"Caveman
is a nationwide comic phenomenon!"
-
Ralph Blumenthal
Hysterically
funny! As someone who has covered the theater off and on
for a couple of decades, I'm as jaded as the next journalist,
but I have to say that Becker made me laugh until tears rolled
down my cheeks. People were holding their sides. The woman
sitting next to me laughed until she choked.
For
ninety minutes, Becker proceeds, with compassion as well
as humor, to outline the idea that there are real reasons
for our differences, possibly even genetic reasons whose
origins are buried in the millennia of human evolution; and
instead of judging the opposite sex according to one's own
gender based standards, it is possible to recognize the differences
and accept them without hostile judgment.
Becker
sends you out of the theater with a smile on your face. You
feel less alone. Couples who were arguing before the performance
stroll out into the night afterward holding hands. You know
there's going to be some serious snuggling going on when
they get home. Seems to me that's well worth the price of
admission.
-
Leslie Bennetts
"Hilarious
Caveman is full of keen detail"
-
Christine Dolan
"While
Becker is out to dispell the notion that all men are jerks,
he does so in a way that is designed to promote understanding
between the sexes. And judging from the uniformly uproarious
response, his observations play equally well to both sides
of the divide."
-Vit
Wagner, Theater Ciritc, TORONTO STAR
"Despite
the club-wielding Neanderthal ring of it's title, Rob Becker's
one-man show, "Defending the Caveman," is a surprisingly
sweet, gently comic, even sentimental little celebration
of the male and female of the species.
Becker
may spend most of his 90 minute performance amusingly cataloguing
the instantly recognizable traits that differentiate the
sexes, but the underlying message of all of his observations
is that out of these differences springs the potential for
bridge building rather than perpetual warfare.
He
has found a way to mine the commonplaces of heterosexual
relationships that goes straight to the funny bone. His affection
for women, in tandem with his light-hearted defense of men,
puts him in a win-win situation. In his hands, the fireworks
of the sexual revolution have been melted into friendly fire."
-
Hedy Weiss
"It
is comforting to be assured that we are part of an ongoing
family -- the cave people from inner space."
-
Clive Barnes
"(H)umorous
insights about contemporary feminism, masculine sensitivity,
and the erogenous zone. A genuine word-of-mouth hit, it shows
no sign of fading."
-
Stephen Schaefer
"The
sensation of the year!"
-
Richard Christiansen, Theater Critic
Other
articles:
Becker's
`Caveman' Evolves Into A Sensation
- Sid Smith, Tribune Arts Critic, Thursday, September 15, 1994.
Word's
Out and `Caveman' Sails Away
- Sid Smith, Tribune Arts Critic., Thursday, May 26, 1994.
Interview
- Cheryl Lavin, Sunday, June 5, 1994 .
"How
does Becker explain Caveman's success? "I think the show
gives people a way to understand themselves and their partners
while they're laughing and I think some healing takes place
when a couple sits in a darkened theater, laughing with hundreds
of other couples, realizing they're not alone."
It
took more than three years to write the complete show, which
was first presented in 1991 in San Francisco. He knew he
was onto something after working on the show in 1987 and
soon developed the theme that the struggles between a man
and a woman can be understood by thinking of them as coming
from two different cultures.
He
also feels that he has tapped into a current societal wave. "I
think a whole generation is catching on to the idea that
we can work for equality between the sexes AND we can bring
harmony to our relationships by understanding our differences.""
-
John Wolfe
"Outrageously
funny! Caveman explores all of the things that make men and
women fight, laugh, and love."
-
Deborah Bradley
Raves for Chris Sullivan and Kevin Burke
Broadway play helps sexes understand each
other
By ADRIENNE BROADDUS
The State News
TYLER SIPE The State News
Kevin Burke, star of the Broadway hit "Defending the Caveman," entertains
the crowd at the Wharton Center's Pasant Theatre Tuesday night.
The comedic hit is the longest-running solo play in Broadway
history
Don't waste your hard-earned dollar bills on relationship
self-help books - Kevin Burke is all the help you need. Burke,
star of
the longest-running, nonmusical, solo-performance show in Broadway
history, Rob Becker's "Defending the
Caveman," can explain the differences between the sexes
better than any book can.
