THEATER REVIEW: S.J. MAN TURNS DEMONS INTO HARROWING HUMOR

Mark Lundholm kicks off his heart-racing autobiographical solo
"Addicted . . . A Comedy of Substance" remembering the time he tried
to carjack a petite Asian woman in a parking lot. But, strung out on
drugs and desperate for cash, he was so out of it that she simply
karate-chopped the gun out of his hands and sped away.

It's all downhill from there for this guy. Lundholm nose-dives into a
pit of despair, addicted to everything from food and booze to sex and
drugs, careening from one hair-raising situation to another. Along the
way he hones the acerbic wit that he eventually uses to transform
himself from a despondent junkie to a comedy-club regular.

A cross between full-throttle stand-up routine and lacerating therapy
session, "Addicted" is funnier that it has any right to be. Lundholm
(an Oakland native who lives in San Jose) can find the punch line in
any scenario, even in the story of the day when he was 7 and his
father gave him his first drink, unleashing a demon he would battle
for the rest of his life.

This self-described "Ritalin boy" bounced straight from his
dysfunctional childhood (how many families get kicked out of
Disneyland?) to a life of crime, homelessness and suicide attempts.
Still, Lundholm -- with a muscular build, shaved head and piercing
stare -- never wallows in self-pity or self-loathing. Even in a
culture that has overdosed on public confessionals ("Dr. Phil" is
already so last year), there's something refreshing about this
performer's frankness.

He admits to rooting for the naked guy on "Cops," to equating the
making of friends with the recruiting of accomplices, to botching a
robbery by pulling the ski mask on sideways. He sums it all up when he
says "This show is like real life -- it's funny, then it's not, and
then it's over."

As it happens, only one shtick in the show, the part where Lundholm
talks to the "voices" in his head, feels cliched. Mostly, director
Bob Balaban ("The Exonerated") has kept the pace fast, the setting
minimal and the focus on the message.

While Lundholm's own story obviously is quite extreme, he's really
bent on exposing how commonplace addiction is in modern life. Coffee,
golf, workaholism and TV all are revealed as crutches in a
stressed-out world. Without getting too "12-step" about it,
"Addicted" invites us to ponder our own weaknesses.

It's what you might expect from a man in recovery. But in Lundholm's
hands, self-discovery can be a wild ride.

[sidebar]

'ADDICTED . . . A COMEDY OF SUBSTANCE'

Written and performed by Mark Lundholm

The upshot: A heart-pounding nose dive into the pit of drug abuse and
back that's as funny as it is deeply moving.

Where: Marines Memorial Theatre, 609 Sutter St., San Francisco

When: 8 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays; 7 and 10 p.m. Fridays; 2, 5
and 9 p.m. Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays

Through: Oct. 17

Running time: 1 hour, 20 minutes; no intermission

Tickets: $25-$40; (415) 771-6900, www.marinesmemorialtheatre.com