Old Hats NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (205)
See it if you want a delightful, joyful evening of old-school cabaret and clowning with fantastic tech.
Don't see it if Individual scenes have some plot, but it's not a play. The clowning isn't constant; it is also 1/3 cabaret.
See it if You want to see a fresh twist on classic, vaudevillian clowning. Great for adults and kids. Laugh out loud funny!
Don't see it if You cannot possibly enjoy physical comedy under any circumstances, whatsoever.
See it if You want a good time or entertaining evening out. Super talented physical comics...very clever show.
Don't see it if You only like serious theater, However, only a grump wouldn't want to go just to applaud Irwin and Shiner's talent.
See it if you enjoy variety shows (skits, sad clowns, music, magic, etc.), especially if you like older shows like Carol Burnett's.
Don't see it if you do not have a sense of humor, dislike goofy comedy, don't like any kind of audience participation, or are looking of a linear story.
See it if you want a delightful experience at the theater. An elegant show that will please all ages. Original, with two master clowns at their peak.
Don't see it if There is no reason not to see this!
See it if you want a change of pace and you adore Bill Irwin (like I do) and/or David Shiner. I've see it twice and would go again.
Don't see it if you want a play, not skits and funny stuff -- even if done masterfully.
See it if You enjoy the art of clowning, and want to see it done by masters.
Don't see it if You're really not interested in physical comedy.
See it if like clowns
Don't see it if don't
Critic Reviews (38)
"Mixing slapstick with artistry—their bodies can go from rigid to boneless in the blink of an eye—Irwin and Shiner are able to animate the inanimate, wage battle against uncooperative furnishings and props, and trigger uncontrolled laughter with a raised eyebrow or sly smile. What’s more, they are fearless when it comes to merging the traditional with the silly and the silly with the subliminal, all the while indulging in their favorite game of one-upmanship."
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"There’s something wonderful or hilarious or captivating in nearly every scene or song, but Irwin truly dazzles in a bit called 'Mr. Business' in which he fusses with his cell phone and then begins interacting with his tablet. The high-tech video trickery and the projections by Wendall K. Harrington and Erik Pearson are astonishing and so perfectly synchronized with Irwin’s shtick that it teases a whole new kind of digital clowning."
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"Clowning, the way Bill Irwin and David Shiner do it, is a kind of art form. Their newest show has come to San Francisco in a production deftly directed by Tina Landau...Together they are dynamite, tap dancing and mugging their way through two fast-moving hours of comedy...It’s a slick, polished evening of fun that is anything but 'old hat.'”
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"What makes an evening with Irwin and Shiner so special is how profoundly they complement one another. They do the same thing—make us laugh hysterically—but they reach our funny bones via different channels...Together, Irwin and Shiner run the full gamut of the ways physical comedy can speak to an audience. Their two-hour revue has something for everyone, no matter your clowning or musical tastes."
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"Run, don’t walk, while these two comic geniuses are still appearing. It’s been 13 years since Irwin and Shiner last combined their unparalleled comic gifts on a San Francisco stage. Who knows when they’ll be back?"
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"Sheer bedlam. Those two words are all it takes to describe 'Old Hats,' a vaudevillian tour-de-force...Midway through the performance, during 'Cowboy Cinema,' the longest and most uproarious of nine skits, the sold-out theater shook from ricocheting volleys of uncontrollable laughter. We could feel the mirth down to our bones."
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