Four performers, all in their 40s, make up the ensemble cast
The cast of the show "4 Sides of 40." From left, Al Ducharme, Eric McMahon, Lenny Marcus and Patty Rosborough. It’s stand-up with a different twist.
From Wednesday through to Dec. 4 at City Stage in Springfield audiences will be treated to a special evening built around four 20-minute stand-up routines as part of the “4 Sides of 40” comedy tour making its way around the country because as their website explains “life begins (to suck) at 40.”
“4 Sides of 40” takes its audience on a hilarious look at the prime of their life from the viewpoints of a single man, a newlywed, a man married for 20 years, and a divorcee.
Four performers, all in their 40s – Lenny Marcus, single; Patty Rosborough, divorced; Eric McMahon, married; and Al Ducharme, newlywed – make up the ensemble cast with each offering a different perspective on the milestone. All four bring over 60 years of stand-up experience to the stage.
“We’ve moved our act to the theater for those in their 40s or 50s who might not want to sit in comedy clubs with drunks,” laughed McMahon.
But you don’t have to be 40 or older to enjoy the show.
“With ‘4 Sides of 40’ there’s something for everyone whether single or married. And, it’s a learning experience for someone, maybe 25-30 years old, who plans on getting married and having kids in the future,” said McMahon.
The comedian brings a type-A, high strung, alpha male perspective to married life at 40. His routine is designed to help audiences understand the struggle of trying to keep a marriage “blissful” after 20 years – all while trying to keep the high school boys away from his daughters and protecting their innocence, and dealing with an aging body that simply doesn’t function like the well-oiled machine it once was.
“My act draws heavily on my own experiences, all of our acts do,” said McMahon.
“I don’t even have to write material. You see something happening and say ‘that works’ and then put it together for the show,” he added.
Like the time a boy came over to McMahon’s house for his first date with the comedian’s daughter.
“I wish I had a tape recorder when I answered the door. All the kid said was ‘I’m here to hang out with your daughter.’ And I thought if anything is hanging out then I’m going to chop it off,” said McMahon.
“It’s little things like that which I talk about……like how moms today need to drive kids to the bus stop. We baby our kids, there are no tuff kids around anymore,” he added.
In the past few years, McMahon has pitched a sitcom to CBS television, starred in an off-off Broadway drama called “The Chill on Lake St. Clair,” and played Billy Flynn in a Broadway review of “Chicago.” He hosts a weekly radio show called “What’s Your Problem?” and is one of the writers and performers in Jim Florentine’s comedy sketches on HBO’s “Inside the NFL.”