Culture Corner: Review of November

I don't trust anyone, but if I did, I would trust you first.

Women. They have rights, just like regular
people.

Sometimes you have to sell the other fella out for the common good.

Let me start by saying Dylan Baker is genius. You think you don't know who he is, except you totally do because you've definitely seen him in something. Don't believe me? Check. I'll wait. Back? I was right, wasn't I? At any rate - he was so brilliantly understated in his role as the President's advisor. Perfectly dry delivery on every line. He might earn a place next to Kevin Kline and Peter Gallagher on my "People I'd See in Anything" list.

Okay, onto the review. At first, I thought this play was maybe only funny for liberals and since these days I kind of lean a little more conservative, I was nervous that it'd only pull a small smile from me at best. I'm happy to report that was not the case. The actors have a ton of dialogue to hit - including several monologues - but manage to maintain great energy. I am curious as to whether or not there was any ad libbing because a few times the actors appeared to be smirking and I wasn't sure if it was part of their character or not. It could go either way and I think the cast is talented enough to pull off the ad libs. Nathan Lane was good but I had a hard time not hearing Timon the Meerkat as President. Laurie Metcalf is super toned. And talented, which we knew. But I wasn't expecting a gun show from her. And I believe I've made my feelings on Dylan Baker clear.

Anyway, the play was full of F-bombs (not sure of proper spelling of that) left and right. I wasn't expecting to hear more than we heard at Passing Strange but apparently Stew is an F-bomb amateur compared to Mamet. Eventually, I got used to it. It was the use of "dickwad" that startled me most - and also made me think I should work "dickwad" into the rotation. Y'all know I've had a few occasions to use it lately.

Sadly, there's no Jason says on this review because he didn't want to see it.

Want more November? Check out the President's blog.