Growing up in Shrewsbury, MA, future comedian Mike Birbiglia tried many different outlets for his creativity. Poetry held his interest early on, but by his teen years he had switched to hip-hop and written a rap for the graduation ceremony of his school's anti-drug program. Going to see Steven Wright on his 16th birthday steered Birbiglia toward standup. He would be writing quirky one-liners in the Wright style all the way up to his early years of college in the Washington, D.C., area. He began working the ticket window at the D.C. Improv, and there he decided to develop his Wright-like act into something more real and biographical. After studying the work of Woody Allen and Richard Pryor, Birbiglia developed a mix of one-liners and personal stories that would instantly connect with audiences. He refined his act around D.C. before he moved to New York City and took any gig he could get. A successful night at the Comic Strip Live introduced him to the club's general manager and talent coordinator, the late Lucien Hold. Hold would set up a string of shows that would introduce the comedian to talent scouts and land a David Letterman appearance. Success snowballed from there and soon Birbiglia was touring nationally, appearing regularly on the Bob & Tom radio show with his "My Secret Public Journal" segment, and developing projects for the Comedy Central network and record label. In 2004, Dog Years became his debut for the label. The fan base grew quickly and soon indie-style T-shirts quoting Birbiglia routines were virally spreading the word. As "Cracker, please" and "Only we can call each other Cracker" shirts were being spotted on hipsters, the comedian returned with the CD/DVD combo Two Drink Mike in early 2006.