The Book of Moron & The Male Intellect: An Oxymoron

The Book of Moron & The Male Intellect: An Oxymoron

"The Male Intellect: An Oxymoron? "And "The Book of Moron"
Two one person plays
Written and Performed by Robert Dubac
Urban Stages 259 West 30th St, NYC
March 19th to April 26th 2015
Reviewed March 22, 2015 by Larry Litt

I'm thankful that I could sit through both of Robert Dubac's comedies in one Sunday. I believe they should both be seen to get the full meaning of Dubac's thinking and art. There are so many tones and shades in his performances that afterwards all I could think about were his many character renderings.

What I saw is a Robert Dubac who is essentially a stand up comic in the George Carlin tradition. He's smart and can see the absurdities of contemporary life. However he also wants to be a theatrical performer who is given credit for character creation.

In the Male Intellect: An Oxymoron? Dubac five male spokespersons who warn us that women will always deceive men for their own purposes. It's a pre-feminist message based on the assumption that the average male will never meet a desirable and enlightened woman who is responsible for herself. Dubac's male characters can't figure out whether women are their enemies or their inspirations. We get a good cross section of male thinking about women even though the woman Dubac craves is nothing like his characters projections. She is a 'twister' while at the same time a lover. Then again so is Dubac. They deserve each other. This romantic comedy with characters is well worth seeing with a woman who will criticize the play for the rest of the night. Very funny because the battle of the sexes is still thankfully for comedy with us.

On the other hand, The Book fo Moron is a full blown stand up comedy routine with the addition of some abstract psychoanalytically based characters. Dubac shows us his comic intelligence with repeated social, political and personal comments that are meant to poke us into laughter. His timing is superb. However much of the time he spends trying to make his friendly characters work in the show. I lost their identities and eventually was hoping he would just be Robert Dubac, a very smart, funny comedian with original points of view and a charming way that wins us over to his side. Both shows are definitely worth your time.