Broadway Review: Mike Birbiglia’s ‘The New One’

When is a standup routine not a standup routine, but a legitimate play? Partly when it comes with theatrical trappings like a thoughtful set, subtle lighting and sound effects. (Give a pass to the everyday button-down shirt and khakis.) But mostly it goes legit when it puts a singular character through an arc of experience, leaving him and us different at the end than when the story began. On those terms, Mike Birbiglia’s “The New One,” transferred from a sold-out downtown engagement to a limited Broadway one, qualifies as a real play — a brimmingly warm, entertaining one on a universally relatable topic. Birbiglia goes through a life-changing journey; there are surprises and one coup de theatre along the way; and he is most certainly a singular character.

Casual to the max, the affable, shaggy-haired Birbiglia opens with a disquisition on the couches in his life: the one off the street shared with post-college roommates, and the First Big Purchase of adulthood. He wins audience hearts and laughter as we await the transition to Topic A: This pushing-40 married guy, having determined he absolutely should not father a child, will do so, and we’re going to hear about the fallout.