alphabetical author index

Good Life, The (Birbiglia)

  • Mike Birbiglia
  • Full Length Play, Comedy, Present Day, Contemporary
  • 1M or F
  • ISBN: 9780573711947

Grappling with an ailing father and an inquisitive kid, award-winning comedian and storyteller Mike Birbiglia poses the question: “What can I teach my daughter?”

  • Full Length Play
  • Comedy
  • 75 minutes

  • Time Period: Present Day, Contemporary
  • Target Audience: Adult
  • Set Requirements: Bare Stage/Simple Set
  • Cautions: Mild Adult Themes, Strong Language

  • Performance Group:
  • Blackbox / Second Stage /Fringe Groups, Professional Theatre
In this hilarious and heartwarming one-man show, Mike Birbiglia poses the question: “What can I teach my daughter?” Through a series of comedic rants about sex talks, children’s birthday parties and the story of his father’s recent stroke, he attempts to answer this question. Then, he poses a few more.

REVIEWS:

"A fantastic story, affectingly and assuredly told."

Rolling Stone

"This masterly new show is about life in the sandwich generation, trying to answer questions from your daughter (What is the good life? Who is Jesus?) while caring for a father after a stroke."

The New York Times

"It’s fantastic. The theme revolves around what exactly constitutes a  ‘good life,’ and it unfolds in segments inspired by deep, sometimes existential questions posed by his nine-year-old daughter, Oona."

Pajiba

"The Good Life is the sixth of Birbiglia’s one-man shows, each one more or less chronicling a life stage; this is the one where he’s at the phase of beginning to lose people, whether they’re ailing like his dad, or growing up, like his daughter… It’s dangerously marshy terrain, trying to joke about yourself via your family, especially when children are involved. It’s too easy to drift into being sappy or brutal. But… Birbiglia puts on the extra-long waders and squelches in."

Time

"Hilarious… In The Good Life, Birbiglia finds himself stretched thin by his dual roles as parent and son. How do you support an ailing parent with whom you’ve never been close? And how do you answer the big questions as your kids grow old enough to ask them? Nine-year-old daughter Oona came up with a stumper when gazing upon the marquee for a local smoke-and-vape shop: ‘Dad, what’s the Good Life?’"

Cracked

Premiere Production: The Good Life premiered at the Beacon Theatre in New York City on March 22, 2025. Directed by Seth Barrish, the play was written and performed by Mike Birbiglia.
  • Casting: 1M or F

Name Price
Good Life, The (Birbiglia) Script This is optional. Order Now

 

$24.95