The title of the show, which opened Tuesday night in the Wharton
Center's Pasant Theatre, comes from the original author's observation
that the differences between men and women date back to prehistoric
times. Burke concludes men are hunters and women are gatherers.
For about an hour and 40 minutes, he offers a variety of hilarious
situations to prove the hunter/gatherer analogy still exists.
As hunters, men concentrate on their prey to the exclusion
of everything else. Today, this parallels with a man and the
television. "
A man doesn't just watch television, he becomes one with the
TV, blocking everything else out," Burke said.
Because of this, women do not understand why their significant
others zone out while watching the tube, he said. Flicking
through the channels dates back to cave times - the man is
killing the channels. Women, on the other hand, stop at each
channel and gather information instead of just flicking through,
he said.
The show begins with the voice of a woman repeating, "Men
are all assholes," with Paula Abdul's "Opposites
Attract" playing in the background. Of course,
all the women in the audience laughed hysterically and the
men silently
chuckled. But Burke urged women to think of men as
being different instead of calling them assholes. He continued
by explaining that men
do everything by negotiation and women by cooperation. When
the two are forced to interact with each other, they work on
different levels.
For example, when presented with an empty potato-chip bowl,
men will debate over who is going to refill the bowl, whereas
women will go to the kitchen and talk while they refill the
bowl together.
Despite the limited scenery, which consists of a stone-age-esque
TV, an armchair and a sphere, Burke paints a vivid picture
for every situation he explains, which almost everyone can
relate to.
Not many comedians can keep the attention span of an audience
for an hour and 40 minutes, but Burke does just that. Not only
does he entertain with his stand-up comic approach, but he
informs both genders about each other.
Did you know that men generally speak about 2,000 words a day
and women 7,000? Men, Burke explains, bond and communicate
by sharing long periods of silence and occasional name-calling,
whereas women bond by gossiping, processing things and sharing
emotional insights. That explains why men are never able to
tell women details about their night out with the guys - they
don't talk.
"
Defending the Caveman" is a great show to see if you and
your significant other are in need of therapy or if you and
your buddies just want to hang out and have a good laugh.
A chance for some healthy laughter
THEATER - SEPTEMBER 24, 2003 on's 'Caveman:'
By UTE VON DER HEYDEN
Kevin Burke puts on a good one-man show in "Defending the
Caveman" at Wharton Center's Pasant Theatre.
I don't know about you, but I don't laugh much. Yes, I have a
sense of humor and I chuckle at funny things, but that rollicking
kind of laughter that comes from deep inside and feels so good--that's
rare.-That's why it was great to spend early two hours
laughing, really laughing, Tuesday night in the company of Kevin
Burke
as he brought his interpretation of "Rob Becker's Defending
the Caveman" to Wharton Center's Pasant Theatre. One of
four special events at Wharton this season, "Caveman" runs
through Sept. 28.
The longest-running solo play in Broadway history, "Caveman" hilariously
explores the differences between men and women and how those
differences have led us to misunderstand each other. While the
main appeal of "Caveman" is its humor, the
show is also filled with warmth and understanding as it looks at how
we live and love, convincingly sending the message that it's
ultimately our differences that make our relationships stronger.
Part of the joy of "Caveman" is in the keen detail
of the observations. Burke, who has been performing this show
for only nine months, said that "when I read the script,
I realized it was about my wife and me."
If you see this show - and you should if at all possible
- you will think it's about you and your wife or your husband. (By
the way, this is a very hetero show.) Instantly you will recognize
your own flaws and foibles and, of course, even more readily,
those maddening traits of the male in your life.
And don't let the chest-pumping ring of the title put you off.
This show is not merely a defense of men (well, maybe a gentle
defense); it's also a testament to writer Rob Becker's respect
for and appreciation of women. A celebration of both sexes really.
With only a "granite" television and stuffed chair,
a tall wicker basket and two caveman illustrations as the set, Burke's
high-energy persona takes over the moment he appears on stage. As he combines his real-life experience as a stand-up
comic and former circus clown with what is an obvious love of
the script and a greater love for his wife, Karen, there's no
stopping this guy. He is physical. He is dynamic. Natural high
energy indeed.
