Mike Birbiglia's The Old Man and The Pool Tickets | Schedule for 2024/2025 Events

Mike Birbiglia's The Old Man and The Pool

The Old Man and the Pool is an 85-minute show by award-winning comedian and storyteller Mike Birbiglia. It is presented in his trademark style by blending quirky stories and absurd jokes woven into a single piece. The Old Man and the Pool is filled with metaphors and parables, but it doesn't get heavy at any point. The show is themed around a middle-aged man and his life. It celebrates life, death, and the YMCA pool with too much chlorine.

Mike Birbiglia has a special way of linking the smaller aspects of life to bigger issues using comedy and humor. He makes it easy to face things we fear and don't want to admit in public.

About the Show

The show deals with a middle-aged man who wants to learn to swim to increase his lung capacity and remain alive. The doctor advises him to go swimming and spend 45 minutes every day exercising. Needless to say, the man is terrified as he has to first learn how to swim and then start swimming to improve his health.

This leads the man (Mike) to think about his childhood and the various stages of his youth. At 40 years, the man is trying to adopt a healthier lifestyle (never mind the pizza that keeps him company late in the night) and do cardio (which is even harder). He finally goes to the YMCA pool, his thoughts weaving back and forth from past to present.

We get glimpses into different parts of his life and how they shaped his character. The rumination gives him the strength to understand how much he has achieved and survived. Well, he sure can brave a swimming pool, too, right?

The Idea and Take Home

What makes the concept tick is Mike Birbiglia. His view of the mundane and recurring activities, his observation of life, people, and surroundings, and his approach to presenting the issues make the show super entertaining and thought-provoking. It has a lot to offer to the audience, not just in terms of a comedy but also about how one can look at life and deal with challenges that seem to appear out of nowhere.

The Old Man and The Pool oscillated between lighthearted humor and despair, touching anxiety and existential crisis on the way. However, it never gets too dark or uncomfortable, as Mike has full control over the reins.