I watched Rob Becker's 90-minute stand-up routine about the differences between men and women -- especially husbands and wives -- with constantly conflicting emotions. One moment my inner voice said, "How familiar, how old hat," the next it shut up and I found myself laughing. Never uproariously, never out of some kind of shock of recognition as at early Lenny Bruce / Richard Pryor. Becker isn't that bold or original; his cutting-edge is about as keen as a butter knife. Still, I did laugh, did find truth in the way he traced male-female differences back to the Stone Age: women are gatherers, that's why they shop; men are hunters, that's why they go it alone, without asking directions.
Becker does riffs on this theme all night long, but with counterpoint comments that show the way Venus and Mars can get together and stay together. For me, his timing, body language and lugubrious facial expressions are as funny as his material; he's a master of the double-take, the uncomprehending look (as when asked by his wife how a particular painting would look in their bedroom), the slobby way men pad around the house, leaving a trail of beer cans and dirty underwear. He's at his sharpest on matters of sexual difference but always brings his rap back to its central point: that we can be as different as hell but still like each other and make it as a team.
There's no anger or hate in Becker, just a genial, accommodating decency and wit, which is what makes his long-running show the success it is.
