Denver Post Review of Addicted

theater review

‘Addicted’ returns with a sharper needle

By John Moore
Denver Post Theater Critic

Monday, June 09, 2003 - 12:00:00 AM MST

Special / Shannon Davidson

Mark Lundholm performs his stand-up comedy show titled "Addicted - A Comedy of Substance," in which he uses comedy to tell the story of his life as an addict and his recovery process.

Last year, Mark Lundholm described the Denver world premiere of his one-man roller-coaster ride "Addicted: A Comedy of Substance" as "a shotgun blast out to the audience."

A year later, he calls his refashioned and reloaded piece "a bullet in the forehead."

"Addicted" has a return Denver engagement beginning Tuesday at the Ricketson Theatre, and when it moves to New York in October, it will become the first show originally produced by Denver Center Attractions to make it to off-Broadway.

"Addicted" was an unexpected little hit because it spoke directly to people struggling with addictions ranging from drugs to sex to food to work to the Internet, as well as general theater audiences who were entertained by its pointed comedy and provocative observations.

DETAILS

Off-Broadway bound

What:'Addicted: A Comedy of Substance'

Written by and starring: Mark Lundholm

Directed by: Bob Balaban

Presented by: Denver Center Attractions

Where: Ricketson Theatre, Denver Performing Arts Complex, 14th and Curtis streets

When: 7:30 p.m., Tuesdays-Fridays; 6 and 9 p.m., Saturdays; 3 and 7:30 p.m., Sundays; through June 22

Tickets: $20-$30 through Denver Center box office (303-893-4100 or www.denvercenter.org) or TicketsWest (866-464-2626, www.ticketswest.com or King Soopers)

What the piece needed most, however, was an impartial director who could turn its often unwieldy, rapid-fire verbal gunspray into that single, silver bullet.

Enter Hollywood bigwig Bob Balaban, who, let's just say, trimmed the material a bit.

"A bit? (Bleep), I'm missing a leg here," said Lundholm. "I've only got five toes now."

Balaban has axed 45 minutes from the show, including the intermission, turning "Addicted" into a relentless, 80-minute punch in the face. Balaban wanted an entertaining and engaging piece of theater with a chance of being successful in New York - not a 12-step scared-straight sermon.

"What is removed is much of the material in which Mark philosophizes, and any kind of preachy quality it once had," Balaban said. "You have to remember this material evolved over a number of years when Mark was doing stand-up comedy as well as addressing rehab and (prison) groups. There were certain things we both agreed were probably more suitable to rehab groups than for an audience that had just paid $50 to see a show. My main thought was that it was fabulous material, but it needed a little more organization. It wanted to be a little more active and a little less contemplative in places."

Which is not to say it has been sanitized. The 44-year-old Lundholm may be 16 years sober, but his story will never change. It's the brutal and a bit nauseating fall and rise of a self-described derelict, street person and thief. Lundholm once withered to 120 pounds by drug addiction, carjacked a woman and put a gun into his mouth. He pulled the trigger, but it jammed.

"Everything I have been through and everything I have done to make something of myself has only gotten me to a point where I need someone to direct me," Lundholm said. "That's pretty humbling."

Most recognize Balaban as the bespectacled NBC executive who grew obsessed with Elaine during the first season of "Seinfeld." But he is a multifaceted force to be reckoned with as a producer ("Gosford Park"), director and actor. He has appeared in 42 films, from "Midnight Cowboy" to "Altered States" to Christopher Guest's series of mockumentaries ("Waiting for Guffman," "Best in Show," "A Mighty Wind").

Balaban is the producer and director of the current off-Broadway hit "The Exonerated," a staged reading that features rotating stars reading monologues about death-row prisoners found to be innocent. In January, Balaban was at an Orlando convention selling bookings for an upcoming national tour of "The Exonerated" when he caught a 20-minute showcase of "Addicted." In Lundholm, he immediately saw a movie or television star waiting to happen.

"He took a lot of things that people would consider negative qualities and dealt with his cards in a brilliant way so that he removed all the obstacles in his life," Balaban said. "Yes, he needs focus every once in a while, but that's one of the things that makes him so observant as a stand-up comic. His eyes are everywhere. He sees everything in great detail. Also, he's not afraid to be honest after what he's been through. He gets up in front of people and reveals himself in a way that performers aren't always able to do, and that is a tremendous thing Mark has going for him."

Balaban booked "Addicted" for a week in his hometown of Chicago. He asked Lundholm to write several brief, new scenes, such as Lundholm speaking in San Quentin prison. He has added "weird" sound effects to the memorable scene featuring Lundholm sparring with the seven voices in his head. On the fourth day in Chicago, just hours before showtime, Balaban introduced the revised script and cut the intermission.

"My reaction was I wanted to kill him," said Lundholm. But Balaban put a receiver in Lundholm's ear and talked him through every step of that first performance with the new script. Talk about being scared straight.

The changes were such an improvement, however, that Lundholm now defers completely to the talkative new friend he affectionately refers to as Bob Blabanon.

"He took a scalpel to this thing, and I like it much better - but it wasn't easy," Lundholm said. "It was like getting cut on when you have a tumor. It's not pleasant, but once it's done, you go, 'Geez, I guess it was worth it.' I'm not embarrassed to say he knows what he is doing and I do not. Bob's not an addict. Bob's an expert. I'm not an actor. I'm a comic and a criminal. The fact is, I've never known what's best for me. Ever. The difference between me and the guy who's (still) in prison is I didn't get caught."

Lundholm finds it unsettling that all those demons that nearly killed him are starting to provide him with a real-life livelihood.

"It's scary as hell to be examined by people, and it's scary to know that my past is not a mystery to anybody when the show is over," he said. "My defects, my demons, my behaviors, my past, are now very obvious to people. The show leaves me pretty grounded. I never assume that anyone will want to hug me after this show is over."