The Old Man and the Pool is more stand-up comedy than theatrical performance but, hey, it was produced by a major theater company and was performed in the Mark Taper Forum, so respect must be paid. Also, this solo turn by Mike Birbiglia was consistently funny and engaging, making it a pleasure to write about.
Birbiglia, who writes his own material, has put together several successful one-man shows in the past, including Sleepwalk With Me and The New One, which can be found on Netflix. Bibiglia, I learned from the program notes, is also a best-selling author and the host of a podcast, “Birbiglia’s Working It Out.”
The Old Man and the Pool he takes center stage at the Taper, framed by Hana S. Kim’s curved rear-projection of a tiled swimming pool bottom. The only prop is a stool. Birbiglia, then, makes the most of very little, depending on his charisma and of course his comic patter to connect with the audience. Which he did for the next 90 minutes.
Birbiglia’s shtick is to come across as an ordinary, somewhat helpless and bewildered guy trying to cope with a dark and dangerous world. At 41, for example, his health suddenly begins to fail. He has a heart attack and must be taken to hospital in an ambulance, which he describes as “a slow bus that makes many stops.”
Tests reveal that he’s got several major issues, including Stage Two diabetes and a faulty ticker. The latter diagnosis freaks him out, if only because both his father and grandfather died young of heart failure.
In talking about these grim things, Birbiglia never loses his sense of humor. He keeps poking fun at his doctors, himself, and at the treatment he must endure (such as giving up heavy Italian food). He is also advised to start exercising in a serious way, something he hasn’t done since he was in high school and a reluctant member of the wrestling team (where he was badly beaten by everybody he faced).
Now, years later, he decides that swimming might help improve his health. Only problem is, he not only doesn’t know how to swim but has bad memories of a YMCA locker-room visit from his youth–-including that of an old man sitting naked and dusting his testicles with talcum powder.
A big part of Birbiglia’s monologue deals with his swimming misadventures, but he also aims his comic arrows at Christmas, religion, marriage, writing a will and dealing with the IRS. In short, he’s not afraid to laugh at his fate in life, which includes a battle with those old verities, death and taxes.
