Mike Birbiglia’s The New One
Opening Night: November 11, 2018
Closing: January 20, 2019
Theater: Cort Theatre
Mike Birbiglia has a new one. It’s called The New One. He’s made you laugh in Sleepwalk With Me (it was a play presented by Nathan Lane, then a movie, THEN a book), My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend and “Thank God for Jokes.” (He was also really funny in that one season of “Orange Is the New Black.” And in “Billions.” And “Broad City.”) Now he’s on Broadway telling a new story in a new way with the same heart and humor we’ve come to expect. Lin-Manuel Miranda called The New One “as perfect a night as you’re gonna get.” Do not miss The New One. Some people say it’s his best one. (It was John Mulaney. Also Vogue.)
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November 11, 2018
It’s like being vice president: “huge title, no power.” Mike Birbiglia is talking about becoming a father and he’s got issues. In “The New One,” his smart, entertaining one-man show that just opened at the Cort Theater after a sold-out run Off-Broadway, the comedian painstakingly outlines the many reasons he never wanted to be a dad. In lesser hands, this would be little more than an extended stand-up routine, but Birbiglia, whose most recent solo shows went on to become Netflix specials, is a fine storyteller with solid acting chops (film roles in “Trainwreck” and “The Fault in Our Stars,” two seasons on “Orange Is the New Black”).
READ THE REVIEWNovember 11, 2018
Humor is, as someone once said, a reminder that no matter how high the throne one sits on, one sits on one’s bottom. And that would be a perfect way to describe Mike Birbiglia’s solo show “The New One.” Getting right down to the bottom of things – literally and figuratively – is Birbiglia’s great talent. Solo shows are always a challenge, particularly on Broadway. Audiences used to seeing splashy extravaganzas expect a lot of bang for the big bucks they have to shell out. But a good laugh is worth its weight in a boatload of King Kongs. And Birbiglia’s got a million of ’em. Well, maybe a thousand.
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November 11, 2018
If Mike Birbiglia were a piece of furniture, he would surely be a well-worn, deeply stained, slightly squishy couch, much like the one he describes at the beginning of “The New One,” his winning Broadway debut at the Cort Theater. That may not sound like a flattering comparison. But Mr. Birbiglia has great respect and affection for this kind of sofa, and so should you. As he explains in this one-man show, which opened on Sunday night under the seamless direction of Seth Barrish, a couch is “a deceptively simple piece of technology.” It is, to be precise, “a bed that hugs you.” And in delivering that deceptively simple classification, Mr. Birbiglia’s voice becomes a low, wraparound, pleasure-drenched caress.
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November 11, 2018
Similarly to his previous work (such as “Sleepwalk With Me”) Birbiglia relies upon a well-honed “nice guy” persona. In doing so, he comes off as heartfelt and relatable — not so different from any given audience member who is figuring out life as it goes along. There is an appealing smoothness and simplicity to his shows, which tend to be autobiographical in nature. Birbiglia excels at offering fun anecdotes, dramatizing conversations with offstage characters, making Seinfeld-style observations about daily life and performing occasional physical bits. Directed by Seth Barrish, with additional writing by poet Jessica Hope Stein (who is Birbiglia’s wife) “The New One” would appear at first glance to be a pretty generic title for a new stand-up show, but it actually turns out to have a substantive secondary meaning.
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November 11, 2018
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.
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