If You See Something Say Something

Although Mike Daisey's exploration of national defense, past and present, If You See Something Say Something, arrives at Joe's Pub just in time to serve as a companion piece to the Metropolitan Opera's production of Dr. Atomic, there is nothing minimalist about this monologist. He may spend the entire 100 minute presentation sitting behind a desk with nothing but a glass of water and his notes but, as directed by Jean-Michele Gregory, Daisey himself is a fully orchestrated production. A large man who embellishes his frank observations ('The founding fathers could have been considered by the British to be terrorists.') and grim warnings ('If you raise an army and leave it standing, it will find something to do.') with artfully placed profanity, large, sweeping gestures and a face of fully animated Silly Putty, his voice is that of a genial, but angered everyman, bouncing with varied tempos, tones, full out comic crescendos and meaningful sotto voces. If Lenny Bruce was embodied by Zero Mostel and played by Louis Armstrong, the result would closely resemble Mike Daisey.