July 12th, 2011
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Robert Dubac’s “Fast Eddie” persona in “The Male Intellect: An Oxymoron?” at Act II Playhouse.
“The Male Intellect: An Oxymoron?” purports to be a study in chauvinism and “female ways.” Writer, actor and comedian Robert Dubac, in this 90-minute stand-up routine does a remarkable job of switching characters in a suave, unconfusing manner.
There are several actors touring the country with this show but none better than the slick, glib, handsome and assured Dubac, who also wrote the script. His charismatic demeanor has the audience eating out of his hand at his first monologue.
“Oxymoron,” written 15 years ago and updated with current topics, is really about how the male id stands in the way of sensitive male-female relationships.
Mining territory similar to Rob Becker’s “Defending the Caveman” and Lily Tomlin’s “The Search for Intelligent Life in the Universe,” these shows grew out of material and characters developed in stand-up comedy skits. They depend on solo actors displaying dazzling quick-change characterizations, with a sense of optimism in the face of life’s baffling mysteries.
As they are uninhibited about discussing in public such taboos as human genitalia and a variety of sexual peccadilloes; you might be more annoyed than amused at times and the gutter talk at the end runs close to offensive. There is a generous devaluing of the male ego here that seems to entertain some audience members more than others.
In the comedy skit, “The Male Intellect” is an invitation into the brain of Bobby, a man who has just been dumped by his girl friend.
Stage right in the show is Bobby’s left brain — masculine, mathematical, linear and piled with dirty laundry, sports gear, some empty bottles and file cabinets containing, under ‘B,’ his unconsumed beer.
Stage left is Bobby’s right brain — spatial, emotional, verbal, and housing only an empty chalkboard.
The chalkboard does not stay empty for long, and the left part of the brain does not stay silent. While you wait 90 minutes for Bobby’s phone to ring, the end of a deadline set by his girlfriend, Bobby uses both sides of the chalkboard to illustrate a range of creative, ever changing and often crude theories about men, women and love.
Bobby’s been reading a plethora of self-help books and is now an expert on how the sexes are different. Men lie, while women “change their minds.” Women can remember stuff men did three years ago, while men can’t even remember whether it’s true or not. We men even speak a different language. To a woman, the word “commit” means to elevate a relationship to a higher level. To a man, it means “to incarcerate.”
Wearing black attire, Dubac opens center stage. He introduces himself, provides the phone-call-deadline background for his angst, and then refuses to stand still for the rest of the show.
He oscillates between both sides of the stage, shocking himself with bleak, chauvinistic utterings on one side (“If a man loses his sense of humor, he wants to kill himself. If a woman loses hers, she wants to kill you”) before bouncing back over to his feminine side to continue a frustratingly cryptic dialogue with the soft-lit velvet voice (“Come on, Bobby, I want what all women want. It’s simple. All you have to do is figure it out”).
Dubac does especially good work switching into several humorously offensive side-characters, each of whom has his own advice on relationships. Continued…
Robert Dubac’s “Fast Eddie” persona in “The Male Intellect: An Oxymoron?” at Act II Playhouse.
THE COLONEL: A stiff-legged bigot who assures us that “all men are assholes. Any you fellers out there won’t admit you’re an asshole — well, that jes makes you a stupid asshole.”
RONNIE CABREZZI: A New York tough guy with a big heart and the biceps to match, if not the brain: “Sometimes I don’t talk to Lucy. And she gets mad at me. But when I do talk, she still gets mad. So then I gotta lie. I don’t wanna lie. But I gotta lie.” Are you getting the picture?
OLD MR. LINGER: A 123-year-old fisherman who professes that laughter is the key to longevity while attempting to talk Bobby down from hanging himself. Mr. Linger also declares that he cannot die until he meets the perfect woman.
And then there is Dubac’s parable of the green mold: If green mold shows up on the top of the spaghetti sauce, a woman will throw out the whole jar. A man will scoop out the green and eat the rest. If he’s drunk, he’ll just stir it in.” In case you didn’t guess, “Oxymoron” is a contradiction in terms.
To paraphrase some things I have read about this show — it DID NOT make me laugh helplessly and it DIDN’T leave me with a warm and fuzzy feeling. I suppose there’s nothing wrong with a little crudeness or vulgarity — it is so common these days — but this is definitely intended for an adult audience who don’t mind being the brunt of the joke.
IF YOU GO:
“The Male Intellect:
An Oxymoron?”
continues at Act II Playhouse,
56 E. Butler Ave.,
Ambler, PA 19002,
through July 31.
