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The Rude Pundit in the Year of Living Rudely

nytheatre.com review by Frank Kuzler
August 15, 2005

The Rude Pundit does not pull punches, and there is no question as to his politics. In his one-man show at Dixon Place, Lee Papa, the self-styled political Rude One, rails against all the topics "we the people" would love to rail against: George W is a liar, W is a thief, Fox News is full of $%^@ and set fire to the objectivity handbook the way Hitler did the local library, etc., etc.So here is the hard part. I know all that, and I agree with it. I’ve been listening to people saying it seriously, jokingly, desperately, with conviction, without conviction—for more than five years. So I have to ask myself the question: does all the same news with a rude spin stack up?The answer is: sure. If I have to be reminded of the beating that democracy and freedom are taking in the name of democracy and freedom, why not hear it couched in terms of shoving WMDs and Halliburton up Dick Cheney’s wazoo? Why not get strapped (metaphorically) to a chair and get to become a deprogrammed Colin Powell who gets to join the loving ranks of people with a conscience? It’s live. It's comfortable—Dixon Place is like a big old living room complete with armchairs and sofas. And, it’s certainly better than turning on the TV, where the object is to slowly lull the discontent and dull the senses with endless tales of the runaway bride.The Rude Pundit in the Year of Living Rudely is a brassy, bawdy, and brutally conceived show. We need more voices of people willing to be the voice of the people. I saw it when the blow-up dolls were absent (probably out trying to relocate some friends from last year’s RNC), but honestly, I don’t think the show needs them. Papa’s theatrical presentation could use some polishing up, but the strength of the show is certainly in the person and not the props.The format is strained only in that it's like a series of broken attacks with the same angle. The segments are heavy on point-of-view and rude retaliation, but are light on satirizing the perverse details and facts. Thus, they don't build to a strong effective finish. So I left asking myself: Isn’t that what this cause needs? Haven’t we seen enough of the almost-made-its, nearly-got-ems?