Review: Bill Irwin and David Shiner's OLD HATS Is Still A Perfect Fit

They called it "New Vaudeville" when performers like Bill Irwin and David Shiner were being noticed in the 1980s for their brand of old school clowning with a contemporary slant.

Linked a bit with the performance art movement that was simultaneously growing, new vaudeville didn't ask "Remember when?" but focused on "What if?" What if vaudeville never lost its popularity? What would it look like now? Certainly some of its traditions like baggy pants buffoonery and physical clowning would remain, but they'd be combined with newer routines that would take advantage of changing attitudes and new technology.

Directed by Tina Landau, the return engagement of Irwin and Shiner's 2013 Signature hit, Old Hats, is a fascinating display of an art form that retains its newness in the hands of masters who mix classic bits with modern wordless observations.

Watching the two as competing candidates debating from twin podiums, miming their mudslinging and tailoring their positions to whatever makes their poll numbers rise, seems almost a mimicry of what Americans have been witnessing this campaign season.

Irwin's uproarious bit where he plays a high-powered businessman whose digital image has taken on more human characteristics than his flesh and blood self has a sharp satirical edge.

There's a hinted need to unobtrusively fit in when they play a pair of baggy-suited commuters who alternately transform their personal appearances to balance with that of their counterpart, and when the boys engage in hat-manipulating competition don't be surprised if thoughts of rap battles come to mind.

And then, of course, there's simply the captivating showmanship when Irwin plays a waiter combatting with a pot of spaghetti and when Shiner directs a quartet of audience volunteers in a western movie scene.

Family friendly entertainment is rarely this hip.

In a slot occupied by Nellie McKay the first time around, singer/songwriter Shaina Taub and her band entertain between routines, showcasing flippantly fun lyrics and melodies that she sings with dark cheeriness.

A love song focuses on her want to pass on before her lover so she can die happy, a jaunty number advises us to "lighten up" because everything that's lousy about the world ain't going away, and an insanely catchy tune reminds us that we're made of orange juice on the inside.

Not sure what that last one means.