Review: Men are from Mars and these jokes are from the ’90s … – Chicago Tribune

Many years ago, John Gray author of the help-yourself-in-relationships guide "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus" appeared on Bill Maher's old "Politically Incorrect" program. Fellow panelist John Larroquette needled him about the title. "I thought it was called 'Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus so let's get liquored up and drive to Venus!'"

That premise isn't too far removed from the touring production of the solo play "Men Are From Mars Women Are From Venus Live!" now appearing at the Broadway Playhouse. It was audience catnip as a Valentine's date-night option Tuesday, where Amadeo Fusca hustled for every laugh. But not even Fusca's ingratiating and nimble performance could cover up the creaks in the material.

Loosely adapted from Gray's book by Eric Coble, the show (directed by Mindy Cooper) plays as a mix of lecture and stand-up comedy, in much the same vein as Rob Becker's long-running pseudo-anthropological solo comedy, "Defending the Caveman." But its underlying assumption that there is a rigid gender binary predetermined by our brain chemistry was questionable back in 1992 when Gray first published his book. In an era of increased understanding about trans/nonconforming gender identities and relationships that don't embrace heteronormativity or monogamy, those assumptions feel particularly clueless and smug.

Gray himself appears in a couple of video segments where he confidently lays out his theories about dopamine and serotonin and how women and men differ in scoring "points" in relationships. (Gray isn't an accredited researcher, for what it's worth though it's unlikely anyone going to the show would care about that.) These are further accompanied by cartoons around the running theme of women getting mad because men don't do enough for them at the right time which is pretty much the running theme of Fusca's own stories of his relationship with his wife.

So let us stipulate that I am probably not the target audience for this show. Fair enough. Fusca, a vet of the Upright Citizens Brigade in New York, knows how to work the room and takes great pains to drop in local references Blackhawks, Pequod's Pizza and the like. He's got physical energy to burn and spins like a top across the stage, winking and dropping innuendoes to the people in the front row like an old pro from the Friars Club. (He has worked roasts in that fabled establishment, and it forms the backdrop for a story about an anniversary date that doesn't quite go as planned).

But even people who operate on the assumption that there are basic and unchanging differences in how men and women behave in relationships deserve fresher insights than what's on tap here. The show, which has been touring since its first appearance in Paris in 2007, basically regurgitates the idea that men do things "single file" while women multitask. (Which may account for the single-file-entendre sex jokes sprinkled throughout at one point, Fusca describes his sex drive as an "Easy-Bake Oven" while women are "wood-burning stoves.")

It's sort of as if someone decided to treat "Lockhorns" cartoons as an anthropological case study and then gussy them up with naughty jokes. And that's fine, as far as it goes. There are some genuinely sweet moments here, as when Fusca recounts wooing his wife on their first date with the only two chords he knew how to play on the guitar. That moment recalls in the best possible way Adam Sandler in "The Wedding Singer."

If it ran straight through at 90 minutes, the show would probably feel less strained. Then again, maybe the point is to get extra drinks at intermission and then nudge and wink at those moments where Mars and Venus are both in on the same joke even if they've heard it many times before.

Kerry Reid is a freelance critic.

ctc-arts@chicagotribune.com

Review: In "Men Are From Mars - Women Are From Venus Live" (2 stars)

When: Through March 5

Where: Broadway Playhouse, 175 E. Chestnut St.

Running time: 2 hours

Tickets: $68 at 800-775-2000 or http://www.broadwayinchicago.com

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Review: Men are from Mars and these jokes are from the '90s ... - Chicago Tribune