{"id":5140,"date":"2013-03-01T08:12:06","date_gmt":"2013-03-01T16:12:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=5140"},"modified":"2013-03-01T17:01:08","modified_gmt":"2013-03-02T01:01:08","slug":"ex-champ-mike-tyson-shadowboxes-his-life-on-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/ex-champ-mike-tyson-shadowboxes-his-life-on-stage\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-champ Mike Tyson shadowboxes his life on stage"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

The tattooed Mike Tyson.<\/p><\/div>\n

I went to \u201cUndisputed Truth,\u201d ex-heavyweight champ Mike Tyson\u2019s one-man show, expecting to find a human version of a car wreck by the side of a highway.<\/p>\n

Or a five-legged fuming bull.<\/p>\n

I got what I\u2019d anticipated \u2014 and much more.<\/p>\n

His performance at the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco confirms he\u2019s still misogynistic and an egocentric bully \u2014 and that he\u2019s still in denial about raping a beauty contestant (\u201cI was convicted before the trial\u201d), despite spending three years in prison for it.<\/p>\n

He skirts no major details of his bad-boy history, though he excuses biting off a chunk of Evander Holyfield\u2019s right ear because his foe head-butted him in a previous bout, and he justifies bashing his first wife, actress Robin Givens, because she and her mother \u201cjumped on my wallet like the wild dogs of Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n

To me, that particular rant feels as brutal and painful as their yearlong marriage must have been.<\/p>\n

The 46-year-old does, however, evoke sympathy and forgiveness from having been the son of a prostitute and a pimp, for conquering his drug and booze addictions (\u201cI\u2019ve been clean and sober for four years\u201d), and for enduring the deaths of his mother, sister and 4-year-old daughter.<\/p>\n

His troubled environment and childhood (\u201cI was arrested 30 times by age 12\u201d) and financially ripped-off adulthood (fight promoter Don King allegedly charged him $8,000 a week for towels) also draw compassion and a touch of pity.<\/p>\n

In addition to a big box-office, \u201cUndisputed Truth\u201d clearly seeks an influx of forgiveness and love.<\/p>\n

Spike Lee directed the show and indisputably helps Tyson obtain those two elements (while taking a break from his films and his courtside seats at N.Y. Knicks basketball games).<\/p>\n

And Kiki Tyson, the ex-boxer\u2019s third and current wife, aided the quest by scripting a 100-minute show peppered with tons of self-deprecating humor and a modicum of pathos (not to mention a torrent of rhythmic f-bombs and n-words).<\/p>\n

Tyson does comedy set pieces particularly well.<\/p>\n

For example, he evokes heavy laughter from his exaggerations of polite white speech patterns (which he juxtaposes with the rough \u2018n\u2019 tumble phrases that pour off the tongues of street hoodlums of color).<\/p>\n

He claims, in context, that he would have preferred his show be called \u201cBoxing, Bitches and Lawsuits.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Thursday night\u2019s opening of the ultra-brief, three-day SHN engagement, Tyson\u2019s fans and cheerleaders virtually packed the 2,200 seats. They made up an audience unlike most theater throngs \u2014 younger (mostly 20- to 40-year-olds), more ethnically diverse (lots of Hispanics and African-Americans), and less well attired (sneakers and jeans, with a smattering of baseball caps, some worn backwards).<\/p>\n

More like a crowd I\u2019d expect at ringside.<\/p>\n

His devotees cheered and laughed enthusiastically and often, even when Tyson was recounting past behaviors that had brought him almost universal disfavor.<\/p>\n

None seemed bothered by the ex-champion\u2019s speech impediment or occasional mumbles. And no one visibly winced when he talked about becoming \u201ctired of ripping off my prostitute girlfriend and waking up next to people I never saw before.\u201d<\/p>\n

The so-called \u201cbaddest man on the planet\u201d drew extra sympathy by relating he went from banking $400 million to bankruptcy, finding himself \u201cho-less and homeless,\u201d and suffering through rehab before hitting an emotional growth spurt in prison resulting in transformation.<\/p>\n

The change didn\u2019t hold, unfortunately.<\/p>\n

So he continues to shadowbox his demons \u2014 and his life \u2014 onstage.<\/p>\n

Though he skips it in the show, which is definitely not for the squeamish, Tyson has confessed to being on cocaine while filming a cameo appearance in the movie comedy \u201cThe Hangover.\u201d<\/p>\n

That altered state probably didn\u2019t matter much: His meager acting chops are as evident here as they were there (as well as in the sequel that featured a replica of his facial tattoo more than it did his bigger-than-life persona).<\/p>\n

Last December, Time magazine quoted Tyson as claiming he gets a high, despite constant nagging doubts, from going on stage \u2014 a similar high to the one he used to derive climbing into a boxing ring.<\/p>\n

The opening night\u2019s crowd, which proffered Tyson a standing ovation, apparently got its own high from the solo showcase.<\/p>\n

Its excitement was palpable, even to the minority who weren\u2019t disciples.<\/p>\n

\u201cUndisputed Truth\u201d runs at the Orpheum Theatre, 1192 Market St., San Francisco, through March 2. <\/em>Performances tonight and tomorrow, 8 p.m. Tickets: $50 to $310. Information: (888) 746-1799 or shnsf.com.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I went to \u201cUndisputed Truth,\u201d ex-heavyweight champ Mike Tyson\u2019s one-man show, expecting to find a human version of a car wreck by the side of a highway. Or a five-legged…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5140","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-woody-weingarten"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"