Monday, June 11, 2007

San Jose Mercury News - A novel approach to monologue:

Mike Daisey likes to think out loud. Literally. As anyone knows after catching one of his shows, from the spit-up funny dot-bomb ode "21 Dog Years: Doing Time @ Amazon.com" to the laceratingly dark "The Ugly American," this monologuist pretty much makes it up as he goes along.

A snarky-meets-dorky Gen-X version of Spalding Gray, Daisey spits out mostly extemporaneous high-voltage rants on life, the universe and anything else that strikes his fancy. In an age when so much entertainment is canned, he sits on stage at a table with a glass of water and sees where the story takes him. A master of digression, he excels in off-the-cuff asides that tickle the brain as well as the funny bone.

Slick with wit and sweat, working from notes but constantly taking the pulse of the house, he's a big guy with an even bigger artistic aesthetic: to live and die in the moment. His high-wire performance style drives "Great Men of Genius," now at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre.

2:18 PM