And the audience appreciated him and was happy to interact with
him. There were a few dour faces, but who knows what their problem
was. Maybe some of the graphic language. How silly.
Speaking of the script, it has essentially not changed since
Becker wrote the show between 1988 and 1991. It's been updated
by small details like changing a sexy reference to Demi Moore
to Catherine Zeta-Jones, but the script remains the original
script.
"
We're dealing with universal themes about relationships," Burke
had said in an earlier interview. "Twelve years of advancement
are not going to change that. As a matter of fact, I think Rob
Becker was ahead of his time. Remember that he wrote "Caveman" years
before John Gray's book "Men Are from Mars, Women Are from
Venus" became so popular. I think cultural awareness is
just catching up with this show."
Men and women are different.
By Robin Swartz
Lansing State Journal
Rob Becker's "Defending the Caveman," being performed
by Kevin Burke at Wharton Center through Sunday, explores this
concept.For nearly two hours, Burke commands the stage, (talking)
about men and women. He's a strong performer with a familiar
presence and a good sense of timing.
The set consists of a stone-age man haven: TV, easy chair,
laundry hamper and spear. Burke, dressed in a black, short-sleeved,
button-down shirt and faded blue jeans, looks like a cross
between actor John Goodman and comedian Colin Quinn.
As such, there are some interesting observations: Women, Burke
notes, speak an average of 7,000 words a day. Men, on the other
hand, speak 2,000 words. So, ladies, if your man is not that
communicative in the evening, it simply means he's out of words.
Find a girlfriend and download your day with her to burn off
your remaining words.
Burke exudes a deep affection for his own wife, Karen, despite
their gender differences, which keeps him from coming off as
a prehistoric oaf. Instead, his discussion of how he wishes
he understood her better is genuine. For those couples who
haven't heard this topic beat into the sand by every comedian
and sitcom from the late '80s and early '90s, this
show will ring true and elicit outbursts of "That is so true!" and "You
got that right!"
Defending the Caveman
By CATHERINE STADEM (Anchorage)
Sullivan,
a tall, graceful, bearded young man with
total command of the huge Atwood stage, seemed
to completely enjoy opening night. It's challenging
for an actor to convey a sense of intimacy
with several hundred people in a large venue,
but Sullivan managed easily, often shading
his eyes from the intense stage lights to
grin at the crowd.
And the crowd seemed to
love him. To make sure Sullivan's points
were well-taken and appreciated, couples
shot elbows at each other, often shouted
at the stage in agreement and interrupted
his routine countless times with applause.
What was billed as a 90-minute show with
no intermission ended up as two nonstop hours.
Even when it was over, Sullivan seemed reluctant
to leave the stage.
...'Caveman' is very
funny, with the smart humor easing the way
to insights about our diverse behaviors.
Laughter truly is the best therapy, especially
when we're forced to laugh at ourselves.
Catherine Stadem is a fellow of the National
Critics Institute and a member of the American
Theatre Critics Association.
'Defending
the Caveman' takes us back to the basics
Wednesday, October 22,
2003
BY ELIZABETH CLARK SPECIAL
TO THE GAZETTE
If you run into "Defending
the Caveman" star
Chris Sullivan on the street,
chances are his greeting
will be but a grunt.
After all, if men use about
2,000 words a day to women's
7,000, he's getting his
year's worth at the State
Theatre this week, where
the one-man stand-up comedy
show will be staged through
Saturday. The show opened
Tuesday and brought its
half-hunter, half-gatherer
audience to its feet in
standing ovation.
The premise of "Caveman," after
all, reckons we haven't
evolved as far as we think
from our hunter-gatherer
roots. Comedian Rob Becker
wrote the show and originated
the role while studying
anthropology, sociology
and prehistory and he breaks
relationship difficulties
down to men and women coming
from two different cultures
altogether. Six months
ago, Becker passed the
loin-cloth to Sullivan,
who's coming into his own
in the challenging task
of what amounts to an hour-and-a-half
comedic monologue. For
all the P.C. posturing
you hear that we're all
equal, Becker and Sullivan
make solid points that
we're drastically different,
and they do so with irrefutable
commonalities. Differing
gender tendencies, which
become gross generalizations
for the sake of comedy,
can make the whole man-woman
thing a real mess.
