Mike Birbiglia: The Old Man & The Pool (West End) London Reviews and Tickets
Member Reviews (50)
See it if you want a piece of funny, affectionate stand-up which addresses the issues of the sandwich generation (children, health, elderly parents)
Don't see it if you are expecting a stage show, this is very much a one-man comic number. It runs 75 minutes. Read more
See it if You want to see a stand up show done in a stage way and want a good laugh
Don't see it if you want to see a full stage play
See it if You are looking for a good laugh and a great story
Don't see it if you don't like one man shows
See it if You love a great story teller who can make any situation humourous
Don't see it if Can’t think of any reason not to see this
See it if He discusses a lifelong struggle with anxiety, which makes him approachable, and you can’t stop laughing the whole time
Don't see it if Just GO!
Critic Reviews (10)
“This quiet master of his craft combines big themes with intimate details garlanded with good jokes...Telling this story of decay, love, persistence and the circle of life, Mike Birbiglia is a true star.”
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"Birbiglia deftly takes us through a set that sometimes dives deeply but mostly stays splashing in the middle lane. What he lacks as a swimmer he more than makes up for as a storyteller."
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" 'The Old Man & The Pool' is a really touching piece of theatre, that also manages to be a hilarious night of stand-up."
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“Despite his musings on life’s end point, the show remains easy – even comforting – viewing. Birbiglia shares his personal anecdotes with us as if we were his old friends. With artful physicality and natural audience interaction, he airs the panic that most of us try hard to bury. Mischievous, honest and profound, it is a piece that makes gloriously moving waves.”
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“Like so much about the evening, it’s an acute observation delivered, almost disguised, in a flurry of laughter. These waters are far from still, but they run deep.”
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“Where other midlife male standups splash in the shallows of domesticity, dinner parties and feeling tired, Birbiglia – on a cool blue set tiled to resemble his local swimming pool – plunges into the deep end of mortality, families and the meaning of life.”
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“[Birbiglia has] a natural ease with the audience, impeccable comic timing, an ability to turn physical clown, clever scriptwriting structured around multiple little callbacks, a world view that sees absurdities in all areas of life but with an underlying seriousness that can halt an audience’s laughter in its tracks.”
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“Birbiglia is creating something of an autobiographical life chronology with his work, and one can only hope that when he’s 56, he comes up with another piece – emotional, funny, heartwarming, and everything in between.”
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