By Mike Walsh

If you are experiencing severe impatience in waiting for Mike Birbiglia’s Feb. 8 show at Worcester’s Hanover Theatre, rest assured, you can get plenty of the Shrewsbury-born comic online.

In person, Mike Birbiglia isn’t a very imposing guy. However, on stage his presence is undeniable, and on the Internet, it is downright powerful.

With more than 200,000 Twitter followers, @Birbigs is a major force in social media. While you can get 140-character-or-less snippets of his humor online, his stand-up routine is definitely worth the winter trek to Southbridge Street.

The show Birbiglia is bringing to the Hanover Theatre, My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend, won the 2011 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Solo Show. In it, Birbiglia introduces us to his romantic side. Unfortunately for the performer, that romantic side is riddled with sexual stumbles and hysterical mishaps.

A large chunk of these true stories are set in nearby Shrewsbury, where Birbiglia grew up. He attended St. John’s High School before finishing at St. Mark’s School in Southborough.

A lot of his act is kept to the area you know best, even down to playing Little League ball for Economy Paint Supply, a Benjamin Moore store on Route 9 in Shrewsbury. Birbiglia waxes ~ hardly poetically ~ about his time spent at Old Mill Pond and meeting his first girlfriend at St. Mark’s.

With many callbacks to his days as a young man in central Massachusetts, struggling to figure out the females in his life, Birbiglia has endeared himself to the masses.

Birbiglia has used social media to advance his career incredibly well. From his Twitter account to “thank you” video chats with fans who have bought his Sleepwalk With Me book, he can be found almost anywhere on the Web.

In January, 2011, the well-known sleepwalker was sought out by Downy and Macy’s to live in a Macy’s store window for one week. The stunt was part of the campaign advertising Ultra Downy Fresh and Downy’s Clean Sheet Week. For one full week, pedestrians could interact with Birbiglia while he lived in plain sight by using social media or just hollering through the glass window.

In January, 2012, Birbiglia’s independent film Sleepwalk With Me debuted. The film was based on Birbiglia’s 2008 off-Broadway comedy show of the same name. He wrote, directed and starred in the film, which won the Best of NEXT Audience Award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.

In late September, Sleepwalk With Me made it’s central Massachusetts debut at the Strand Theatre in Clinton. While the film does not directly relate to the show coming to the Hanover Theatre, it gives us a look at how Birbiglia, cleverly disguised as the character Matt Pandamiglio, interacts with members of the opposite sex.

On Feb. 8 at 7:30 p.m., Mike Birbiglia once again returns to the area of his youth.

Or, as @Birbigs puts it: “February 8th I’m performing in Worcester ~ just miles from where I was attacked by my childhood bullies.”

For more information, visit birbigs.com.

One on one with Mike Birbiglia

Since performing your routine, have you been back to any of the places you mention in the central Massachusetts area: Economy Paint Supply, St. Mark’s School, Old Mill Pond?

Well, yeah, I did the commencement speech at St. Mark’s this past spring and that was fun. I have not been to Economy Paint Supply, however, I did get a MySpace message from the owner of Economy Paint Supply, who was very glad that they have that recognition. That seems to be the best bang for your buck that a Little League sponsorship has ever gotten. Oh, and last time I was in town, I was on a show, Chronicle, and they took me back to St Mary’s School, my grade school. And I participated in gym class and I did that multicolored parachute game.

What was your favorite spot to hangout in the Worcester area?

My favorite restaurant growing up was Dino’s Restaurant. It’s where I went for my First Communion. I had a Junior Cheese Pizza and a First Communion Cake. And I remember going to the Worcester Centrum and seeing the Red Hot Chili Peppers and this band opened for them called the Rentals. Yeah, many great memories from Worcester and Shrewsbury.

Have you ever been to the Hanover Theatre or performed there before?

No, I’ve never been there, but I’ve heard it’s gorgeous, and I’m really looking forward to it!

In a recent Huffington Post story, you said that a Doug Stanhope set was one of the best things you had ever seen. Doug is another local guy from Worcester. Did you know of him when you were starting out and when did you first meet him? Did you talk at all about the area, etc.?

No; actually, to this day, I’ve never talked to him about the fact that we’re both from Worcester. I just got to know him shortly after (comedian) Mitch Hedberg’s death because he was friends with Mitch and I was friends with Mitch, and I think a lot of people were kind of reaching out to each other that normally wouldn’t reach out to each other during that time. So that’s how I started emailing with him a little bit. But I don’t stay in close touch with him; I just go to his shows sometimes.

What was the No. 1 item on your Christmas list this year?

I guess I’m just excited to visit my parents. The last year has been such a whirlwind that I haven’t been home much. And Christmas was always the most fun holiday growing up. It might sound corny to say that the only thing I want for Christmas is to spend time with my family, but it’s true.

What is your favorite brand of hot chocolate and pizza?

Hot chocolate: Just homemade hot chocolate with real chocolate and real milk.

And pizza: My answer is twofold because I’ll always have strong associations with Shrewsbury Pizza, Dean Park Pizza and Village Pizza, all within a 1-mile radius of my home growing up on Westwood Road. But then in New York, there are incredible pizzerias as well ~ Lucali’s is in my neighborhood, Arturo’s in the West Village, and Patsy’s, which was Frank Sinatra’s hangout. I’m trying to follow in Frank’s footsteps.