Pete Holmes | Vulnerability Is Everything | Mike Birbiglia’s Working It Out
This week, Pete Holmes returns to the studio for one of Working It Out’s most joke-dense episodes ever. Mike and Pete work out jokes about strangers in hot tubs, why Jerry Seinfeld sounds like his own name, and how cool guys in movies swallow their pills without water. Plus, the comedy advice Pete wishes he knew when he was starting out. Want more of Mike and Pete? Subscribe to Working It Out’s premium feed on Apple Podcasts to listen to their bonus episode together where they work out listener-submitted material!
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Listen and subscribe to the Working It Out here:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mike-birbiglias-working-it-out/id1515419751
Find Mike:
Website: https://birbigs.com/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/birbigs/
Facebook: https://facebook.com/birbigfans
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@mikebirbiglia
Find Pete:
Website: https://peteholmes.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peteholmes/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@peteholmes/
Hosted and Produced by Mike Birbiglia
Producers: Peter Salomone, Joseph Birbiglia, Mabel Lewis, Gary Simons
Video Consultant: Graham Willoughby
Special Thanks: Marissa Hurwitz, Josh Upfal, David Raphael, Nina Cwik, J. Hope Stein, Oona
Sound Mix: Shubh Saran
Supervising Engineer: Kate Bilinski
Music: Jack Antonoff and Bleachers
@quackals
January 3, 2026 at 1:27 pm
Current parents are former users of Kazaa and Limewire.
@ericdempsey4952
January 3, 2026 at 1:27 pm
19:54 – a really incorrect way of explaining evolution. That’s why you cut it. It is so inaccurate that it will never work with that explanation. Audiences might like a more accurate description of evolution. Then you could try to walk up to the same AI fear. Evolution is nuts, but it is actually reasonable to people that understand it, so the joke will miss 100% of those people. And for those still reading – evolution is hundreds of millions of years of generations having slightly different genetic mutations and some are useful. The opposite sex is attracted to the more useful ones and they pro create. This happens again and again for so long your brain can’t process it.
@johnbultman7051
January 3, 2026 at 1:27 pm
amazing. thank you.
@taym4542
January 3, 2026 at 1:27 pm
Mike literally looks like the perfect SW client, safe and easy to please
@ScottDincorn
January 3, 2026 at 1:27 pm
53:33 I am imagining a self-aware, vulnerable deep-dive into what specifically about your vibe made you a prime target for her. You do have that tired businessman energy about you a little bit 😂
@ScottDincorn
January 3, 2026 at 1:27 pm
51:57 as a Canadian I really appreciated these insights. When Pete first mentioned the Canada bit earlier, I could see that feeling a lot of resistance from Canadian audiences. Our relationship with the USA and Trump specifically has not been great lately. Coming into this conversation with a healthy amount of self-deprecating energy would be a great way to connect with us. By you being vulnerable about your shortcomings, it gives us permission to do the same. Then we can all laugh at the dystopian nightmare we're living in together, which is my favourite kind of comedy. I love you guys ❤
@ScottDincorn
January 3, 2026 at 1:27 pm
You guys getting deep into your bits in the second half was so great to watch
@Elizabeth_Unattached
January 3, 2026 at 1:27 pm
This is just the best. Hanging out with two best friends working on their craft together. Pete and Mike are the chillest vibes.
@sunnyday6749
January 3, 2026 at 1:27 pm
Just watched someone talking about when actors or actress puke on tv, they put their whole head in the toilet and hugging it
@UCSDdumbassJr
January 3, 2026 at 1:27 pm
Ya Jerry is an egomaniac, of course he wouldn’t see comedy as a dynamic with the audience
@marahallstewart2883
January 3, 2026 at 1:27 pm
I know Pete doesn’t mean it like this. But every time he’s on this pod it’s like he’s bullying Mike.
@derekm7391
January 3, 2026 at 1:27 pm
I like that all of Pete's impressions are spot on, except the one of Mike, which is just Heath Ledger's joker, if he was a New York Jew doing ASMR.
@johnryan6020
January 3, 2026 at 1:27 pm
Just added "Cherished Belonging" to my reading/listening list.
@TheMattsterling
January 3, 2026 at 1:27 pm
My impression of Pete Holmes would be walking by a barber shop and going "nah, I think I'm good." You're not good.
@jetblackcrow25
January 3, 2026 at 1:27 pm
Silly vs silly. Such a treat
@arentyou23
January 3, 2026 at 1:27 pm
Pete Holmes … new voice of the Joker in an animated series?????????
@nerfherder1398
January 3, 2026 at 1:27 pm
The more I see of Pete, the more I love the guy. Watching these 2 together is an absolute treat.
@nd396597
January 3, 2026 at 1:27 pm
Peter. Mike might hurt you one day. You’ll both be laughing about a joke you made and then you will wake up on the floor next to a broken lamp
@Chef_Betty81
January 3, 2026 at 1:27 pm
I already appreciate Pete Holmes so much and when I see him on Working it Out, I love him even more.
@FPwLola
January 3, 2026 at 1:27 pm
40:00 I appreciate how passionately Mike expresses this to Pete and he's 100% right, imo. A well placed impression is really effective in a story, and it demonstrates how much you know of what you speak without having to set it up. Like a verbal edit that reads like a visual for the purpose of the thing. This was being a fly on the wall in the writers room more than any other episode I've seen, it was really cool to witness. Thanks for another one 💗✨
@chickox
January 3, 2026 at 1:27 pm
The third thing I'm jealous of cool guys in movies: Instantly able to just run; and not just run, but full out sprint.
@sugarmaplewings
January 3, 2026 at 1:27 pm
Okay but modern parenting isn't the way that it is bc expectations are too high for the quality of parenting a child receives, it's because you're convinced you're supposed to do it alone. Still a RAM issue maybe, but you were never supposed to have the RAM of a data center
@paulwilliams5500
January 3, 2026 at 1:27 pm
This is as close to a writers room as I’ll ever get.
@Cinematic_Tour
January 3, 2026 at 1:27 pm
hell yes giving the people what they want 🙂
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