Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Mike Birbiglia’s skillfully-crafted, ambivalent THE NEW ONE honestly deliberates his new role: fatherhood

• By drediman
• August 26, 2018
• No Comments

Mike Birbiglia in his latest solo show “The New One” at the Cherry Lane Theatre. Photo by Joan Marcus.

This afternoon, Mike Birbiglia’s latest solo show The New One ends its Off-Broadway run at the Cherry Lane Theatre. Luckily, I was able to catch this sold out hit, which began its run in mid-July, before it shuttered. I had last seen Mr. Birbiglia in New York more than two years ago when he performed his very funny and unexpectedly moving Thank God For Jokes at the Lynn Redgrave Theatre. As with most shows done in a stand-up comedy format, The New One is autobiographical in nature. In it, Mr. Birbiglia continues to play the reluctant hero of his own life (Thank God For Jokes depicted his topsy-turvy development as a comic and adult), now entering the next phase of his journey – fatherhood. True to his brand of comedy, it’s a role that he takes on with wavering skepticism.

Also like that previous show, The New One is more than simply just an extended sketch of, say, something you’d see at the Comedy Cellar or Upright Citizens Brigade. Beyond being an expert at setting up and landing jokes – which he does with sly prowess – Mr. Birbiglia is more importantly a skilled storyteller, comparable in ability to some of the most accomplished theatrical monologists out there (e.g., the late Spalding Gray, Mike Daisey). He carefully weaves together a narrative that starts off unassumingly but creeps up on you with its considerable craft and well-earned wisdom. His self-deprecating, glass-half-empty humor may not be for everyone (I can see how some could find him infuriating), but there’s no denying that, like the very best comics, Mr. Birbiglia is a wary observer and piercing soothsayer of modern-day living.

Similar to Mr. Birbiglia’s performance, the production is directed by Seth Barrish (they had also worked together on Thank God for Jokes) in a deceptively understated manner. It’s a credit to both gentlemen that the show they have created works quite well as a fully-formed, satisfying theatrical experience. Although I found Thank God for Jokes more dramatically compelling – as a gay man who is unlikely to have biological kids of his own, I am not The New Ones’ target market – I was still captivated by the deft storytelling. There’s a visual coup towards the end of the show that brilliantly depicts how Mr. Birbiglia’s life was upended by being thrown into the chaos of parenthood. He responds to this apt theatrical flourish with honest circumspect, resentful bewilderment even. Such is the ambivalence of most things in life, which Mr. Birbiglia masterfully, hilariously articulates.

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THE NEW ONE
Off-Broadway, Play
Cherry Lane Theatre
1 hour, 20 minutes (with no intermission)
Through August 26