This American Life, LIVE!

If anyone else now hears Tom Bergeron's voice every time they hear that an event is "LIVE!" then I'm sorry. I feel your pain.

Anyway, Mike Birbiglia, who I mentioned earlier, is going to be on the April 19th live edition of This American Life at the Chicago Theater (oddly enough, it's in Chicago), and also in the April 23 live show in New York, which will be broadcast to movie theaters nationwide. The last live show was a lot of fun (even though I only got the podcast), and I would definitely have tried to get a ticket to the New York show had I but known (it's already sold out).

Birbiglia is new to the live broadcast, and as you know, I'm a fan. Two of my favorites from last year's live program return this year, too. Dan Savage told a great story last year, and I'm really looking forward to hearing from him again, but David Rakoff had me in tears with his narrative of trying to equal the average American's television consumption after years of not watching any tv at all. His description of the girls on "My Super Sweet 16" had me in stitches.

Dan and David's stories from last year's live show are available with other assorted hilarity here, on the This American Life site, for a mere $.95 download (and it supports public radio--you won't be disappointed). I highly recommend it. If you like what you hear, you might want to sign up at the link above for information on the live show in April.