Bill Irwin reunites with fellow clown David Shiner for a new work combining their inimitable magic, slapstick, and hilarity. Using music, technology, and movement, plus other tricks up their sleeves, Irwin and Shiner create another wild and remarkable outing of theatre for a new generation of audiences.
Clowning duo Bill Irwin and David Shiner’s newest comedy collaboration, Old Hats is a mixed bag of silly sketches, magic tricks, music and even a dance step or two. Featuring live music by singer-songwriter Nellie McKay and her four-piece band, Old Hats is a whimsical tribute to old-school vaudeville with a tip of the hat to modern technology.
"The duo’s new sampler finds them as supple and elastic as ever—and that goes for their creative brains and body language...the mix of hocus-pocus, humor and heart makes it stand out."
New York Daily News
Joe Dziemianowicz
"What makes an evening with Irwin and Shiner so special is how profoundly they complement one another. They do the same thing—make us laugh hysterically—but they reach our funny bones via different channels...together, Irwin and Shiner run the full gamut of the ways physical comedy can speak to an audience."
Backstage
Lisa Jo Sagolla
"...In their new compendium of comic sketches, which opened on Monday night at the Pershing Square Signature Center, these supremely talented performers display the bubbly energy and shining vitality—not to mention amazingly elastic faces and limbs—of men half their age."
The New York Times
Charles Isherwood