218. Jane Wickline and Liva Pierce Return: Comedy Duo Therapy

Summary

Mike Birbiglia's Working It Out

Episode 218: Jane Wickline and Leva Pierce Return: Comedy Duo Therapy

Release Date: July 13, 2026
Guests: Jane Wickline & Leva Pierce (Dukes)

Episode Overview

This episode reunites Mike Birbiglia with musical comedy duo Jane Wickline and Leva Pierce, known as Dukes, for a candid, hilarious, and disarmingly personal discussion about the joys and pains of creative collaboration, the existential anxieties of making comedy, and the realities of life as a working performer. The duo shares new untested songs live, explores their duo dynamic (“comedy duo therapy”), and helps Mike "work out" his own comedy bits into possible songs. The episode is filled with genuine moments, inside stories, and creative process insights.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Evolution and Challenges of Dukes’ Show

• Venue and Growth:

  • The Dukes’ new run is at Soho Playhouse, NY (00:42).
  • Their show’s progression: UCB -> Joe’s Pub -> Soho Playhouse.
  • This latest version is their most ambitious: “the biggest lift” and closest to a full musical, with a cohesive narrative and their first professional set design. (04:40–05:29)

• Artistic Pain and Growth:

  • Leva: “This is the hardest one...this one’s killing us. Most pain I’m being crushed under.” (04:48)

• Creative Choices:

  • Emphasis on narrative; jokes “cut” for narrative flow:
    • Jane: “We don’t want to offend anyone, so we removed all nouns.” (05:59)

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2. Comedy Duo Therapy: Navigating Collaboration & Emotions (06:11–12:23)

• Unpredictable Rehearsal Dynamics:

  • “The stress of showing up to rehearsal, being like, what’s this other person gonna be like today?” – Mike (06:11)
  • It's “never the same,” and “never in a good mood at the same time.” (06:28)
  • Jane: “It’s very parent-child on a loop, and we switch so no one ever has too much of the burden.” (07:30)

• Emotions Wheel Practice:

  • To communicate feelings at the start of rehearsals, they use an “emotions wheel”—a massive chart of ~400 feelings.
    • Jane: “I choose powerless a lot when I’m writing because I come up against my limits.” (08:54)
    • Mike: “Where are you on this wheel today?” – “Powerless.” (09:04–10:06)
    • Notably humorous: some labels aren’t even emotions—e.g., “perceptive.”

• Interpersonal Dynamics with Directors:

  • The team is entwined: Leva’s boyfriend (Henry) is co-director/roommate; Mabel, producer, is Leva’s best friend.
  • “There’s all these different relationships…there’s no exits, no escape.” – Leva (11:45)
  • Jane: “It really makes me understand Fleetwood Mac and many of the greats.” (11:47)

• Balancing Other Work (SNL UK):

  • Jane: “Do you feel like there’s things you can do in Dukes that don’t fit on SNL?”
  • Leva: “Yeah...sometimes I have ideas and think, ‘they’ll hate this, but that might be a little dookie.’” (12:13)

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3. Existential Tension of Creative Work (13:07–16:53)

• Gift-Giving and Constructive Criticism:

  • In-jokes about opening-night gifts that double as feedback (“Victorian manners handbook,” “duplicate closet”). (12:40–13:21)

• Anxiety, Stakes, and Meaning:

  • Leva: “I feel like I forget that it’s not life or death, and then I act like it is, and then I create a problem for the whole group.” (13:43)
  • Mike: “If it doesn’t work, then who am I?” – (13:57)
  • Jane: “You just spend so much time on something, it has to mean something...there’s always this existential kind of fog.” (14:40)

• Value of Live Performance:

  • Mike: “It doesn’t mean anything beyond, like, what happens in the room with the audience, and then what happens with each other.” (15:14)
  • Leva & Jane recall being “reminded” of this during a show, when all anxiety faded during performance (15:43)

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4. Coping & Reset Strategies (16:53–18:28)

• Emotional Reset Button:
  • “Sometimes the reset button is someone bursts into tears and then we say it’s time to reset.” – Jane (16:59)
  • They have a “five minutes” code: “If you’re right about to cry, you say ‘five minutes’ and you go away.” (17:09)
  • Mike: “It’s the great race in life to say five minutes before the crying starts.” (17:37)
  • Parallels to SNL’s intense, crowded environment with no privacy. (18:14)

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5. Comedy Duo Therapy: Compliments and Roasts (18:32–22:40)

• “Nice Thing/Mean Thing” Exchange:

  • Leva: “When you get silly, it’s one of my favorite things…it reminds me why writing is so much fun.” (18:48)
  • Jane: “Best is when you feel like kids…like sleepover.” (19:20)
  • Mike: “All good comedy is middle school sleepover.” (19:47)
  • Jane: “Jane is truly, like, sweet to your core…and you just care so much.” (21:21)

• Uncle Duke Moniker:

  • Mike learns Dukes call him “Uncle Duke” due to his role as supportive mentor-figure and “uncle-aged.” (21:49–22:21)
  • Jane: “The fact that you have come again and again is just like…means the world to us.” (22:21)

• Unfulfilled Invitations:

  • Lin-Manuel Miranda is their unattained “white whale,” who they once approached with “a crazy, delusional paragraph.” (22:45–23:01)

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Featured New Material: Songs & Song-Creation

1. “Blue Dimension” (27:58–32:24)

• Summary:
  A wryly existential song about throwing a phone into the Hudson to escape digital dependency, only to find the analog world is daunting and absurd (“Fools are rotten online, while I’m living real life asking bus drivers how to mail a letter.”).
• Quotes:
  • Leva (singing): “My screen time was 11 hours per day, I said, fuck that, time to throw my phone off this bridge.” (28:14)
  • “Everybody’s staring at the tiny box of light / Like a zombie moth / The box takes your soul to somewhere / but you know it is the Blue Dimension.” (29:26)
• Concept Explanation:
  • Blue Dimension = the dissociative, numbing state of smartphone absorption.
  • The phone fills basic needs but drains a sense of presence and reality.
• Mike: “My act of revolution is waking up and not putting my phone on for 20 minutes. That’s me being like, I’m free.” (32:39)
• Literary Link: Mike shares his wife J. Hope Stein’s poem “Prank Calls from Fish,” inspired by a phone lost in the Hudson. (33:42)

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2. Song Workshop: “Life Is Like a Movie” (34:22–39:39)

• Premise:
  Mike proposes lyrics about life resembling different movie genres; Dukes riff them into a song.
• Sample lyric:
  • “Sometimes life is like a movie, your friend dies and it’s crushing, but then you think, well, I guess he wasn’t the protagonist.” (35:13)
• They workshop: chorus, bridges, and genre gags:
  • Jane/Leva: “Sometimes life is like a thriller with very low stakes. Will the pizza arrive in 30 minutes?”
  • Jane: “Life is like a movie that’s too funny to be true and too sad to watch again.” (38:17)
• Takeaway: They explore how to convert a joke or bit into a song, with playfully meta results and suggestions for refining the chorus and theme.

