Mike Birbiglia's Existential Exercises

The latest in pop-culture news, recaps, and reviews, plus close reads, profiles, interviews, and more from Vulture.com. [Brand Logo]( comedy review [Mike Birbiglia’s Existential Exercises]( In his Broadway show The Old Man and the Pool, the comedian dives into the anxieties of aging. Photo: Emilio Madrid One of [Mike Birbiglia’s]( simplest and best talents is his instinct for leaping from sprawling existential ideas to prosaic little experiences. He is a master of translating between big and small things. In his work, our darkest fears and most intense loves become visible and accessible to us through absurd little daily realities: the way chlorine smells, the nickname we call our partner, the mysteries of safety signage, the chicken Parmesan served at Christmas. It’s a rhetorical mainstay, ubiquitous across ad campaigns and news reports and fairy tales and every stand-up joke about how men are like this and women are like that. But Birbiglia’s power is to make that leap seem easy without undermining its magic: Here’s the small thing that illuminates the big abstraction. [Read MORE]( [Subscribe for over 60% off]( and unlock unlimited access to Vulture and everything New York. Plus, get a free tote and exclusive access to The Strategist’s Incredibly Exhaustive Gift Guide. The Latest TV Recaps • Dangerous Liaisons: [Sudden Death]( • The Real Housewives of Potomac: [Mean Girls]( • The Walking Dead: [Last Train to Commonwealth]( • The White Lotus: [Change of Heart]( • Interview With the Vampire: [You’ve Only Heard Half the Story]( • The Crown: [The Wrong Side of History]( [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( Stories We Think You’ll Like [Wakanda Forever Closes Out Marvel’s Phase 4 With a Record November Opening It provided a much-needed boost to reeling multiplexes that have been starved of big-budget event titles since summer.]( [The White Lotus’s Meghann Fahy Knows Daphne Is No Victim The series’ “Zen mommy” unpacks the marital mind games being played in this week’s episode.]( [What Happened to Ana Mendieta She was a pathbreaking artist, hungry for recognition. A podcast reexamines how her 1985 death made headlines instead.]( By Max Pearl [13 Essential Episodes of The Walking Dead Charting the highs and lows of the zombie apocalypse.]( By Daniel Dockery [30 Books We Can’t Wait to Read This Winter With new releases from Bora Chung, Matthew Salesses, Prince Harry, Kashana Cauley, Cormac McCarthy, and more.]( By Isle McElroy [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [Today’s Crossword]( 5-Across, Six Letters: Setting for many a Ben Affleck movie. Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos by Netflix/YouTube, Kevin Winter/Getty Images and Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images for Bottomless Closet Vulture Recommends We consume it all so you don’t have to. Photo: Scott Everett White/Netflix Watch [Falling for Christmas](, Lindsay Lohan’s most convincing comeback to date. The movie “defies the unspoken rules of the Netflix Christmas Cinematic Universe (henceforth referred to as the NCCU) by being neither a pun nor a plot description,” writes Rachel Handler. “This marks a troubling departure from the traditions of the NCCU, and as such, it’s important to study it closely and attempt to tease out its meaning.” [Read more from Vulture]( Vulture Movies Fantasy League Illustration: Vulture This year’s game invites readers to compete against one another — and the Vulture staff — in a test of box-office foreknowledge and awards-season prognostication. [Read up on the how the game works](, and when you’re ready, [select your team]( before the draft window closes on November 21! [logo]( [facebook logo]( [instagram logo]( [twitter logo]( [unsubscribe](param=vulture-daily) | [privacy notice]( | [update preferences]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Was this email forwarded to you? [Sign up now]( to get this newsletter in your inbox. [View this email in your browser.]( You received this email because you have a subscription to New York. Reach the right online audience with us For advertising information on email newsletters, please contact AdOps@nymag.com Vox Media, LLC 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, 12th Floor Washington, DC 20036 Copyright © 2022, All rights reserved