Mike Birbiglia’s funny and poignant Sleepwalk With Me -- a bizarre comedy steeped in a concoction of neuroses, embarrassments of a mid-thirties commitment-phobe, and nocturnal wanderings -- is starting to look like The Little Story That Could. In 2008, it began as an off-Broadway one-man show and was picked up by public radio’s This American Life; in 2010, it was published as a comedic memoir; and since its January premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, it’s been one of 2012’s most anticipated indie features.

In the film version (co-produced by the schlubby and self-indicting Birbiglia and beloved This American Life creator Ira Glass), as in the original one-man show, Birbiglia plays mediocre stand-up comic Matt Pandamiglio -- a slightly fictionalized version of himself with phobias about commitment, marriage and maturity that come to life during his REM cycles. Amid pressure to take his eight-year relationship to the next level, his personal and professional struggles are paralleled with bizarre sleepwalking episodes. The protagonist’s predicaments end at best in embarrassment, and at worst, covered in shards of glass after strolling out of a second-story window. The laughs (and pathos) increase proportionately to Matt’s problems; as his sleep disorder escalates, he becomes even more estranged from his girlfriend, Abby.

Birbiglia has assembled a formidable cast, with Lauren Ambrose as the successful but suffering Abby, and James Rebhorn and Carol Kane as Matt’s needling parents.  Some of the edgiest names in comedy round out the crew -- Wyatt Cenac, Kristen Schall, and Marc Maron lend indie cred and propel the once solo production into a true ensemble effort. Although Matt beseeches the audience directly at one point ("Remember: you're on my side!"), each player contributes to the story of a guy who can’t get it together, awake or asleep.

A communal sensibility has also informed online marketing for the film, as Glass and Birbiglia have flooded the Internet with plugs for the premiere screenings. Not content merely to attend showings in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, the pair has taken a more hands-on approach: Wearing full box office attendant regalia, they’ve been depicted doing everything from serving concessions to mopping the bathrooms.  If Louis C.K. can create an empire on his laptop, then Ira Glass will serve you popcorn to get this movie seen.

The launch of this very personal project onto more than 100 screens across the country is testament to the power of Little Guy bravado and a tongue-in-cheek publicity campaign, but one Hollywood juggernaut is feeling pressure from the underdog.  Avengers director and geek god Joss Whedon has created a sardonic online boycott of Sleepwalk with Me, urging viewers to defend his box office supremacy. Glass’s immediate video response to Whedon? “It’s on.” He and Birbiglia volleyed back with a request to audiences to see the movie enough times to unseat Avengers and beat its $1.5 billion income -- by one dollar.

Yes, Sleepwalk with Me is determined to make a dent in the Whedon throne by being the first mini-budget flick to make $1,500,000,001. There’s been talk of persuading the population of Birbiglia’s parents’ Massachusetts hometown to see it and some absurdist math to determine the average moviegoer’s responsibility. (Apparently the 14,000 citizens of Dennis, MA would need to see the movie 5.5 times each to compete with Whedon. Could happen, especially since Birbiglia’s parents have agreed to see the movie eight times “to make up for the slackers.”) A challenge from the creator of Buffy shall not be ignored, and Whedon’s plea to audiences is at once a sly jab at his own commercial success, Hollywood’s collective ego, and marvelous marketing for Sleepwalk.

Birbiglia concludes the gauntlet toss on Whedon with a quote from The Avengers: “We have no quarrel with you, like an ant has no quarrel with a boot.” (Whether the Sleepwalk team is the boot or the ant remains to be determined; what do you think after watching the trailer below?) Independent movies, especially passion projects years in the making, have a lot to ground to cover -- and right now, this touching and strange comedy is pounding the pavement.