The idea of a "man
of few words" is a
natural extension of the
hunting environment, Sullivan
contends. You set a goal
-- aka kill buffalo --
then proceed in a one-track
manner to achieve that
goal, with silence being
essential to the success
because noise could scare
away game. Gathering, however,
involves a multi-task orientation
and talking is useful to
scare away any predators.
The woman would process
a lot of information both
visually and through conversation
with her fellow gatherers
as she filled her basket.
You know what that sounds
like? "Shopping." Thunderous
applause. This gulf makes
hunter and gatherer terrible
baseball teammates, for
example. Baseball's a great
man sport, he said, because
you're out there together
focused on a goal and not
particularly near to one
another. Nodding and spitting
convey all the necessary
information. But if you
let the girls on the field
(and it's always outfield,
isn't it?), "They
collect in the middle and
start talking." Point
and match. But the final
score after he picks at
female foibles and shoots
spears at men's weaknesses
is rather love-love. And
perhaps it will make couples,
which appeared to make
up the bulk of the audience,
be a bit more loving and
less unrealistically demanding
of one another. Ultimately,
the show almost works better
as therapy than as comedy.
If one woman walks away
from the show more forgiving
of her beloved forgetting
to tell her she looks pretty
today (or one guy gets
the gumption to tell her),
Sullivan's made one great
leap for Caveman and Cavewoman
kind alike.
REVIEW 2003 Kalamazoo.
Used with permission
"Defending the Caveman"
Symphony Hall, SPRINGFIELD,
MASS.
October 30, 2003
SPRINGFIELD - Was it stand-up
comedy? Was it a play?
Was it a one-man monologue?
All three. This was Rob
Becker's "Defending
the Caveman" which
opened Symphony Hall's
2003/04 Broadway season.
Actor Chris Sullivan took
his audience on a twisted
and comic journey to the
planets where men and women
came from. Mars? Venus?
Surprisingly, we hail from
the same planet -- we evolved
from the Earth's caveman.
Sullivan made it clear
that only Mr. and Mrs.
Caveman understood each
other. From that point
on, communication between
the sexes has been downhill.
This contemporary script
has the burden of standing
the test of time, but for
now it is on the mark in
its humorous language.
Such topics handled adroitly
from both points of view
were: logic, shopping,
sex, Woody Allen, multitasking,
fighting fair, imagination,
bathroom guest towels,
and fishing. The latter
was a funny bit on the
way men communicate with
each other. One of the
most enlightening revelations
answered the question, "Why
don't men ask for directions?" Without
giving away the answer,
it's safe to say, "Blame
it on the caveman." Except
for a short silent film
at the show's start (purposely
amateur), Sullivan commanded
the stage for two hours.
His facial expressions,
body movement, and occasional
bass voice made him perfect
for the role. Without a
single pause, he kept the
pace flowing.
Shera Cohen
'Caveman' delivers laugh after laugh
Posted Sep. 17, 2003
By Warren Gerds
Part play, part lecture, part advice, part marriage
counseling and mostly funny, "Defending the Caveman" started
an eight-performance run Tuesday night at the Weidner Center. This
is an hour and 40 minutes of clever observations on why men are
men and women are women.
Chris Sullivan makes it seem as though
the words are his and the show is his. That's good acting.
The
play was written by Rob Becker, who started out as a stand-up comedian
and then came up with this remarkable piece. It's comedy built
from anthropological study, history, human behavior, social interaction
and common sense.
If you're twentysomething or thirtysomething,
there's plenty here. Or simply laughs. The script goes through
a complex theory point-by-point (and laugh-by-laugh). Boiled down,
men and women have entirely different customs, ways of thinking
and skills. Man focuses on a goal - something acquired from hunting.
Women gather information and details - acquired from gathering
food in the wild. Or so Becker's theory goes.
The trick with "Defending
the Caveman" was making something funny out of these scientific
roots.