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3. “Work Song” (40:50–45:07)

• Plot:
  Satirical take on modern office life, customer service hell, dull tasks, and existential malaise.
• Sample lyrics:
  • “I hate my job so bad…This is not my path…I lose this and life gets impossible…I picture my own death often, at least I’m safe inside this coffin.” (41:43–44:26)
  • Mike: “My new favorite Dukes song…when you see a great sketch or movie and you’re like, I don’t know if that’s their life, but it’s somebody’s life.” (44:26)
• The group brainstorms a possible “dreaming-of-a-better-life” bridge: “What is your true passion?” (45:13)

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Collaboration:

  • Jane: “We probably spend eight hours together every day.” (07:45)
  • “It’s more like one of us is a baby that day…It’s very parent-child on a loop, and we switch.” (07:04–07:30)

• On Anxiety and Stakes:

  • Mike: “Mounting a show…does sometimes feel existential, even though it isn’t existential, because you’re like, well, if it doesn’t work, then who am I?” (13:57)
  • Jane: “There’s always an existential kind of fog…years go by you spend on a project.” (14:40)

• On Emotional Safety:

  • “Five minutes” code for breakdowns. (17:09)
  • Mike: “It’s the great race in life to say ‘five minutes’ before the crying starts.” (17:37)

• On the Creative Process:

  • Mike: “All good comedy is middle school sleepover.” (19:47)
  • Jane: “You want the cleanness of the genre…you want your life to have a hero’s journey…but you will never have that.” (40:10)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 03:50 — Introduction of Dukes, new show details.
• 04:40–05:29 — The new show’s evolution and artistic process.
• 06:11–12:23 — How being a duo impacts their work and emotional coping.
• 13:07–16:53 — Existential creative anxiety and why performing live matters.
• 17:09–18:28 — Reset strategies: emotional safety in rehearsals.
• 18:32–22:40 — Heartfelt (and funny) “compliments/roasts” and “Uncle Duke.”
• 27:58–32:24 — “Blue Dimension”: performing & discussing phone addiction song.
• 34:22–39:39 — Live songwriting: “Life Is Like a Movie.”
• 40:50–45:07 — “Work Song”: a new anthem for modern dread.
• 46:29 — Non-profit shout-out: Survived & Punished

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Causes Mentioned

• Survived and Punished New York — Grassroots prison abolition organization for freeing survivors of gender violence.
  • survivedandpunished.org (46:33)

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Summary Tone & Final Impressions

The episode is warm, earnest, open-hearted, and self-deprecating, balancing sharp creative humor with meditations on artistic anxiety and the value of working with (and caring for) others in a high-pressure world. It offers rare insight into how collaborative comedy gets made, how creative partnerships survive the daily grind, and how laughter emerges from mutual vulnerability.

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Notable Quotes:

• Mike: “It’s the great race in life to say five minutes before the crying starts.” (17:37)
• Jane: “Jane is truly, like, sweet to your core…and you just care so much.” (21:21)
• Leva (singing): “Everybody’s staring at the tiny box of light / Like a zombie moth—the box takes your soul to somewhere / but you know it is the Blue Dimension.” (29:26)
• Mike: “All good comedy is middle school sleepover.” (19:47)
• Jane: “You want the cleanness of the genre…your life to have a hero’s journey—but you will never have that.” (40:10)

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Useful for:
Anyone interested in the creative process, fans of comedy/music hybrids, those who stress over collaborative work, or anyone curious about how art and anxiety intertwine behind the scenes. Offers both serious reflection and plenty of fun.

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Transcript

[Mike Birbiglia]

Who hasn't come to the show? Who you invited?

[Leva Pierce]

Leva?

[Jane Wickline]

We invited Lin Manuel Miranda.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Okay.

[Jane Wickline]

Via Instagram. Dm.

[Leva Pierce]

Such a crazy, delusional paragraph. We wrote it together.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Well, he was a fan of yours even, like years ago when you were in college and did that musical theater parody thing like on Twitter.

[Jane Wickline]

Yes, he saw that. And actually we talked to him at one of the after parties and we went up to him and kind of were both had a cocktail in our

[Leva Pierce]

hand and we're like, we love you. We're obsessed with you. We're writing songs and you're writing songs

[Jane Wickline]

and you mean everything to us.

[Leva Pierce]

And then he was kind of like,

[Jane Wickline]

okay, thank you so much.

[Mike Birbiglia]

How many people come up to Lynn Miranda and go, we're writing songs, you're writing song. Hey, everybody, it's Mike Birbiglia. This is working it out. Those are the voices of Jane Wickline and Leva Pierce. Back again. They are a comedy musical duo called Dukes. They have a show right now that is awesome at Soho Playhouse. I've seen it, I think three times. I'm gonna go for the fourth time. If you're anywhere near New York City or for that matter, Montreal this summer, they're gonna be on my show there in Montreal that I'm hosting for the festival. But in New York City, they're doing a whole run of shows at the Soho Playhouse, which is a great little playhouse where I saw Hannah Gadsby's solo show, among others. Their show is, quote, two friends and one piano, One dream and two fools, two geniuses and one huge mistake. Dukes is a two person musical comedy show about desire, lust and dreams from Sarant Live cast member Jane Wickline and comedian Leva Pierce. I love the show. I highly recommend it. Like I said, I'll be in Montreal. If you're in Montreal this month, I'll be at the Just for Laughs festival. Then I'll be in Nantucket for two shows. We talked about this when Jon Rudnicki was on, but he will be a guest on those. Gary Simons will be a guest on those shows in Nantucket. Tickets for those on Burbigs.com sign up for the mailing list and text Burbigs the word burbigs to 917-44-4715 to be the first to know about upcoming shows. Thanks to all of our working up premium subscribers, the Berbelia Familia. We've got more bonus episodes coming soon. It's $4.99 a month. You get no ads. Because you hate ads. You're one of those people who hates ads. So for only $4.99 a month, you can get no ads. And you can get bonus episodes, which we love, as always. This episode is on YouTube as well as Spotify video. It's coming soon to Apple Podcasts. They're doing video as well. This one's actually great for video because it' we got a piano, so it's a little bit like our own tiny desk concert. I think you're gonna love this one. With Jane Wickline and Leva Pierce. We talk about being a comedy duo. Comedy duo therapy gets really personal. They were on, you know, about a year ago, and it was personal. This got more personal. They unpack what it's like to work so closely in a creative collaboration with another person. They play two new songs. Ooh. And we use one of my bits as an example of how to turn a comedy bit into a comedy song, which taught me a lot. I didn't know a lot of what we were talking about. Check out Dukes at the Soho Playhouse in New York City. It runs from July 8th to August 2nd. [e-mail] Enjoy my conversation with the great JaneKickline and Leva Pierce, returning champions. Dukes. Let's explain. Mike Robiglios is working it out. I'm here with Leva Pierce, Jane Wickline, and they are Dukes.

