Old Hats NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (205)
See it if What a great a show with amazing talent. Totally worth seeing!
Don't see it if Circus-y theatrics bore you.
See it if Love to laugh and can appreciate two master clowns at the top of their game. The artistry and precision of the work is phenomenal.
Don't see it if You are too broke to afford a ticket. I got one for 25 on TDF.
See it if you want a delightful night of pure fun and amazing music (Shaina Taub will blow you away)!
Don't see it if you hate fun.
See it if you enjoy traditional clowning (not scary circus clowns) and fun, original music. The synchronicity between Bill and David was lovely.
Don't see it if you are feeling super highbrow &/or are scared of the possibility of audience participation...NO ONE IS SAFE! But the maulings are funny.
See it if I think everyone would like this show! It is great for kids, parents, dates, intellectuals, music aficionados.
Don't see it if If you do not have a sense of humor!
See it if You love clowns and adore the brilliance of Irwin and Shiner. I missed this the first time and am thrilled to catch it now. Genuises!
Don't see it if You don't like vaudeville, sketches or need a traditional play.
See it if Even if you don't generally like clowns or mimes, these guys will win you over with their inventive antics.
Don't see it if You're looking for a serious evening of theater. This all just fun and games.
See it if you like physical comedy, fun music and these guys; Bill Irwin and David Shiner. You tend to laugh in spite of yourself.
Don't see it if you don't like baggy pants.
Critic Reviews (38)
"Bill Irwin and David Shiner are back in town, doing their familiar, irresistibly funny clown routines one more time, and who would want them to do anything else?...Although Irwin and Shiner are both in their 60s, they’ve retained the remarkable physical grace and dexterity that are at the center of their art...The versatile Taub, writes quirky songs, sings, provides entertainment between the clown numbers...All three performers prove that something old can be remarkably fresh."
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“This is one of those exemplary evenings of theatre with flawless performances by all. It is graced by two consummate artists who excel in their craft, love their work, respect their audience and appear much younger physically and mentally, than their experienced years. Make some time to sit back and enjoy a remarkable entertaining evening of theater.”
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"Inspiration almost never flags in 'Old Hats,' whose highlights also include a vividly performed sendup of a sleazy magic act, in which Mr. Shiner’s smarmy, pony-tailed prestidigitator lubriciously ogles various members of the audience. Portraying his vivacious, big-wigged female assistant, Mr. Irwin looks on with increasing bitterness beneath the 'ta-daaa' smiles. I do have to admit to a little fatigue during the overextended passage in the second act."
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"Get a load of who’s cooked up 'Old Hats' — two clowns and a singing sidekick with a salty streak. The combo actually works for this comic tasting menu that tips its cap to old-school vaudeville bits. The goal here is simply to make you smile and laugh for 110 minutes. Mission accomplished."
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"Everything old is new again, in this comic puree of ancient vaudeville routines, traditional circus acts, and classic mime pieces, along with silly tap dances and ukulele solos...There’s nothing snarky about this kind of satire, because every clown must first master the magic and love the artifice of it before he can presume to fiddle with it. But you also don’t want to turn your back on this show, because it’s loaded with sly insinuations about who we are and how we live today."
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"Let the cranks stay home and let the rest of us laugh our heads off at 'Old Hats,' one of the funniest shows of the past few years...Not many can pull gales of laughter out of thin air the way Irwin and Shiner do."
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"'Old Hats' is at its best when the tech is dropped and the boys get back to basics...'Old Hats' isn't about edgy comedy, nor is it about digging up fossilized stage content and putting it on display for a history lesson. It is simply about how the most played-out, dusty gags in the book still shine like new in the expert hands of Irwin and Shiner, whose collective sustained excellence in the realm of physical comedy is so divine it may qualify them for deification."
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"If there were nothing more to the evening than its clowns, that would not be a problem. But, as executed here, they’re just two cogs in a much larger machine. At least they’re hard-working cogs, and you never tire of seeing the wonders perform when they’re left alone to do what they’ve always done best. The biggest flaw of 'Old Hats' is that not enough people involved have seen that they can, and should, leave Irwin and Shiner alone far more often than they do."
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