The author presents many man-women stories. Sullivan delivers
all sorts of mannerisms (though continually hitching up the pants
is not in the script), body English, voice changes, expressions
and cool moves.
His presence is perfect for this play. He's a manly
man, a guy's guy - and a women's guy - with a big physique and
burly voice. He gives advice on sex, too. It's kind of like a defensive
end explaining the birds and the bees.
The language is in-your-face
at times, but it's the going thing in the target crowd.
Other
articles:
The
odd man out at the cave party
- Tom Sime, 06-15-1997.
Rob
Becker's `Caveman' Returns For A Third Visit
- Julia M. Klein, Inquirer Staff Writer, Saturday, November 15, 1997.
You
should be feeling positively antediluvian if you haven't
yet caught up with "Defending The Caveman." Rob Becker's
solo comedy hit celebrated it's 400th performance, making
it the longest-running non-musical solo performance in Broadway
history. To mark this occasion, the Mayor of New York officially
proclaimed it "Caveman Day" and renamed West 44th Street,
where the show resides at the Helen Hayes Theater, "Caveman
Way."
-
Patrick Pacheco, Play by Play
Other
articles:
`Defending
the Caveman' is a surprise hit in New York
- Joseph C. Koenenn, Inquirer Theater Critic, Published 09-03-1995.
WASHINGTON
POST "Caveman
is a blockbuster!" -
Lloyd Rose
SAN
FRANCISCO CHRONICLE "Hilarious!
Probes the male mystique with a well-aimed spear." -
Gerald Nachman
FORT
LAUDERDALE SUN-SENTINEL If
good theater is supposed to show an audience something of
themselves, then "Defending the Caveman" is platinum-plus.
Both sexes roar with pleasure in recognition of their own foibles
and each
others' flaws. The settings doesn't involve much -- a television
and a stuffed chair, both in granite, plus a cave drawing
and a fertility illustration. He doesn't need any more. -
Jack Zink
THEATER
WEEK MAGAZINE "Becker
is clearly hitting a serious chord. "We've had grandparents,
parents and their married children come to the show together,
people in work boots sitting next to college professors, and
many marriage counselors. What blows me away is how touched
people say they are. Many women have told me that, thanks to
the show, they've fallen in love with their husbands all over
again. Men have told me that the show explains them to their
spouses in ways they've never quite been able to articulate
before," says Becker. Caveman's
structure is largely inspired, Becker explains, by Joseph
Campbell's, "Hero
With a Thousand Faces," an intensive study of narrative development
in all hero's journeys throughout mythology. There are a
number of plot turning points and each one has it's parallel
in Becker's
story: from the inciting incident, to time travel, to encountering
a goddess and an older wise man, to undergoing a series of
trials to a final, reconciliatory celebration. Don't let
the high-fallutin' thoughts fool you. It's all jolly and
lighthearted. One
thing is certain; Caveman is a hit. It will become Broadway's
longest running non-musical solo performance on July 17 --
breaking the record previously held by Lily Tomlin's "The Search
For Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe." It's well
into it's second year with houses packed to capacity almost
every
night."
-
Simi Horowitz
"Be
prepared to laugh!"
-
Peter Felicia
"When
I saw Defending The Caveman, I knew I had a new homework assignment
for my couples in therapy."
-
Anna Beth Benningfield, President, American Association of
Marriage and Family Therapists
"The
world needs to see Caveman!"
-
Lillian Glass, Ph.D., Author "He Says, She Says, Closing
The Comunication Gap Between The Sexes"
"One
of the funniest evenings of my life!"
-
Warren Farrell, Author "Why Men Are The Way They Are " |
|
'Caveman' is hilarious in age-old battle of sexes
By JOHN CURRAN For The Press
Men sure are strange: They won't ask directions, they're single-minded
to a fault and they are no good whatsoever at talking about their
feelings. Women, too: They're forever complimenting one another,
they live for long, detail-packed conversations with their friends
and they actually care about what kind of envelope the wedding
invitations go out in.
Making fun of those differences? It's the oldest comedy topic
there is. But it gets a thorough, hysterical and thoroughly hysterical
treatment in "Defending the Caveman," a one-man play
at Resorts Atlantic City that should be required for couples
of all ages.
