Mike Birbiglia Instagram – Friends! I just flew back from Scotland with @jhopestein and our daughter Oona. People have told me for years, “You should go to the Edinburgh Fringe. It’s unlike anything in the world.” And I didn’t. For years. But like all great advice I didn’t take it for 20 years. Regardless, I’ll relay it to you. You should try to go. I saw @rosematafeo and David O’Doherty and @juliamasli and many others. The festival is famous for its works in progress and Julia Masli’s show “ha ha ha ha ha ha ha” was a work in progress that was wildly experimental and hilarious and impossible to describe without spoilers and went from being a work in progress to a…work. In real time. To the point where they were selling out every show at midnight and they wanted to add shows but the only available slot was at 1:30am and THEY STILL SOLD OUT. And Jenny and I got to see it and we loved it. It’s…try to see it. The reason I bring this up is that her show was the ultimate inspirational story of “make the thing you want to see and risk failing and every once in a while it works.” She was working it out and while she was working it out the audience told her it was done. My journey with Fringe Fest has had its own mini arc. People told me to come to the fest in 2008 and I didn’t. The festival honestly felt daunting. 3,000 shows. Every performer seemed to go some version of broke. Then I made 4 more solo shows in America and finally this year I made the trip. I’m a comedian who has a podcast about works in progress and I finally made it to the *work in progress* festival. I, of course, am a work in progress. My life. My career. The whole thing. It felt right. I head to London this week. It’s the 30 performance finale. Before my week in Edinburgh I hadn’t performed the show since January. Part of me was done with it. But between the shows I saw in Edinburgh and the European audiences seeing this show that I have written and re-written over 4 years experiencing it with fresh eyes it made me want to perform it a thousand more times. Because every performance itself is a work in progress. So you don’t really know what’s going to happen. I hope to see you there. Please tag a British person below. ❤️ London, England U.K.