[Leva Pierce]

Dukes.

[Mike Birbiglia]

They have a show called Dukes. It's at Soho Playhouse.

[Leva Pierce]

Yes.

[Jane Wickline]

The one in New York.

[Leva Pierce]

One in New York. Yes.

[Jane Wickline]

Not Soho Theater in London?

[Mike Birbiglia]

Not Soho Theater in London, which more people know about.

[Leva Pierce]

Yes.

[Mike Birbiglia]

But it's great. But yeah, it's like where I saw Hannah Gadsby's show, Nanette originally, before that started. Soho Playhouse. Yeah. Yeah.

[Leva Pierce]

I did not know that.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Leva Pierce]

That's cool.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I've seen tons of great shows there. I'm really excited to see your show there. Cause I've seen your show UCB Theater, and then I saw it at Joe's Pub and then Joe's Pub again. And so it'll be my fourth time seeing your show. Yeah. I love your show. I'm gonna come see it again. What is different? What's the same?

[Leva Pierce]

This is maybe the biggest lift, the biggest difference in shows from what you've seen.

[Mike Birbiglia]

You said lift. Let's go back to that.

[Leva Pierce]

This is the hardest one for. This is one that's killing us. This is the most pain I'm being crushed under. This one is sort of. I mean, the last couple versions of it have been too but this is the most cohesive narrative version of it, and it's approaching a musical. We're still. We're not letting ourselves call it that all the way musical comedy, but I

[Mike Birbiglia]

see it that way.

[Leva Pierce]

But yes, a. It's a story. The story of us and our friendship.

[Jane Wickline]

And big for us is it is our first set. We have a set that we're working with an amazing designer who designed the set.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Colleen.

[Jane Wickline]

Colleen Murray. Shout out. Colleen.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I love the show. Like, I feel like it's one of the version I saw. Certainly, like, one of the most original comedies I've seen, like, in New York in, like, a long time or anywhere in a long time. I feel like I laughed harder during your show than any comedy show I'd seen in so long.

[Leva Pierce]

That's so kind.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Did you take out the funny parts?

[Leva Pierce]

Yeah. So those are cut, Kind of. We're trying to streamline.

[Mike Birbiglia]

So, yeah, it's mostly narrative.

[Jane Wickline]

We don't want to offend anyone, so we removed all nouns.

[Leva Pierce]

Yeah. We're writing from a place of fear now instead of love and delight. That has helped us a lot in the theater space.

[Mike Birbiglia]

When I was thinking about you as a duo, I was like, here's the reason I wouldn't be in a duo. The stress of showing up to rehearsal, being like, what's this other person gonna be like today?

[Leva Pierce]

That's so funny.

[Jane Wickline]

And I can tell you that it's never the same. It is different every single day. And it's often I feel like we're never in a good mood at the same time.

[Leva Pierce]

Sometimes we are. And when we're. I would say when we're in a good mood at the same time, that is when we're our least productive. Yeah. Like, let's just talk and hang out.

[Jane Wickline]

Yeah. You kind of need someone to come in. Being like, I'm pissed.

[Leva Pierce]

We need to start working, and you haven't been doing enough, but it's good.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Does it ever come to that?

[Jane Wickline]

No, no, no, it's good.

[Mike Birbiglia]

You haven't been doing enough. That would be a harsh turn.

[Leva Pierce]

It's more like. It's like one of us comes in, one of us is a baby that day. And then it's like, I'm just. I'm like I'm grumpy, and, like, everything is impossible. Then it's good, because then it's like,

[Mike Birbiglia]

I don't want to do a comedy show.

[Leva Pierce]

I don't really want to do it today. And then it's great, because then the other person has to. In pep talk mode. And sometimes I go into rehearsal not knowing what mood I am, and then what Leva's mood is tells me, like, I can't be that one. So then I pick from every other option.

[Jane Wickline]

Yeah. It's very parent child just on a

[Leva Pierce]

loop, and we switch. So no one ever has too much of the burden.

[Mike Birbiglia]

You're like, well, I better bring it.

[Leva Pierce]

Yes.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And if Jane's in a bad mood, you're like, it's time for me to step up.

[Jane Wickline]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, Exactly.

[Leva Pierce]

But I can't stress enough. We probably spend eight hours together every day.

[Jane Wickline]

Wow.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Really?

[Leva Pierce]

It's just. We were writing it. Yeah. We started at the beginning of rehearsals. We all have a. We have an emotions wheel, and we just say what our emotion is. Does it help? I don't know, but it's fun to look at a wheel.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Okay, talk me through this. Try to find a pen to understand, like, what an emotions wheel would look like.

[Jane Wickline]

Oh, yeah. It's complicated.

[Mike Birbiglia]

So if it's a wheel. Yeah, great. You're already halfway there, and then you, like, six parts kind of thing.

[Leva Pierce]

Many more than that.

[Mike Birbiglia]

More than that.

[Leva Pierce]

Dozens.

[Jane Wickline]

They found a wheel that has, I would say, like, 400 emotions.

[Mike Birbiglia]

So it's like a Dungeons and Dragons dice.

[Leva Pierce]

Situations aren't even emotions on our wheel. It's like they ran out of emotions. And, like, perceptive.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Okay, so perceptive. Like, like is a sad one of them.

[Leva Pierce]

There's a sad section. It'll be like, oh, sad section. Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

So, like, morose.

[Jane Wickline]

Morose.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Okay.

[Jane Wickline]

It'll be like, powerless.

[Leva Pierce]

Powerless.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Powerless.

[Jane Wickline]

I choose powerless a lot when I'm writing because I come up against my limits.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Okay, so like, perceptive, Morose. Powerless. Is there any, like, joyful ones?

[Leva Pierce]

Whole section.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Okay, what has he got?

[Leva Pierce]

Luminous.

[Jane Wickline]

Curious.

[Leva Pierce]

Curious.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Luminous.

[Leva Pierce]

Ecstatic.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Is someone taking the sats soon

[Leva Pierce]

really mean happy.

[Mike Birbiglia]

But so it's like, perceptive. Luminous. Morose.

[Jane Wickline]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Powerless.

[Leva Pierce]

Many others.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Many others. Right. What was yours?

[Jane Wickline]

Yeah, grieving is grieving.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Bereaved. Grieving. The funny parts of the show being Right. Grieving. Perceptive.

