Mike Birbiglia’s "Error at First Base" is a comical recollection of his first kiss. Beginning his story he explains how shocked he was to find out that “people we know are making out with people we know!”. Describing making out as a “dog eating spaghetti” Birbiglia clearly finds the act discussing; however, he did not want to be the only kid in his school who hasn’t lost his “mouth virginity” so his quest to kiss a girl begins. He talks on the phone with a girl named Lisa every night about homework; he decides that he would kiss Lisa. He ends up having a horrible experience with her when he accompanies her to the carnival, puking on a ride right next to her. So needless to say his chances are ruined with Lisa. Later on Birbiglia attends an all guy school describing his classmates as “make out mashies” he couldn’t tell them he hasn’t kissed a girl for fear of being made fun of so he lies. He ends up at a dance with a girl that his friend picks for him; by the end of the night Birbiglia has his first kiss. his friends end up finding out that Birbiglia is a horrible kisser, he responds by saying “yeah it’s kind of my thing” when his friend chimes in laughing saying “me too” Birbiglia is no longer alone and feels accepted.
Birbiglia’s story is about his first kiss however; the driving force though his whole story was about his feelings of being alone. Loneliness is not unique to Birbiglia; in fact most everyone has had experiences that made them feel out casted from the normal. I can personally relate to Mikes want to fit in, when I was in high school many of my friends smoked cigarettes and it would seem to come up in conversation a lot. I found the habit repulsive, smoking smells bad, is bad for you, and tastes terrible. However, I would join them just enough times so I wouldn’t be tagged as the kid who “is anti-smoking” when everyone thought it was so cool for some reason. I didn’t want to lose my friends and be left alone, so I conformed to what I hated. However, in hindsight just as Birbiglia found just because you don’t conform to everything that the crowd does doesn’t mean you’re alone.
Mike uses comedy to retell this embarrassing event because it makes it easier to talk about. Many of us do not want to talk about bad memories or embarrassing events because it makes us feel open to judgment. However, when you revisit these events you can take lessons from them that you might not have otherwise seen.
