Mike Birbiglia Gives Most Important Performance of His Career [REVIEW]

In this review I would like to draw your attention to how great and adorable baby Yoda is. The Mandalorian is probably a fine show, and I should probably watch it before reviewing it.

So, lets talk about Mike Birbiglia’s new standup special instead.

I can hear a lot of people asking, “Why should I care about a comedian that I have never heard of?”

Because in Birbiglia’s new Netflix special “The New One” he gives his most moving, and important standup to date.

Birbiglia is not a huge name by any means, and that is because his style is not one that fits the main stream. For a lot of when he talks he is soft spoken, but gains dominion over the room by using that style to create a conversational tone.

During his career in standup he has had many laugh-out-loud specials where he makes light out of his significant struggles with a sleep disorder, mental health struggles, and unconventional views on marriage, relationships, and life in general.

His style simply is not for everyone, but for those that enjoy his work the newest special is a must watch. I cannot say that this special is his best work, but I can say what he says in this special is his most important to date.

In past specials he has talked at great length about not liking relationships and marriage, and given nuanced reason why, but in this special he talks about his biggest obstacle yet: fatherhood.  

This is also the part of the review where I am supposed to say turn back now and watch or lose the surprise and luster of discovering something for yourself.

Birbiglia, during this special grapples with an issue that many men end up dealing with: not wanting kids and finding themselves in a situation where their partner wants kids.

Most in that situation do buckle and have kids, Birbiglia included. His struggles with trying to be the best possible father while attempting to have his life not change at all. Well here is a spoiler to life and not the stand up: if you are reading this and say your life won’t change much after the child is born, then you are wrong and nearly every couple says that.

His life changed, and towards the end of the special he says perhaps the most honest line ever spoken in any comedy special, “I think: I get why dads leave.”

Throughout all of this you are sitting there laughing, but with about 20 minutes left in the special there is a dramatic tone shift. He acknowledges that in saying that he alienates a lot of people that have dealt with the loss of a parent, but through all of this your heart breaks for that family.

The emotion is raw, the situations are beyond relatable, and the ending is satisfying. While sitting and watching the special, with no alcohol in my system. It is the end of the semester and I have been dealing with the same stress that all students do at this time of year do, and I nearly broke down crying when I heard that.

Now I will be honest this hit home for me as someone that wants nothing to do with kids. Now it is immensely more complicated than, “Oh I’m a man and I don’t want kids.” But Birbiglia gives the most candid glimpse into the transition to parent hood.

If your heart does not break for the man coping as best he can in a new and crazy situation, then your heart has to break for the mother picking up after him.

The special is such an important piece of art that pulls the curtain back on the imagined life where parenthood is nothing but joy and fulfillment.

The special is, to paraphrase Patton Oswalt, hilarious and relatable, heartbreaking, and then hilarious again before ending on one of the most moving notes I’ve heard from a stand up.