

[Mike Birbiglia]

There's not only one truth.

[Robbie Hoffman]

Okay, thank you so much.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Working it out. Cause it's not done. Working it out. That's gonna do it for another episode of what? Working it out. You can follow Robbie Hoffman at Robbie Hoffman on Instagram. Her special Wake up is directed by John Mulaney. It's on Netflix Now. Listen to her podcast Too Far. That's on patreon. Check out birdbigs.com to sign up for the mailing list. Go sign up for text message alerts. Our producers are myself, along with Peter Salamone, Joseph Birbiglia, Mabel Lewis and Gary Simons. Sound mixed by Ben Cruz supervising. And Genesis here, Kate Balinsky. Special thanks as always to Jack Antonoff and Bleachers for their music. That episode with Jack has been so great response. I actually, I have to tell you, I felt really self conscious sharing my song, remember Pizza on the episode because it's so not done, you know. And then he came in with those chords and he had a bridge and he had all these things that I to tell you. Like some people have asked like, did he know the song before? He's like, no, no. That's literally what he does. He's able to just create original music in real time in this way that I find magical. So we always thank Jack Antonov and Bleachers for the music. Oh, and Bleachers for their questions for Jack. Some really good bunch of questions for Jack Antonoff. Special thanks as always to my wife, the poet J. Hope Stein, the author of Little Appetite Astronaut, and our daughter Una, who built the original radio fort made of pillows. Thanks most of all to you who are listening. If you enjoy this podcast, rate us and reviews on Apple Podcasts at this point, almost 5,000 user reviews. It really helps. It helps people go, oh, that's a podcast that exists. People listen to that without, you know, without the user reviews. I think what happens, people skim through because there's just so many darn podcasts. And we. We put a lot of care into this thing and we love it. And we. And we. We water it and we put it in front of the sun so you'll listen to it if that metaphor falls apart at the end. But we're gonna have. We're gonna keep it in. Keep it in. Thanks. Most of all, you are listening. Tell your friends, tell your enemies, tell the head of your union, whatever union that might be. Next time you're at a meeting, maybe things get a little heated. Just go, hey, calm down. Take a breath. Maybe we should all take a break and listen to this podcast. Mike Birbigli is Working It Out. It's where Mike Birbigli works out jokes and talks about the creative process with other comedians and writers. So motion to listen to. Mike Birbigli is Working It Out. Motion passes. Thanks, everybody. We're working it out. We'll see you next time.