[Jane Wickline]

Grieving. Not being able to go to a movie because I'm at rehearsals.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Powerless.

[Leva Pierce]

So where are you on this wheel today, Mike?

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah. Okay, so where am I? Okay, so if I came into the podcast today and the wheel were. If Gary or Mabel threw this up, I would say powerless.

[Jane Wickline]

That one is really helpful.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Where are you today?

[Jane Wickline]

I'm feeling. I'm feeling shy and powerless.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Shy and powerless.

[Leva Pierce]

Yeah. Of these, powerless for me is by

[Mike Birbiglia]

far the closest powerless. So you show up, you work together, your Co directors are Henry and Mabel.

[Leva Pierce]

Yes.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Mabel's our producer, so there's sort of like a tie in here.

[Leva Pierce]

Yes.

[Jane Wickline]

Major conflict of interest.

[Leva Pierce]

It's amazing we're even allowed to record today.

[Mike Birbiglia]

She's practically an oil company. But, like, what's the relationship to the directors?

[Leva Pierce]

Well, our other director, Henry, is my boyfriend, so that's. That's all. It's like we're all. It's like we're all best friends and it makes it easier to spend all day together because we are all.

[Mike Birbiglia]

That's probably never complicated.

[Leva Pierce]

I would say, honestly, maybe the least complicated part of it is me and Henry, if that's possible. Or just the least like part. I feel like all of us being. Yeah, I guess I'm not the person who can. Who can speak on that.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Leva, can you speak to this?

[Leva Pierce]

Yeah, yeah. Leva, your life.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Well, what is.

[Jane Wickline]

We do all have kind of. There's different kind of permutations because I live with Henry. He's my roommate and. Wow. And he's Jane's boyfriend. So it's kind of like. Well, I have my own kind of thing going on there too. So it's like sometimes we have roommate privilege and sometimes they have couple privilege.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And also you're. As roommate, you're first to certain information, probably.

[Jane Wickline]

Exactly.

[Leva Pierce]

Also, Leva and Mabel are best friends from college. So that's another side of the. It's like every side of the square is like.

[Jane Wickline]

There's all these different relationships.

[Leva Pierce]

There's no exits, no escape.

[Jane Wickline]

It really makes me understand Fleetwood Mac and many of the greats.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Plus you have a full time job on Sirent Live England, correct?

[Leva Pierce]

Yes, yes. At the uk Just got renewed, so thank you.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And I'm sure that's never complicated and that's never complicated. But you're off for the summer. I'm off for the summer, so that's something. Do you feel like there's things you can do in dukes that don't quite fit on snl?

[Leva Pierce]

Absolutely. In the sense that. Well, just in the sense that, like, we do so many things that just simply. They would not like

[Mike Birbiglia]

that are nonsense. Yeah.

[Leva Pierce]

That's why it's great to. It's great to have. Sometimes I have an idea even during the season, and I'm like, well, they'll hate this, but that might be a little dookie. Yeah, yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Jane, you said that you were going to get Leva a Victorian manners handbook for opening night.

[Jane Wickline]

I see a certain Mabel has been

[Mike Birbiglia]

tattling because Leva was, quote, rude. Leva, what Are you getting Jane for opening night?

[Jane Wickline]

Well, in the spirit of maybe constructive feedback gifts. No. I mean, I'm trying to.

[Leva Pierce]

I know the problem, but I don't know the object.

[Jane Wickline]

What's the problem?

[Leva Pierce]

Just, like, I feel like. Like getting to, like. Like having no sense of stakes and, like, stressing everyone out. Do you know what I mean?

[Jane Wickline]

This is a more abstract problem. Abstract. Like, I know what I would get Jane is a copy of all my shirts. Because Jane is always taking my shirts and wearing them to shows, and then I have nothing to wear, so I would get her a duplicate of my closet.

[Mike Birbiglia]

That's a great idea for gift.

[Leva Pierce]

Yeah, I would love that.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And a statement.

[Jane Wickline]

But let's go back to your shirts. You have a bad grasp on stakes.

[Leva Pierce]

Well, just, I think sometimes I'm like, the world is like. Is like. I just feel like I forget that it's not life or death, and then I act like it is, and then I create a problem for the whole group.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I have that, too.

[Leva Pierce]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I think that, like, working on stuff that's creative, and I feel like you guys are voicing this about each other. And the process of mounting a show is, like, it does sometimes feel existential, even though it isn't existential, because you're like, well, if it doesn't work, then who am I?

[Leva Pierce]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And what am I doing?

[Jane Wickline]

Yeah, definitely.

[Mike Birbiglia]

But the inverse of that is, if you weren't doing it, also, who are you and what are you doing? Yeah, both of them have existential questions.

[Leva Pierce]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And so. But then sometimes when you're in the weeds on something, you forget that. Actually, the inversion would also be, like, complicated.

[Jane Wickline]

Yeah. I feel like there's always an existential kind of fog when it's like, you just spend so much time on something that I feel like I get very anxious about. I'm spending all this time on something. Like, it has to mean something. Like, it has to, like, add up to something. Otherwise, like, why did I spend. Yeah, you've been doing Dukes for now three or four years. Like, I'm like. You know, there are times where I'm like, is it getting better? Like, I don't know. I'm in it, you know? And that, I think, is stressful. Just, like, the years going by that you spend on a project.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Well, yeah, like. But at its. I mean, the existential part of that is, at its core, it's like, it doesn't mean anything beyond, like, what. What happens in the room with the audience, and then what happens with each other.

[Leva Pierce]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

That's Kind of all that happened. That's all that's happening anyway. Yeah, definitely, because the video depictions, like, it's like comedy specials or whatever, like, they're fun, but it's not what the people in the room experience. It never is.

[Jane Wickline]

Totally.

[Leva Pierce]

We had that on Sunday. We had been writing since like 9am and we were. And then we left at 6 for this Bellhouse show and we were both so tired and we were like, wish this bell house shower tomorrow because we're so tired. And then we. And then we did our set and then it was just. We kind of talked in the car home about having completely forgotten that. That, that. That feeling is like, actually what we are writing. We're writing for the show and, like, what the show is going to be. And I just, like, I truly do forget that exists. I forget that the script isn't the finished thing.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah, I feel like that the kind of existential, like, stress of making a thing is like, I feel like it never goes away. I feel like I don't know anyone who doesn't have it.

[Leva Pierce]

Yeah.

[Jane Wickline]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I feel like I definitely. And even the people I admire the most, like, if you see them right before doing something, like, it's pretty. It's pretty hot in there.

[Leva Pierce]

Yeah.

[Jane Wickline]

Yeah.

[Leva Pierce]

I think you need it a little bit to. I mean, I think you need to have a disproportionate stress to, like, get yourself to do your best work sometimes.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Do you guys ever have like a. Like in rehearsal, like a reset button for yourself?

