In oldest battle, the men cave

Jerry Fink, Las Vegas Sun

Tuesday, June 26, 2007 | 7:08 a.m.

Who: "Defending the Caveman"

When: 8 p.m., Wednesday-Monday, with additional shows at 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; dark Tuesday

Where: Golden Nugget

Tickets: $39.95 evening performances and $34.95 matinees; 385-7111

It figures that women better appreciate the humor in "Defending the Caveman." It fits perfectly with playwright Rob Becker's premise that the chasm between men and women dates to the caveman.

Becker says men are hunters and focus on their prey to the exclusion of everything else around them, making them unaware of their shortcomings - ignoring their wives, poor housekeeping, underwear dropped on the floor.

Women are gatherers and, over thousands of years of evolution, have become tuned in to everything in the world around them. When you're a gatherer , you have to be superalert so you won't miss anything that is worth gathering.

That's why women are shoppers and men watch TV. And why they are more aware of men's faults than men are.

At least that's the argument that runs through "Caveman," a 75-minute monologue featuring stand-up comedian Kevin Burke.

It elicits plenty of nudging elbows and murmured "Oh yeahs" among female audience members. Meanwhile, men scratch their heads and wonder what's so funny.

It's all funny, from start to finish - a hilarious look at the differences between the sexes.

Burke - whose body resembles Ralph Kramden but whose sentimentality resembles one of those '80s Alan Alda types who are sensitive to the needs of the opposite sex - does a masterful job in his role of everyman.

His seamless monologue is part sociology, part psychology, part history, part philosophy and all humor.

"It's just so weird how the caveman had that 'bonk them on the head and drag them back to the cave' reputation," Burke says, "because the truth is the caveman never did that. The truth is the caveman actually worshipped women."

But he still can't understand why women always want to warm their cold feet against a man's warm legs.

The stage is so simple it looks like it's snatched off the screen of "The Flintstones." There are a couple of sofas, a TV carved out of stone, a statue of a nude woman, a painting of a prehistoric cave drawing, a painting of a statue of another naked woman.

"Defending the Caveman" is the Golden Nugget's latest effort to lure folks from the Strip to downtown.

It's a difficult task. The attractions on the Strip are so awesome you can't see them all in three or four days.

But "Caveman" is a nice invitation to come on down.