Are men and women equal or different ... or both? This is what Robert Dubac tries to figure out in his live-comedy show, “The Male Intellect: An Oxymoron?” The answer was a bit more complicated than you think.
Dubac’s show was filled with jokes about both sexes, as he tried to work out why we think differently. The whole story was based around “Bobby” who tries to figure out why his fiancée left him. He has no idea what he did. He’s got to figure it out in order to attempt to get her back.
Bobby proceeds to walk the audience through the situation in order to pinpoint what needs to be fixed. It turned out, he’s a little chauvinistic.
Dubac “transforms” into several influential male characters from Bobby’s past, who live inside his head. This explains why he acts the way he does — The Colonel, a brash authoritative type; Jean-Michel, a smooth talking Frenchman; Fast Eddie, a fast talking love-them-and-leave-them kind of guy; Old Man Linger, an eternal bachelor; and Ronnie Cabrezzi, a man afraid of commitment. All of these influences explain why Bobby does some of the things that drove his fiancée out the door. The best part was all the laughter these characters brought out of the audience. All five of them had me laughing, shaking my head or both.
It was not a man bashing or a woman bashing show — both were ridiculed equally. Between the jokes, some of the thoughts and ideas about how men think and what women want rang true. Men and women have been contradictions to one another from day one, yet we all work together to get through this thing called life. If we were all the same, that would be boring. That was where the oxymoron part came into play. Even though men and women can seem contradictory, we remain paired together in life, romantically or otherwise.
Dubac was brilliant on stage. It was live theatre mixed with stand-up comedy. There was clearly a script, but it can change and flow as though it was open mic night at a comedy club. When he would change characters, it was clear to see he was playing a different person. Sure, some had hats and jackets to show they were different, but his voice and mannerisms changed with each one. It was great.
The Temple Theatre was a great setting for the show. The smaller theatre allowed you to pick up on every nuance Dubac did during the show. You could see every facial expression and gesture, which only added to the laughter.
After the show, I discovered a small personal victory had occurred. Most of the time when we go to these things my fiancé, Tim, was just being a good sport and going with me. I think he would rather be fishing or working on cars. He said he liked going with me, so I continue to take him. I knew he enjoyed comedy shows, so I had a feeling he’d enjoy this show a bit more than some of the other things we’ve seen on stage.
What I didn’t know was Tim would know the guy and love the show. Last summer, Tim showed me a comedy compilation DVD from years ago, and lo-and-behold, Robert Dubac was one of the acts. Part of the routine from the DVD was even in the show we were watching. Tim was in comedy heaven. While he seems to always enjoy theatre, it was fun for me to see him as excited as I get after the show.
“The Male Intellect: An Oxymoron?” runs at the Temple Theatre until May 14. It’s a Tuesday-Sunday show with two showtimes on Saturday. If you want a good laugh, I’d definitely recommend you check out the show while it’s in town.
Contact Pam Rodgers at
prodgers@newtondailynews.com