[Jane Wickline]

Sometimes the reset button is someone bursts into tears and then we say it's time to reset.

[Leva Pierce]

Yeah. Yeah. We actually had a new.

[Mike Birbiglia]

We had a new.

[Leva Pierce]

We had a. We had a new reset material is we have a. Like, if. It's like, if you're right about to cry, you say five minutes, and then you go away. And we say five minutes. You go away.

[Mike Birbiglia]

You're obviously five minutes and you go away.

[Leva Pierce]

I still need to go in this room.

[Jane Wickline]

Sometimes you were able to say five minutes before, and sometimes.

[Leva Pierce]

Sometimes it might be after the crying

[Mike Birbiglia]

that is so deep.

[Leva Pierce]

But it's sometimes like, get out of your system. Five minutes.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Five minutes.

[Jane Wickline]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah. It's the great. It's the great race in life to say five minutes before the crying starts.

[Jane Wickline]

And what's nice about our stage is that we're often rehearsing in apartments, so that means there's always a bed. And so it's always. You can. Sometimes we just go and lie down in the dark and then come back and we're like, okay, I'm gonna try again.

[Mike Birbiglia]

That's why it's so funny, because that's why snl, I feel like, has so much lore, because it's so many people in the offices that are not that big. Like, that part of the building is, like. It's pretty limited.

[Leva Pierce]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And it's like. What is it, like, 40, 50 people?

[Leva Pierce]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

It's like, all having the kind of artistic existential crisis simultaneously.

[Jane Wickline]

You don't even get your own office. It's like.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Right. Your shared offices.

[Jane Wickline]

You literally have no alone place to be alone.

[Mike Birbiglia]

What? Say something nice about the other person and say something mean about the other person.

[Leva Pierce]

Should we do nice, nice mean mean,

[Mike Birbiglia]

or nice mean nice mean nice nice mean mean.

[Leva Pierce]

Okay. Okay. I love just when you get silly. It's like, one of my favorite. It's just, like, one of my favorite things to be around is like. And I love when we're both silly at the same time. And it's just, like. Just reminds me why writing is so much fun and just, like, making stuff together is so much fun. And I feel like when we're. Well, like, when we're locked in, I just love. I just feel like we, like, get. We just get on the same page so quickly, and it's really. Yeah. That's my nice thing.

[Jane Wickline]

I agree. I agree. And I think you bring it out of me. Oh, yeah. I feel like the best is when you're. When you feel like. I feel like you probably have this. If you written well, I guess you write alone a lot, but when you work on things with other people, when you just feel like. Just like kids. Like, when you're just. Yeah, totally. It just feels like Sleepover.

[Leva Pierce]

Yeah.

[Jane Wickline]

And that's the best feeling. When we're late at night and we're just like, this is hilarious. Completely unusable.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I was talking to Chris Fleming about that on this podcast recently of, like, all of good comedy is Middle School Sleepover.

[Leva Pierce]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Like, what does it feel like when you hit on an inside joke.

[Leva Pierce]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And everyone's in it, and it's like. And then you figure out how to get the audience in on it, too.

[Leva Pierce]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Which is my favorite thing about your show? Like. Cause your show is. I would describe it as nonsensical.

[Jane Wickline]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Like, I. In the most complimentary way. Like, it's like, I don't know what's happening. I'm just laughing. Which is Middle School Sleepover.

[Jane Wickline]

Yeah. Okay. I'm gonna do my nice thing.

[Leva Pierce]

Okay.

[Jane Wickline]

I would say my. One of my favorite things about Jane Is she is genuinely someone who only wants the best for everyone and is very. I think it would be. It's extremely hard to, you know, be trying to do entertainment without getting a little bit, like, weird in the head. And I think that you just really. All you care about is, like, that the people you love are doing well and trying to make everyone feel good and just being there always. And. Yeah. And you just. I think you just care so much. And really, Jane's the kind of person where you try to gossip with her, and she's like, I don't want to talk about. I don't want to talk badly about them.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And I'm like, that's nice.

[Jane Wickline]

I like. I'm like, jane is truly, like, a sweet. Sweet. Sweet to your core. And so I love that, and I feel like it makes me better.

[Mike Birbiglia]

This has officially turned into comedy duo therapy.

[Leva Pierce]

I know.

[Mike Birbiglia]

By accident. I did not mean for it to go to that.

[Leva Pierce]

Your questions are. Say something mean then really fast.

[Mike Birbiglia]

No, no. Now it's mean. Now it's mean.

[Jane Wickline]

I know.

[Leva Pierce]

Now it becoming so epic. Rope comes.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I heard that you guys have nicknamed me Uncle Duke. Is that true?

[Jane Wickline]

No comments.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Where did that come from?

[Leva Pierce]

Because you're just so kind and lovely and supportive of us. Like, I feel like you're always in the back of our minds of, like, you know, like, making the show better and.

[Jane Wickline]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And I'm about 20 years older than you, and isn't that how old uncles are?

[Leva Pierce]

And your uncle aged?

[Jane Wickline]

No, completely. And we invite, you know, when we're, you know, trying to get a show off the ground, we invite a lot of people and we get a lot of no's. And the fact that you have come again and again is just like. It's like. It means the world to us. Cause that's all we want is for. Is to have people we're a fan of see the show.

[Mike Birbiglia]

So who hasn't come to the show?

[Leva Pierce]

Who you invited Leva.

[Jane Wickline]

We invited Lin Manuel Miranda via Instagram. Dm.

[Leva Pierce]

Such a crazy, delusional paragraph. We wrote it together. Hope Lynn sees this. Yeah, he's our junior.

[Jane Wickline]

He's our white whale currently.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Well, he was a fan of yours even, like, years ago when you were in college and did that musical theater parody thing, like, on Twitter.

[Jane Wickline]

Y. He saw that. And actually we talked to him at one of the after parties, and we went up to him and kind of were both had a cocktail in our

[Leva Pierce]

hand, and we're like, we love you. We're obsessed with you. We're writing songs and you're writing songs

[Jane Wickline]

and you mean everything to us.

[Leva Pierce]

And then he was kind of like,

[Jane Wickline]

okay, thank you so much. And he was completely lovely and nice and sweet.

[Mike Birbiglia]

How many people come up to Lin Miranda and go, we're writing songs, you're writing songs.

