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The Good Life

Mike Birbiglia

Netflix · 2025 · 77 min

A storyteller's gentle confrontation with aging parents and trampoline park liability.

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Mike Birbiglia spent his career mastering the art of the highly structured, theatrical comedy show, but here he leans into a looser, more conversational hour that feels closer to traditional stand-up. The narrative frame is prompted by a series of existential questions from his nine-year-old daughter, Oona, but the emotional core of the show belongs to his aging father, a stoic neurologist who recently suffered a stroke. Birbiglia spends much of the hour reconciling his complicated relationship with his father while simultaneously realizing that he has inherited many of the same frustrating parenting traits.\n\nRather than building to a singular, dramatic crescendo like his previous theatrical outings, this hour drifts between specific domestic crises. The strongest sequence of the special belongs to a detailed, highly relatable breakdown of a catastrophic trip to an indoor trampoline park called Urban Air, which ends in a broken foot for his daughter and a deep-seated desire to sue the establishment despite a mountain of signed liability waivers. He also spends time discussing the physical realities of aging, his lapsed-Catholic relationship with prayer, and his daughter’s complete lack of talent at ballet.\n\nFilmed at the Beacon Theatre in New York City during a six-show run in March 2025, the special was released on Netflix in May of that year. Directed by his longtime creative partner Seth Barrish, the show arrived following Birbiglia’s Emmy-nominated run of The Old Man and the Pool. Critics and fans largely welcomed the shift to a more relaxed format, even if a few missed the airtight narrative structures of his past theater runs.

The set list

5 bits

  1. His daughter asks 'Dad, what is The Good Life?' outside a Brooklyn weed dispensary

    Spurs an existential journey examining fatherhood, aging, and what wisdom he can pass on to his daughter

  2. Visiting the Vatican to meet Pope Francis alongside fellow comedians like Jim Gaffigan, Chris Rock, and Conan O'Brien

    Contrasts his own views of the Catholic Church with his parents' beliefs while critiquing the church's past scandals

  3. His wife Jenny making him a single 'pancake' based on his health profile

    Jokes about middle-aged health maintenance and his wife knowing precisely what he should eat

  4. No one offering him cocaine despite decades working in nightclubs

    Reflects on his innate squareness and domestic persona

  5. A fierce political argument with his father 20 years earlier

    Examines their strained ideological relationship and reframes it after his father's stroke

How it plays

Tone
Hilarious, heartwarming, intimate, vulnerable, and self-deprecating
On stage
Frazzled, warm and witty Brooklyn dad next door, self-described square mumbler with an abiding dadliness
Pace
Deceptively understated, conversational storytelling that moves organically between comedic rants and tender narrative reflection
About
fatherhood, parenting, aging parents, his father's stroke, existential questions from children, marriage and keeping score

What the critics said

Praised as a masterly, deeply personal, and hilarious exploration of the sandwich generation that affectingly navigates parenthood, mortality, and filial relationships

In the room: Described as having 'big LinkedIn energy' filled with light sweaters, leaning warmly into Birbiglia's storytelling and married crowd interactions

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: rollingstone.com, concordtheatricals.com, justwatch.com, variety.com, decider.com, nytimes.com, metacritic.com, en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, vanityfair.com.

Backstory

Crafted around his father's recent stroke and grappling with questions about aging, parenting, and mortality while raising his nine-year-old daughter Oona in Brooklyn, alongside reflections on attending a Vatican meeting with Pope Francis

Details

Released
Taped
Beacon Theatre, New York
Runtime
77 min
Where
Netflix
Director
Seth Barrish
Topics
Before
Good One: A Show About Jokes (2024)

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