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Solo show gets second life

They say you can't go home again, but Robert Dubac is proving them wrong. A decade ago he fine-tuned his one-man show The Male Intellect: An Oxymoron? at four theaters in Denver before taking it on the road to years of acclaim. Now he's back with an updated version - The 2nd Coming - playing a four-week run at Curious Theater Company.

If you're familiar with Oxymoron, you'll think 2nd Coming is a case of déjà vu - but only for the first 45 minutes. Dubac appears to have condensed the best of that earlier work into a similar comic diatribe centered on the question: What do women want?

He again takes us inside his brain, the left half of which is cluttered and hideously male, the right half of which is tidy and, well, feminine. He spins yarns and gives relationship advice in the guise of various characters: the chauvinistic Colonel; the extremely metro-sexual Bobbi; academic Phillip Pomeroy; and, of course, tell-it-like-it-is Uncle Bobby. It's funny stuff.

Act 2 is called "The Door of Truth," and here Dubac wades into what he calls the "deep end" of the comedy pool. Forget what women want - it's about what Dubac wants as he riffs on such subjects as gay marriage, celebutantes, abortion and politics. Let's just say he's not a fan of the current administration.

Over the years Dubac has mastered the art of the one-man show: He roams the stage and make ample use of his props. Here, they include a blackboard with his customary word puzzles, a bell, a stool and some magic tricks. It's good stuff. The political material plays a bit obvious, but Dubac salvages even the rough spots with his personality. He's a clever performer who makes the audience a confidant, and thus a sympathetic ear.

Robert Dubac's Male Intellect: The 2nd Coming packs enough laughs and insights to keep you smiling for two hours.

- Mike Pearson

ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS | August 10, 2007 | Review Index