Even-handed, nicely paced and brimming with sidesplitting
observations, "Caveman" had
people howling at the Wednesday night show I attended in Resorts'
Screening Room.
The format, by showbiz standards, is downright primitive: Standing
on a stage with almost no props and only occasional musical accompaniment,
a guy talks about the battle of the sexes, from the Stone Age
to the present.
The guy is Kevin Burke, 43, a veteran actor, comedian and former
circus clown who's perfect for the part written by Rob Becker.
Middle-aged, a little overweight, with
a great bellow he uses to underscore his punch lines, he's Everyman.
The show I saw started right at 8 p.m., when the house lights
dimmed and a screen dropped from the ceiling of the stage. It
showed a five-minute video consisting of scenes both modern and
prehistoric, backed by an audio track in which a woman's voice
said, over and over, that all men are, um, jerks. (That wasn't
the word, I just can't print the word she said here.)
The later scenes showed a man and woman interacting around the
house, and the man was Burke, we learned when the screen finally
receded and the lights came back up and he walked out onto the
stage wearing a black short-sleeved shirt and blue jeans.
In autobiographical fashion, he recounts what it was like to
grow up as a male in the 1970s, when the sex symbols ranged
from nebbish Woody Allen ("This gave my friends and me some encouragement")
to oh-so-sensitive Alan Alda. In the late 1980s, the male ideal
was Patrick Swayze's character in "Ghost": "He
was the fantasy of all women - he could protect you, but he
wouldn't leave his hair in the bathtub."
From there, he went back in time. The lights went down, a red
spot bathed a Flintstone-looking easy chair and Burke, taking
a seat in it, described his "meeting" with a caveman
who appeared to him in his apartment to urge him to go forth
and explain the basic differences between men and women, all
of which stem from their primal roles as hunters and gatherers,
respectively.
For one thing, there's "the compliment thing." "You
have to compliment a woman on how she looks within the first
30 seconds of a date, or you're dead. When women are together,
they always do it. Not men. You don't pick up your friend to
go out for the night and say 'Boy, Chuck, your butt looks good
in those jeans.'" Then there's fighting. "When men
argue or fight, they do it and it's over. They go watch TV. Not
women. When I fight with my wife, we don't go watch TV afterward.
We spend the next five hours talking about our feelings!" Burke
said.
Men and women show their emotions differently, too. When a
woman sees an old friend after a long absence, she throws her
arms
in the air, hugs her and says something like "You are one
of my dearest and oldest friends in the world," Burke said.Men?
They mean the same thing, but it comes out like this: "You
still driving that piece of crap?"
Unlike standup comedians, "Caveman's" jokes take
a little longer to set up and don't go for the easy laugh.
But
there's no shortage of giggles. The crowd - an interesting
mix of white-haired casino regulars and 30- and 40-ish couples
-
was roaring through most of the show I saw.
`Caveman' a fun look at men and women
Thursday, April 29, 2004
PAMELA MORSE
For The Birmingham News
Look at it this way. It's cheaper, quicker, and a whole lot funnier
than a year's worth of marriage counseling, yet, in the end,
you wind up in the same place.
"
Rob Becker's Defending the Caveman" is a 90-minute one-man
show that pokes, prods and pontificates on the divine and
exasperating differences between men and women. If you're a
female, you'll
learn: (a) why your husband is a jerk, and (b) why you should
embrace his jerkiness. If you're a man, don't worry about
learning anything, just enjoy the fact that somebody is finally
standing
up for your right to choose working with a power tool over
having a conversation about your feelings. You don't have
to be married
to appreciate Becker's humor, although it probably helps.
What makes this show different from the myriad other stand-up
routines about women who love to shop and the men who've
gone fishing is that Becker's script is sprinkled with genuine
affection for the opposite sex. He loves his wife,
he just has trouble understanding her.
"
Caveman" doesn't plow a lot of new ground, but puts some
of the old jokes into a new perspective. The show humorously
explores not only how men and women are different, but also
why.
