Straight guy finds the humor in loving finer things
By Beth Sneller Daily Herald Staff Writer

Back in the days of Little League baseball, Paul Stroili always packed his Gatorade in a wine bucket.

Yes, he was that kind of kid.

What began as a peculiar nuance, however, now is paying off for Stroili in a popular one-man show titled "Straight Up With a Twist."

The show, about the more refined men of the world, opens this weekend in Naperville's Crossroads Theater for a one-month engagement.

Stroili first performed his show in 1999, before "metrosexual" - a heterosexual man who knows about wine, moisturizers and Versace - became a household term.

He called the show "Renaissance Geek," basing it around the sad lot men who are similar to Kelsey Grammar's Frasier Crane character, but has different motivations.

"We were going to get lucky with women, so we decided we were going to get as close to them as we could," Stroili says. "And our feminine sides came out."

His idea for the show came from his wife.

"One day she said, 'I'm so lucky to have you,'æ" Stroili said. "æ'You're like this gay friend I can have sex with.'æ"

In "Straight Up," Stroili plays eight different characters - his mother, brother, college drama teacher, guidance counselor and others. The characters each have their own opinions on his personality.

Though they're the main characters in his show, his family members aren't offended, Stroili said.

"They love it, actually," he said. "It's so exaggerated that they couldn't genuinely be offended."

Since 1999, Stroili has performed the show in Los Angeles, Connecticut, Burbank, Calif., and, most recently, Chicago.

He's bringing it to Naperville because he likes the look of Crossroads.

"I'm more excited about the Naperville run than the Chicago run, because the theater is a more appropriate size," Stroili said.

Stroili and the Crossroads owners are hoping the show will play as well in the suburbs as it did in the city.

It's certainly gotten a boost from the success of Bravo's "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," a show about five gay men making over a straight man.

"The minute 'Queer Eye' hit, anything that remotely smelled like that was a hit," Stroili said.

Though he thinks "Queer Eye" is funny, Stroili fears it's sending the wrong message.

"Between Tim Allen and 'The Man Show,' there's this constant reinforcement that all straight guys are these knuckle-dragging, beer-slugging couch potatoes," he said.

As his show's success has proven, that's just not true.

Stroili recently filmed "Straight Up" as a one-hour comedy special, and is trying to sell it to a cable network.

"If it's broadcast, then we can look forward to a long national tour," he said.