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THE NEWS-HERALD
Chameleon comic launches sequel -Bob Abelman
Robert Dubac's "The Male Intellect: The 2nd Coming," currently on stage at the 14th Street Theatre, defies definition. This quirky, no-frills, one-man show is part stand-up comedy, part performance art, and part sermon. All of it is entertaining.
Act I is little more than a condensed version of the original, where the affable comic explores the question "What do women want?" He focuses on, dissects, and then makes fun of the fundamental differences between the sexes. In doing so, he reports that women feel but do not think and men think (usually with their glands) but do not remember.
Act II broadens the scope from self to society and raises larger, deeper questions about universal truths. Dubac suggests, and then demonstrates, that truth can be reached by finding balance between our male and female sides, and between what our intuition tells us and what our daily intake of media misinformation prescribes.
Dubac himself is also hard to define. He's a social satirist the likes of Lenny Bruce, but without the edginess. He's a cunning linguist who riffs with words, like George Carlin, but without the whole 1960s counterculture thing. He's a pop-philosopher and psycho-babble healer, much like Dr. Phil, but with a heaping helping of sarcasm and showmanship.
Dubac is also a talented actor who intellectualizes the stupid aspects of human behavior through brief character-based monologues that employ a range of interesting alter-egos. He uses magic, lighting effects and a few parlor tricks to help make his point during the performance. He is charming and disarming.
Dubac doesn't tell jokes as much as he weaves his way through a routine that includes set up, punch line and inevitable moral. His humor ranges from potty to profound. Interesting and very amusing. The audience is likely to leave the show with a sore jaw from smiling for 90 minutes.
- Bob Abelman
THE NEWS-HERALD | October 25th, 2008 | Review
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