Mike Birbiglia: The Old Man and the Pool on Broadway Tickets

By: Mike Birbiglia
Director: Seth Barrish
Cast list: Mike Birbiglia
Design: Beowulf Boritt
Costumes: Toni-Leslie James
Lighting: Aaron Copp
Sound: Kai Harada
Other info: Projection design by Hana S. Kim

In The Old Man and the Pool, when Birbiglia's doctor says he's inherited his family's history of heart problems, the doctor also tells him ways to lessen the effects. Only problem is: Birbiglia is initially reluctant to do them. Eating healthy is no fun, and exercising, particularly swimming, means getting back into a pool, which he swore off after one encounter at a YMCA in his childhood. He's left to contemplate his own mortality and share his findings, humorously, with all of us.

Birbiglia was on Broadway once previously in The New One, another autobiographical show about becoming a father. That show received critical acclaim and was filmed for Netflix. Birbiglia's other comedy specials, including Sleepwalk With Me, Thank God for Jokes, and My Girlfriend's Boyfriend, are also on Netflix, and he's performed them in Off-Broadway theatres as well.

Behind the scenes, Birbiglia has written and directed Don't Think Twice and a feature film adaptation of Sleepwalk With Me, starring in both as well.

For The Old Man and the Pool on Broadway, Birbiglia has handed the directorial reins to Seth Barrish, who directed previous productions of Birbiglia's show in Los Angeles, Berkeley, and Chicago.

What to Watch For

• The Old Man and the Pool takes its name from Ernest Hemingway's classic novel The Old Man and the Sea.
• Birbiglia's most recent New York comedy venture was behind the scenes. He presented Alex Edelman's thrice-extended standup show Just For Us.
• According to Birbiglia, there’s one similarity between The New One and The Old Man and the Pool: The former is about how he never wanted marriage and kids, but ended up reversing that. The latter deals with how he never wanted to enter a pool again, but ended up doing that, too.
• Birbiglia has performed in movies and TV shows he hasn't written, like Billions, Girls, and The Fault in Our Stars. Maybe someday he'll act in a non-stand-up Broadway show!
• Birbiglia isn't just a comedian, actor, writer, and director. He's also a podcast host (of Working It Out), a talk show host (he stepped in for Jimmy Fallon when he was out with COVID-19), and an author (he adapted The New One into a memoir).
• “It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me!” Just before starting Broadway performances, Birbiglia made waves online with a cameo in Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” music video. Coincidentally, Birbiglia is a kind of anti-hero in The Old Man and the Pool, undermining his own health.