Monologuist Mike Daisey gets fired up about two Seattle shows

In casual conversation, Mike Daisey is generally polite, agreeable and doesn't come across as a flame-throwing theater radical.

And the format of the semiautobiographical monologues he crafts (with director-wife Jean-Michele Gregory) and performs around the U.S. and abroad is simplicity itself.

In the manner of the late, great solo spieler Spalding Gray, the fair-haired, round-bodied Daisey works on stage garnished by a small table.

No video projections, no music, no lighting effects. Just a very smart, funny guy ... yakking.

But also like the late Gray, Daisey is a riveting raconteur — and a sly provocateur.

He slashed some dot-com myths with his breakthrough piece "21 Dog Years: Doing Time @Amazon.com," about working for the online Seattle retailing giant in the 1990s.

And if the advance buzz is correct, Daisey won't be making nicey-nice in his upcoming shows at Capitol Hill Arts Center: "Monopoly!," a multifaceted scan of American corporatization, and "How Theater Failed America," a new polemic that more or less bites hands that fed Daisey's career.

By phone from New York (where he and Gregory now reside), Daisey said he's keen on "talking about what the culture is not talking about, but I wish it were. And I can't imagine a more important conversation right now than one about corporations, which is why we made 'Monopoly.'... "

Daisey also admitted that "How Theater Failed America" has "an intentional and openly provocative title like manifestoes everywhere."

"But," he added, "it's not excessively polemical, or some PowerPoint presentation. It's more like, you came to the theater tonight because you care about it in some way. So let's discuss how to keep it alive and make it matter."

Daisey does suggest, politely but plainly, that big Seattle theaters had cold feet about presenting "Monopoly" here because it criticizes some local corporate bigwigs that are major arts funders.

"I suspect that's why we haven't done it in Seattle, though Jean-Michele and I have wanted to for a long time," Daisey said.

"The threads of what it's about — the Microsoft antitrust suit, the spread of Wal-Mart, the country living under a corporate structure and mentality — are things I got concerned about working at Amazon."

But Daisey says he's happy returning to CHAC, where he has had several prior runs of different pieces. The informal, brick-walled venue reminds him of his "garage theater days" here, when he was doing sketch comedy and early drafts of "21 Dog Years."

The hit Off Broadway stand of "21 Dog Years" (which Daisey reprised in Seattle in 2003, at Intiman Theatre) brought him national exposure and a book deal. Now he has a dozen finished monologues in his arsenal and tours often.

To keep himself sharp on stage, Daisey still performs without a net. He doesn't write or memorize a set text. Instead, with Gregory ("a great editor"), he painstakingly crafts outlines of each monologue.

Letting the words "bubble up" in "Monopoly," Daisey discusses topics ranging from Thomas Edison's battle with rival inventor Nikola Tesla over the early distribution of electricity, to the opening of a Wal-Mart in the performer's Maine hometown.

While largely critical of corporatization, Daisey also voices his ambivalence.

"Look, practically everyone I know works for a corporation. And I'm conflicted, like a lot of people are, about radical change vs. incremental change, a big national issue right now."

The last thing he aims to do, Daisey insists, is lecture people.

"I try not to be agitprop or pedantic. I prefer more of a dialogue. And if people are gracious enough to give you the chance to perform for them, it's your responsibility to create a story that applies a lot of thought to complicated topics."

That said, there's a rabble-rouser streak in Daisey. And in "How Theater Failed America," he takes on his own field.

"There's a lot of concern about the future of theater. But I don't think TV, the Internet and the iPod have killed theater's ability to matter in American society. It's things like getting rid of repertory acting companies, trying to perpetuate the institution by hiring more fundraisers and marketers than full-time actors."

This new show was catalyzed, in part, by views posted by veteran Seattle actor Laurence Ballard on a local theater blog.

"Larry was in that small enclave of actors who found steady work in Seattle for years," said Daisey.

"I was very moved reading what he wrote about no longer being able to get enough work, specifically his thoughts on how theaters are becoming more like corporations and don't support artists enough."

(Ballard moved to Georgia in 2007 to teach acting at Savannah College of Art and Design.)

Clearly, Daisey still draws on his several years in Seattle for inspiration. And he credits the city's "very intelligent but emotionally guarded" theater patrons for some valuable lessons.

"You have to be sharp, detailed and do your homework to win over that audience," said Daisey. "During my time in Seattle I really learned that, and it was very good for me."

Misha Berson: mberson@seattletimes.com