[Leva Pierce]

Can you imagine? I went up to him, I said, I steal a lot of myself and you let me give you my car.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Support for working it out comes from Mint Mobile There are things in life that you don't want to be transparent, like your swimsuit or your search history. But when it comes to your wireless bill, transparency is everything. That's why Mint Mobile wireless plans have no gimmicks, no gotchas. High speed data and reliable coverage on the T Mobile 5G network. Right now, all plans are $15 per month, even unlimited. Mint Mobile took what's wrong with wireless and made it right. Choose from 3, 6 or 12 month plans and say goodbye to the monthly bill. To get your new wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month, go to mintmobile.com for biggs that's mintmobile.com forbigs cut your wireless bill to 15 bucks a month at mintmobile.com 4bigs that's it. There's no catch. Upfront payment of $45 for three months, $90 for six months or 180 doll required $15 per month equivalent taxes and fees Extra initial plan term Only greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. Includes up to 20 gigabyte hotspot capable device required availability, speed and coverage varies. See mintmobile.com how about that voiceover work? I did the fast voice and everything Support for working it out comes from Article. I love this article furniture. Article has so many great desks. Really like like awesome elegant design. If you need a new desk for your office or your apartment, maybe a writing desk, check out Article. If you go to the article website, that's article.com you'll find a section called Ideas and Inspiration. It's exactly what it sounds like and I love it. If you're looking to redesign a space, refresh your bedroom or your kitchen or your outdoor patio, you'll find great design options and examples. Sometimes that stuff can get overwhelming, but with Article can be fun. I feel like if you went on the Article website, you could spend hours there. It's just great stuff. They have a thoughtful design approach that makes it incredibly easy to mix and match, helping you create a space that feels cohesive as well as stylish. By the way, Article is offering our listeners $50 off your first purchase of a hundred dollars or more. To claim, visit article.comWIO and the discount will be automatically applied at checkout. That's article.com wio for $50 off your first purchase of a hundred dollars or more. Support for working it out comes from Helix. We talk a lot about Helix mattresses on this show. It's a huge topic over here. Helix is offering discounts on their Luxe and Elite mattresses. What's the difference, you ask? Well, the Luxe is their best selling signature mattress crafted with deluxe lumbar support and premium comfort to relieve back pain and enhance your sleep. And the Elite is the ultimate investment in your sleep, designed to deliver exceptional comfort, advanced cooling and unparalleled support for years to come. Let's talk about Helix mattress toppers. Helix has five different mattress toppers to choose from. So even if you're not in the market for an entire mattress, you can upgrade your current mattress with a Helix mattress topper. They even have one called Dual Comfort. It's very cool. It's a mattress topper where one side is plush and one side is firm. It's like two mattresses in one. Go to helixsleep.com burbigs for 20% off site wide. 25% off luxe mattresses, 30% off elite mattresses. That's a great deal. That's hel bigs for 20% off sitewide 25% off luxe mattresses,. 30% off elite mattresses. Helix sleep.combrbigs. So let's talk about your new song because last time you were here you had a song in progress.

[Leva Pierce]

Yes.

[Mike Birbiglia]

And I think it went great. I don't think we added anything to it. That's that remained. But I think it was a good exercise. And I was curious if you wanted to share a new song today.

[Leva Pierce]

Yes, I would love to. Which one should we do first?

[Jane Wickline]

We have One is a One is kind of a song we've been playing live. We didn't. But we haven't played it on here. We recently did a new pass of it. Then One is a brand new song that is going to be in our show at soho.

[Leva Pierce]

Okay, so this is. This is a song about basically how we feel about our phones. I threw my phone off a bridge in the Hudson this week on a whim. I don't give a fuck. My screen time was 11 hours per day. I said, fuck that. Time to throw my phone off this bridge. I cannot find my house. Looking for landmarks I recognize well My boss was always Blowing me up, bitch. You can slack the fish cause the fish have my phone. Well, the subway wanted me to tap

[Jane Wickline]

a phone to the thing.

[Leva Pierce]

You've lost my business, bitch. I'll just take a pedicab. I asked the pedicab driver, what the hell is this? He says, bruno Mars. Well, it's fantastic. Where the hell is my house? Sir, where are we going? He says, we are just circling the zoo. Well, that won't help me. Let me out here. Apple pay. Can I pay with a smile? He says no, so I run away. But I'll pay him back by finding a coin fountain. Fools are rotten online While I'm living real life asking bus drivers how to mail a letter.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Well, for dinner I'll probably shoot a

[Leva Pierce]

squirrel in the park. But for now, found some berries that taste like metal. Everybody else is stuck in something I have named the Blue Dimension. Sitting with your hand locked in the shape of a claw. You haven't been sleeping. Everybody's staring at the tiny box of light Like a zombie moth. The box takes your soul to somewhere but you know it is the Blue Dimension. Well, a woman lends me her phone so I can look on Apple maps. Looking back, I think she thought I was mugging her.

[Jane Wickline]

I get home and buy a new

[Leva Pierce]

phone on my computer and a lockbox for it that I'll never use. How many days have passed?

[Jane Wickline]

2 hours and 40 minutes.

[Leva Pierce]

Fantastic. We're not fired. World need my warning. Fuck the Blue Dimension.

[Mike Birbiglia]

So good.

[Leva Pierce]

So that's Blue Dimension.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Thanks for coming to Tiny guest concert. Oh, this is called Blue Dimension.

[Leva Pierce]

Can you.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Can you explain the Blue Dimension part of it? Cause that's the only part I didn't fully get.

[Leva Pierce]

Yes.

[Jane Wickline]

Yeah, that's more of kind of an emotional experience than maybe that part of the song is an emotional experience, not necessarily a logical experience.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Okay, okay.

[Jane Wickline]

The Blue Dimension is where you go when you're on your phone.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Oh, okay. Okay.

[Leva Pierce]

Leva just at one point, Leva was

[Jane Wickline]

like, when I'm on my phone, I

[Leva Pierce]

feel like I'm in some kind of blue dimension.

[Jane Wickline]

There's something there.

[Leva Pierce]

And then we wrote it in. Yeah, it's.

[Mike Birbiglia]

That is one of the weird things about phones, which is I've heard this point made recently of like, oh, we're heading towards AI. And then somebody smarter than I was like, no, no, we're. We're already there. We have these. So it's like we're delegating part of our brain to the answer giver, which is AI already. And like, to your point, like, it's money. It's this. It's this. And it's like, it is like, I like your song in the sense that it's like, attempting to, like, wage war on the phones. And it's so funny. It's got so many great lines. If you're still working on it, I have one thought which is just like, there might be a turn in it where you're momentarily at peace. You know what I mean? Because it goes into chaos. It goes into, like, I have no money. I can't get a ride anymore anywhere. But also, like, for like, I don't know, four lines, you could be like, I'm at peace. I understand myself. And then.

[Leva Pierce]

Ah, yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

You know,

[Jane Wickline]

that's fun at the beginning to go back to peace and then go back to freak out. Yeah, it is. It is literally like, phone is part of our brain. When you lose the phone, like, you lose your mind.