The hit show in 1996 became the longest-running solo play
in Broadway history. The tour that has stopped in Birmingham
for
the week stars Kevin Burke, a real guy's guy. When he talks
about channel surfing, you know he's been there. When he
explains that
women bond by talking about their emotions, whereas "get
me a beer" passes for conversation in man-land, you
know this fellow has done all of the necessary research.
At Tuesday's opening night performance, Burke commanded the stage
like a lovable Fred Flintstone. His performance was more that
of a seasoned Broadway actor than the clown-turned-comic his
resume presents him to be.
If you've frequented past Broadway Series shows because of
the lavish sets and lush costumes, better steer clear of "Caveman." This
merry monologue is performed without intermission on a stark
set. The costumes are, well, whatever Burke pulled out of
the hamper for one last go.
But if you like to laugh, and want some confirmation that you're
not alone in fighting this battle of the sexes, give this clever
caveman a chance. It's one thing you and your mate can enjoy
together.
'Caveman' is a scream on lots of levels
By Rich Copley
HERALD-LEADER THEATER CRITIC
With a swath of blond hair atop his round face, Kevin Burke is a familiar figure
on the Lexington Opera House stage.
He's Barney Rubble.
Oh yeah, he's a 21st Century man with his remote control, but in Rob Becker's
Defending the Caveman, Burke doesn't try to distance himself from his prehistoric
look-alike.
The entire thesis of Defending the Caveman is that the roles of the sexes were
defined in prehistoric times and if men and women understand those roles, they
can better understand each other. OK, that's a broad generalization, and if
folks want to get serious about it, they might take issue with a few of Becker's
points. But there's a lot that rings true, and whether you feel the need for
a $25 to $55 group therapy session or not, the show is a scream.
Caveman opens with a video montage set to music with the repeated line: "Men
are (an uncomplimentary eight-letter word for orifices)." The video
includes scenes of Burke and his wife, Karen, at home doing things like fighting
over
the remote.
Burke arrives talking about how the last 40 years have seen the sexes defined
and redefined, creating confusion and bringing us to the point where every
book seems to say "Women are good, men are bad." Then he details
why the sexual standoff is due to a misunderstanding rooted in the Stone
Age.
Making it work on so many levels is Burke's physical and amiable
performance. He comes across as a guy you'd expect to find sitting next to you at Applebee's
Park swilling a beer and yelling at the umpire, but thoughtful and literate
enough to be heard by everyone, including the ladies. And there's nothing in
the show to offend women. Becker's script points out that prehistoric men worshiped
women as magical.
Part of the magic of Burke's performance is that he is doing a one-man show
of someone else's material, but he makes it seem like his own. Then again,
whether we'd like to admit it or not, we see a lot of ourselves in Caveman,
too.
Comedy plays on male-female differences
By Patrice Stewart
DAILY Staff Writer
You can't beat 'em, so you might as well join 'em in laughter — the
other sex, that is.
The sexual revolution has never been as funny as it is in Rob
Becker's "Defending the Caveman," a one-man show starring
Kevin Burke that runs through Sunday at the Birmingham-Jefferson
Civic Center Concert Hall.
The hilarious comedy plays for laughs on the differences between
men and women since cave times.
Burke keeps up a 100-percent performance level, pulling punch
lines for two straight hours with no rest or intermission — a
feat most performers wouldn't consider trying.
He explains that men are hunters and women are gatherers, and
that's why men would rather sit silently and watch TV or fish
while women prefer getting together in groups and chatting or
perusing everything at the mall.
One example: If six men are watching TV around a bowl of chips
and the bowl becomes empty, they will negotiate and the one who
didn't bring anything will finally go get more chips.
If six women are in the same position, all six will get up and
go to the kitchen together for more chips and chatting.
Each sex handles situations in its own appropriate way, but "the
problem comes when you get in mixed company," Burke says,
and then launches into jokes based on the different customs,
emotions and fighting abilities of men and women.
This is a funny adult show, but some may object to language used.
Becker's understanding of the sexes has made him a favorite with
psychologists, counselors and therapists. His longest-running
Broadway solo comedy has benefited from Burke, who attended the
Ringling Bros. Clown College and then decided to pursue a career
as a stand-up comic. He also brings to the show plenty of experience
as a husband and father of two.
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