Review: CASH ME IF YOU CAN at Berkeley Street Theatre

Patrick Combs was knee-deep in credit card debt when he got a piece of junk mail that caught his eye - a phony cheque for nearly $100,000. He knew the bank would never cash it, but he had nothing better to do, so he popped it into an ATM and - lo and behold, it cleared. Now Patrick Combs, slacker was Patrick Combs, celebrity, and public enemy number one to his bank, which did everything in its power to threaten and entice him into giving the money back.

I won't tell you what Combs did with the 100 grand, only that, some 25 years later, he has taken his story on the road in a one-man show, CASH ME IF YOU CAN. Patrick Combs stars as Patrick Combs in a story that he promises and promises again is 100% completely true.

Combs is a charming and charismatic man, although the character he plays is a bit of a doofus. The decisions Patrick makes after getting the money - no spoilers, I promise - feel kind of dumb to me, and I can't help but wonder how much more fun the story might be if Patrick had had a head on shoulders. Interestingly, in an unscripted post-show Q&A Friday night, Combs showed himself to be an intelligent, thoughtful man; I wonder if he really has grown so much since his 20s, or if the grinning smart-ass character is just an act. In any case, with corny jokes, unnecessary f-bombs, and ironic t-shirts, CASH ME IF YOU CAN feels at times like it might have been co-produced by Spencer's Gifts.

Intelligence aside, Patrick's appeal is in his principle. When he realises that he has the chance to make a multi-billion dollar financial institution own up to its mistakes, he seizes it, even at great personal risk. Patrick's struggle against the bank is especially salient today, as the fight between the individual and the institution is fiercer than ever. It's funny to think of Patrick, the luckiest slacker in America, as a role model, but he may be just that - proof that, if you're in the right place at the right time, and you stand up for yourself, you can make a difference.

When he's not acting in his one-man show, Combs works as a motivational speaker. There is certainly a motivational streak in CASH ME IF YOU CAN - a real you can do it! kind of vibe. I feel like the people who enjoy motivational speakers are the same people who clap when airplanes land and ask if you're "working hard or hardly working." I don't clap when airplanes land, but many people do, and they might get a real kick out of CASH ME IF YOU CAN.

Horse and Hound Production's CASH ME IF YOU CAN runs through 22 December at the Marilyn and Charles Baillie Theatre, 26 Berkeley Street, Toronto.

For more information or to buy tickets, click here.

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