Mike Birbiglia: The Old Man & The Pool (West End) London Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (20)
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 are open to seeing someone new and open to a different kind of story telling
Don't see it if You aren't a fan of stand up style comedy.
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 enjoy Skilful combining of stand-ups own life insights and tales into his storytelling.
Don't see it if you want to see seriously funny. The show is pleasant enough, my opinion is other comedians are better storytellers/stories are funnier.
See it if you are a fan of Mike Birbiglia....or even know who he is (I didn't)
Don't see it if Don't find American comedians funny. It's not bad just not for me.
See it if Like funny
Don't see it if Like boring
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 You like a very smart man open up about his life and find the humour in all parts of it. Very, very smart and down to earth and FUNNY
Don't see it if You aren’t able to keep up with quick thoughts about life and don’t like to look death in the face!!
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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" '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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"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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“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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“[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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“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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“In a mash-up between stand-up comedy and theatre ‘Mike Birbiglia’s The Man and the Pool’ is an engaging and truly funny hit of a show.”
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