[Leva Pierce]

It's.

[Mike Birbiglia]

It's insane. I started to do this thing where I, I. It's like my act of revolution is waking up in the morning and not putting on my phone for 20 minutes.

[Leva Pierce]

I know.

[Mike Birbiglia]

That's like me being like, I'm free.

[Leva Pierce]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

It's like nothing.

[Jane Wickline]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Literally nothing.

[Leva Pierce]

I know.

[Mike Birbiglia]

My screen time was 11 hours a day. I said, fuck that. Time to throw my phone.

[Jane Wickline]

Oh.

[Mike Birbiglia]

You know what it reminded me of? Of when my wife and I met.

[Jane Wickline]

We.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I showed up at her work, which was on the Hudson river, and. And we, and we made out and. Overlooking the Hudson river, and her phone fell out of her pocket into the river. And. And. And then she wrote a poem called Prank Calls from Fish. About, about it. Yeah.

[Jane Wickline]

That is so, so. Wow. That is so, so spiritually linked.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Something.

[Jane Wickline]

Yeah. And we have a line about fish.

[Leva Pierce]

Yeah,

[Mike Birbiglia]

It's a short poem, but it's from her book, Little Astronaut. The first time my husband kissed me, my cell phone fell out of my pocket into the Hudson River. Until this day, I still receive prank calls from fish. That's the whole thing.

[Leva Pierce]

That's really sweet.

[Mike Birbiglia]

But it's, that's really sweet. Well, it was funny though, like, in the sense that when it. Her phone fell in the river, she just, like, didn't get another phone for, like. And kind of didn't think anything of it. It was a little like, Mr. Magoo, just kind of like, okay, now I don't have a phone.

[Jane Wickline]

That's so poet.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I know. It's so poet.

[Jane Wickline]

I expect a poet to do.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I love it. Okay, so let me, let me play or let me tell you my Idea for something. I don't know if it could be a song, but I, I, it was a thing I wrote that I was like, oh, there's something here. And it's not really stand up. But I was like, maybe it could be a song. And it was just like, sometimes life is like a movie. Your friend dies and it's crushing. But then part of you thinks, well, I guess he wasn't the protagonist. And then I just like, I was like, oh, yeah. Sometimes, like, life is a movie. It's like a theme that I was like, that, that could be something I wrote. Sometimes life is like a war movie. And you can only hope that this movie is being made in the country that won the war. Sometimes life is like a Pixar film. It's so good. But then you're like, what age is this for? Sometimes life is like a documentary. You think it's about a comedian. Then you realize it's about the uncle who molested the comedian.

[Jane Wickline]

Oh, my God.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Sometimes. Sometimes life is like an indie film. And you're like, I get that it's low budget, but why would there be 15 people in the stands for a high school basketball game? And then the final part is like, life is like a movie that's too funny to be true and too sad to watch again. And that's sort of like, I don't know, more like the sentimental part of it. Anyway, I love it.

[Leva Pierce]

Should we try to.

[Mike Birbiglia]

If I was the leaver in this relationship and I come with lyrics, how would you start to make that a song?

[Leva Pierce]

I would start probably, like, just playing, like, like, like trying different chord progressions. And then.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Do you think this has a chance of being a song? Okay.

[Leva Pierce]

Absolutely.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Okay, let's give it a shot.

[Leva Pierce]

Let's try. Yeah. I feel like, I feel like the life is like a movie has to refrain.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Yeah.

[Jane Wickline]

Yeah.

[Leva Pierce]

Like, life is like a movie. Do you guys want to sing over it?

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Jane Wickline]

Do you want to try st. Yeah,

[Mike Birbiglia]

here, maybe I'll put it, like, up like this. Your friend dies and it's crushing. And then part of you thinks, I guess he wasn't the lead. Sometimes it's like a Pixar film. It's so, so good. But you're like, what age is this for? Sometimes it's like a documentary. You think it's about a comedian, and then you realize, oh, we catch that one. I think that one's funny. It's a. Capturing the Friedman's joke sometimes.

[Leva Pierce]

Take it from.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Okay, the documentary one.

[Leva Pierce]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Sometimes life is like a documentary. You think it's about a comedian, then you realize it's about the uncle who molested the comedian.

[Leva Pierce]

If you take the thriller one.

[Mike Birbiglia]

You want me to do the thriller one again?

[Jane Wickline]

I'll do it.

[Leva Pierce]

Okay.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Okay.

[Jane Wickline]

Sometimes life is like a thriller with very low stakes. Will the pizza arrive in 30 minutes?

[Leva Pierce]

And then it doesn't? And then the second act is, will

[Jane Wickline]

the pizza arrive in 20 minutes?

[Leva Pierce]

And then it doesn't.

[Jane Wickline]

And then the third act realizing that

[Leva Pierce]

the pizza doesn't always arrive when you want it to. And sometimes you accidentally bring breadsticks because they didn't think you wanted pizza. It's confusing, and it's actually not a movie.

[Jane Wickline]

Sometimes life is like a disaster film.

[Leva Pierce]

This is that best one.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I love it.

[Leva Pierce]

You know what?

[Jane Wickline]

I think it's this last one. Life is like a movie that's too funny to be true and too sad to watch. I feel like this feels like the chorus.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah, you think that. Oh, that's interesting.

[Jane Wickline]

This feels these. This feels like it almost unifies these.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Right. So it would be like, life is

[Leva Pierce]

like a movie that's too funny to be true and too sad to watch again.

[Mike Birbiglia]

That's nice. Love is like a movie that's too funny to be true and too sad to watch again. I messed that up.

[Leva Pierce]

No, I did different things both times.

[Jane Wickline]

And then you can. You can have. We do a lot of kind of, like, tags in the form of just singing after. So it'd be like, you said to watch again, and then you could be like, I don't want to watch it.

[Leva Pierce]

I don't want to watch the movie again.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I like that.

[Leva Pierce]

You know, it's funny. I watched it in two sittings. Life is like a movie that's too funny to be true and too sad to watch again. I don't want to watch it. It's way too sad.

[Mike Birbiglia]

That's nice, though. I like the chorus.

[Leva Pierce]

I love that chorus.

[Jane Wickline]

Yeah. Because the movie tech movie unifies all the different genres.

[Mike Birbiglia]

So if you think about it as, like, that. The chorus is, life is like a movie that's too funny to be true and too sad to watch again. I'm trying to, like, break that down to, like, layperson's terms. Like, what does that mean? What is the song about?

[Leva Pierce]

Mm,

[Mike Birbiglia]

I think, like, it's. It's about. I guess it goes back to, like, why did I even write this in the first place? I think, for me, I watch so many movies, I'm constantly contextualizing everything that occurs in what Kind of movie is this that I'm living in right now?

