We Review: Mike Daisey's Monopoly at CHAC

Reliable sources tell us that if you ask Mike Daisey what he does for a living, he replies that he's "a monologist."

Daisey may be the only person in America who introduces himself that way.

If only those hordes who introduce themselves as "mortgage bankers" or "members of the Bush Administration" were as good at their jobs as Daisey is at his.

We saw his Monopoly Saturday night at CHAC--it's smart, funny, and well worth catching during the next two weekends.

The show winds together five threads: the censored story of the creation of the game Monopoly, Daisey's reflections on how Walmart affected his Maine hometown, the strange career of Nicola Tesla and Daisey's experiences planning a performance about him, and Daisey's brief encounter with perhaps our time's greatest monopolist, Bill Gates.

We aren't entirely sure how Daisey is able to command an audience so well when he doesn't move from a chair behind a desk for 100 minutes. Almost all solo performers either pace about (Eddie Murphy), carry an instrument (Bob Dylan), or smash shit (Gallagher).

Could be Daisey's strong voice; more likely it's that his delivery is practiced, well-paced and practically without verbal bobbles.

This is not "joke" funny material, it's "smart" funny, if you have intelligence and a sense of humor, you'll enjoy yourself. If you lack either of those two things, you probably won't.

Monopoly runs Friday-Sunday the next two weekends: $20 advance, $25 at the door. Tickets.

The weekend after Monopoly's run ends, Daisey will premiere a new show, How Theater Failed America.