Broadway Review: “Mike Birbiglia” The Old Man & The Pool” at Lincoln Center Theater’s Vivian Beaumont Theater (Closed Sunday, January 15, 2023)

Broadway Review: “Mike Birbiglia: The Old Man & The Pool” at Lincoln Center Theater’s Vivian Beaumont Theater (Closed Sunday, January 15, 2023)
Written and Performed by Mike Birbiglia
Directed by Seth Barrish
Reviewed by David Roberts
Theatre Reviews Limited

There is an abundance of medical and anatomical references in “Mike Birbiglia: The Old Man & The Pool” currently running at Lincoln Center Theater’s Vivian Beaumont Theater. Mr. Birbiglia’s affinity for medicine is often part of or the central theme in his stand-up comedy gigs around the nation. His particular interest in his own health is also pivotal to his storytelling on the Broadway Stage. Before “The Old Man & The Pool” there was “The New One” at the Cort Theatre in 2018. Transferred to Broadway from a successful run at Cherry Lane, “The New One” featured issues of parenting with his then three-year-old daughter Oona and Birbiglia’s own issues with his body. Testicular and urological jokes coalesced with Oona’s toys dropping in abundance from above the set onto the Cort’s stage.

The testicular references and “humor” are conjoined in “Old Man” with gynecological references and “humor.” Mr. Birbiglia’s medical issues this time around after his annual checkup are cardiological and endocrinological in nature. The comedian’s fear and loathing of his impending death resonates well with anyone who faces the unknown and the uncontrollable spectre of the end of life.

Mike Birbiglia’s trademark humor is self-deprecating and non-political. This middle-of-the-road banter has drawn many appreciative fans to his performances. This large fan base was an integral part of the audience at this second Broadway run. Seth Barrish directs here as he did for “The New One.” Beowulf Boritt returns to the creative team with a pleasing set that functions well throughout Mike Birbiglia’s ninety-minute routine.

That routine brings the audience into the binary locker rooms of men and women, and into a sauna where a younger Birbiglia confronts an old man sitting on the bench handling his testicles. That image serves as bookends to the performance with a less-than-obvious relevance. The young Birbiglia responds to the “female” genitalia with prepubescence wonder and to the “male” genitalia with typical straight male “horror.” Is Mike Birbiglia aware of the changing world around him? This review closes with our review of “The New One.” What was relevant then remains relevant now.

“Most of the humor during this section is heteronormative, almost self-pity and inclusive only of birthing parents. There is nothing wrong with this choice except for the fact that it will appeal more to a certain demographic. The humor at some point digresses, not turning dark but almost becoming a mockery. It is no longer a story but more a routine.

“Mr. Birbiglia is a very funny man. He is as normal as an abnormal person can be. He has a nice smile, a soothing voice, someone you would like to have as a best friend or a next-door neighbor, but much of the humor in this show tends not to be all inclusive. Even though it is his story, addressing what he experienced, he should look a bit further and observe what others may have encountered. A little heterogeneity would possibly reach a broader audience.”