[Jane Wickline]

Yeah.

[Leva Pierce]

Yes. Have you seen Stranger Than Fiction?

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah.

[Leva Pierce]

It's like that.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah. Yeah, totally.

[Jane Wickline]

I feel like there's something about where it's like you want. You kind of want life to be more like a movie. And the chorus is kind of like, but you know what? I wouldn't want to watch this. There is something funny about that, but it's like you want the cleanness of the genre to kind of like. You want, like, your life to have like a, like, hero's journey. But it's like, what's frustrating is that, no, you will never have that.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah. All right. Do you want to go to your second song?

[Leva Pierce]

Yes, sure.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Work song.

[Jane Wickline]

Yes.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Okay.

[Leva Pierce]

And this one starts with dialogue from the show.

[Jane Wickline]

So in the show, we basically play versions of ourselves that are living in a world like our own, but that's a little bit crazier, wackier. And this part of the show is after we've just had a fun time hanging out, the crushing reality of having to go back to our nine to five day jobs. And in the show, we both have different nine to fives. So the start of the show is us on the phone, both at work. Yeah, we're both at work on the phone explaining to customers what we do.

[Leva Pierce]

Yeah. So this is called Work Song.

[Jane Wickline]

Hello?

[Leva Pierce]

Hi, customer service.

[Jane Wickline]

Sure. I can give you an overview. Modern Fossil Keep Tabs is an exciting nonprofit.

[Leva Pierce]

We are a resource to people who want to track whether someone else has taken their pill.

[Jane Wickline]

Our work is recruiting law students to

[Leva Pierce]

become ghost ambassadors for vintage energy, which is oil. How is that not a non profit? No idea. All right, bye. Bye. Working on my laptop, I send one email. Now it's time to take a break, head to the gender neutral bathroom. I lock the door and then just sit on the ground. Now back to working on my laptop. I save one file. Time for another break. Gerard from sales. As if I mind running this memo to the ninth floor. I say, it would be my honor. I would love to do that. I hate my job so bad. This is not my path. I applied for 100 places and this is the one place that I go back. I hate Gerard so bad. He talks to me like a police. I have a different sense of stakes from every single person here. I talk to my co workers about their kids and I am just making shit up. That baby has a lot of hair for six weeks. Get back from the ninth floor to take another break. My boss says, can I talk to you? Okay. Okay. She Says you're taking lots of breaks.

[Jane Wickline]

Uh oh.

[Leva Pierce]

She cannot find out my job is easy. She says, I'm worried you're not passionate about medical recruiting. I say, that's where you're dead wrong. She says, I feel like you've been off task. Oh my God. Oh no. I have to fix this. I say, I feel sick that I let you down. Girl, you are my idol. Give me more work. She says, thank you for stepping up. See you later, girl. I hate my job so bad. And my boss as well. There's an anvil above my head. I'll do anything. She says, I need this job so bad. I lose this and life gets impossible. I picture my own death often. At least I'm safe inside this coffin. The clock strikes 5, and I close my laptop like it's a bomb. Another eight hours of my life gone.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Love it. That's my new favorite Duke song. I feel like the piano pattern is like, it's. It is what the song's about. Weirdly, it's like, type.

[Leva Pierce]

That's how I feel.

[Mike Birbiglia]

I think Lynn Miranda'd like it. Because you get it. Because you do songs. He does so songs. No, it's great. Yeah, I love it. And then I love that, like, I mean, this is always my favorite thing is like, when. When you see like a great movie or a great, you know, sketch or whatever it is, and you're like, I don't know if that's their life, but it's somebody's life. You know what I mean? Like, it's just so vivid.

[Jane Wickline]

Yeah.

[Leva Pierce]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Like, one of the things that appeals to me is when you go, like, this is not my path.

[Jane Wickline]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

But like, it. For me, it does make me go, like, what. What's. What is your path?

[Leva Pierce]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

You know what I mean? And like, maybe I could land there or there could be some acknowledgement of, like, what is your true passion.

[Leva Pierce]

Yeah, I like that.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Cuz, like, I'm. I'm like all in on what isn't your passion.

[Jane Wickline]

Yeah.

[Mike Birbiglia]

But then I'm just like, what's. What is what.

[Jane Wickline]

You know, it could be fun to have, like, daydreaming section that is like, I should be.

[Leva Pierce]

I should be.

[Jane Wickline]

Oh, our characters are both. Both very silly. And Jane's character in the show is an adventure.

[Leva Pierce]

Yeah. My passion is.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Oh, nice.

[Jane Wickline]

So you could have a bridge that's like, I wish I was in the lab.

[Leva Pierce]

I wish I was in a big lab with shiny big.

[Jane Wickline]

A beautiful. I'm picturing like, a beautiful bridge that just like, feels symphonic and Then it's baptized.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Yeah, I like that. I don't know. I love that song. I mean, I just think it's great. Maybe that leads to something, maybe not. But like, I just think that's, that's such a good song. So the last thing we do is working out for a cause. Is there a non profit you like to contribute to? And we will link to them in the show notes and contribute.

[Jane Wickline]

Awesome. We would love to send people to Survived and punished.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Your S and P. New York is a grassroots prison abolition organization dedicated to freeing criminalized survivors of gender violence held in prisons in New York. And the URL is survivedandpunished.org yes, we'll contribute to them. We'll link to them in the show notes. Thank you Dukes for coming on again. Can't wait to see the next show. Love these songs.

[Leva Pierce]

Working it out because it's not done.

[Mike Birbiglia]

Working it out. That's gonna do it for another episode of Working it Out. You can follow Dukes on Instagram uxtheshow, Leva, Pierce Oppedleva and janewickline Aewickline Go see Dukes at the Soho Playhouse in New york. [e-mail] burbigs.com to sign up for my mailing list. Our producers of Working that are myself along with Peter Salomon, Joseph Birbigli and Mabel Lewis and Gary Simons. Sound mixed by Ben Cruz. Supervising engineer Kate Belinsky. Special thanks as always to Jack Antonoff and Bleachers for their music. Special thanks to my wife, the poet J. Hope Stein 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, please rate us and review us on Apple Podcasts. We really appreciate it. It helps other people know where to begin if they're just finding the show because there's so many darn podcasts. We appreciate you listening. Tell your friends, tell your enemies, tell your comedy duo partner. Let's say you're rehearsing a show with your comedy partner and they need to take five minutes. Just say, hey, you do what you gotta do. Take some time, get it out of your system. And you know what, after you do that, take an extra five minutes and just listen to Mike Birbiglies Working it Out. It's a calming podcast. It doesn't get too wild on there. They're just level headed conversations and interpersonal discussions of deep feelings and things that could become jokes. Maybe we could even listen to it together. Thanks everybody. We're working it out. We'll see you next time.