Tickets: $27 – $33. Continued…
Robert Dubac’s “Fast Eddie” persona in “The Male Intellect: An Oxymoron?” at Act II Playhouse.
“The Male Intellect: An Oxymoron?” purports to be a study in chauvinism and “female ways.” Writer, actor and comedian Robert Dubac, in this 90-minute stand-up routine does a remarkable job of switching characters in a suave, unconfusing manner.
There are several actors touring the country with this show but none better than the slick, glib, handsome and assured Dubac, who also wrote the script. His charismatic demeanor has the audience eating out of his hand at his first monologue.
“Oxymoron,” written 15 years ago and updated with current topics, is really about how the male id stands in the way of sensitive male-female relationships.
Mining territory similar to Rob Becker’s “Defending the Caveman” and Lily Tomlin’s “The Search for Intelligent Life in the Universe,” these shows grew out of material and characters developed in stand-up comedy skits. They depend on solo actors displaying dazzling quick-change characterizations, with a sense of optimism in the face of life’s baffling mysteries.
As they are uninhibited about discussing in public such taboos as human genitalia and a variety of sexual peccadilloes; you might be more annoyed than amused at times and the gutter talk at the end runs close to offensive. There is a generous devaluing of the male ego here that seems to entertain some audience members more than others.
In the comedy skit, “The Male Intellect” is an invitation into the brain of Bobby, a man who has just been dumped by his girl friend.
Stage right in the show is Bobby’s left brain — masculine, mathematical, linear and piled with dirty laundry, sports gear, some empty bottles and file cabinets containing, under ‘B,’ his unconsumed beer.
Stage left is Bobby’s right brain — spatial, emotional, verbal, and housing only an empty chalkboard.
The chalkboard does not stay empty for long, and the left part of the brain does not stay silent. While you wait 90 minutes for Bobby’s phone to ring, the end of a deadline set by his girlfriend, Bobby uses both sides of the chalkboard to illustrate a range of creative, ever changing and often crude theories about men, women and love.
Bobby’s been reading a plethora of self-help books and is now an expert on how the sexes are different. Men lie, while women “change their minds.” Women can remember stuff men did three years ago, while men can’t even remember whether it’s true or not. We men even speak a different language. To a woman, the word “commit” means to elevate a relationship to a higher level. To a man, it means “to incarcerate.”
Wearing black attire, Dubac opens center stage. He introduces himself, provides the phone-call-deadline background for his angst, and then refuses to stand still for the rest of the show.
He oscillates between both sides of the stage, shocking himself with bleak, chauvinistic utterings on one side (“If a man loses his sense of humor, he wants to kill himself. If a woman loses hers, she wants to kill you”) before bouncing back over to his feminine side to continue a frustratingly cryptic dialogue with the soft-lit velvet voice (“Come on, Bobby, I want what all women want. It’s simple. All you have to do is figure it out”).
Dubac does especially good work switching into several humorously offensive side-characters, each of whom has his own advice on relationships.
THE COLONEL: A stiff-legged bigot who assures us that “all men are assholes. Any you fellers out there won’t admit you’re an asshole — well, that jes makes you a stupid asshole.”
RONNIE CABREZZI: A New York tough guy with a big heart and the biceps to match, if not the brain: “Sometimes I don’t talk to Lucy. And she gets mad at me. But when I do talk, she still gets mad. So then I gotta lie. I don’t wanna lie. But I gotta lie.” Are you getting the picture?
OLD MR. LINGER: A 123-year-old fisherman who professes that laughter is the key to longevity while attempting to talk Bobby down from hanging himself. Mr. Linger also declares that he cannot die until he meets the perfect woman.
And then there is Dubac’s parable of the green mold: If green mold shows up on the top of the spaghetti sauce, a woman will throw out the whole jar. A man will scoop out the green and eat the rest. If he’s drunk, he’ll just stir it in.” In case you didn’t guess, “Oxymoron” is a contradiction in terms.
To paraphrase some things I have read about this show — it DID NOT make me laugh helplessly and it DIDN’T leave me with a warm and fuzzy feeling. I suppose there’s nothing wrong with a little crudeness or vulgarity — it is so common these days — but this is definitely intended for an adult audience who don’t mind being the brunt of the joke.
IF YOU GO:
“The Male Intellect:
An Oxymoron?”
continues at Act II Playhouse,
56 E. Butler Ave.,
Ambler, PA 19002,
through July 31.
Tickets: $27 – $33.
Info: 215-654-0200
or www.act2.org.
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