Isaac Lamb landed the gig of his life when he got the role of playing the Caveman in Robert Becker's one-man stage show "Defending the Caveman."

What better person for the role than a big, hairy man (his description, not ours) who concedes that there are some things about women and men's relationship that he just doesn't get?

The longest running solo show in Broadway history opens Tuesday at the Hawai'i Theatre for a five-day run.

Lamb, sarcastic and witty and quick to laugh at himself, spoke to us from his home in Oregon about his full-time job of being the Caveman, and why "Defending the Caveman" is must-see theater for all genders.

How many of you are there?

Cavemen? There's a whole tribe of us. There are about four or five of us touring at any one time, and there's a guy in Vegas who does it permanently. There are also a few back-up guys.

Is the material ever updated? Or is it a pretty timeless message?

The script is the same script that Rob (Becker) wrote several years ago. There are pop culture references that when he wrote it in the early '90s — things like references to the movies "Ghost" and "Pretty Woman" — made an impression. We've taken some of those things out, or have changed them, but other than that it's very much the same.

You've been playing this role for almost six years now. Do you ever get sick of it?

You know, I don't, and I think that's a real testament to the show itself. It's been around for quite a while and people are surprised that people still respond to it, but the topic — differences between men and women — is such a universal subject. The Greeks were writing plays about this thousands if years ago, and the problems haven't gone away. I don't get sick of it because I get a new audience every night. It's a one-man show, but it's very much reliant on the audience interaction, and them giving me feedback on my performance, so I actually get a new character to act opposite of every night, and that's a thrill for an actor.

Plus, I'm just really, really good at it, you know?

No, I don't know, but I believe you.

I'm just kidding, of course. Don't quote me on that.

I'm totally quoting you on that. Moving on: What's the most typical audience response to the show?

Well, when I'M doing it, laughter.

Obviously!

Seriously, though, when I started doing this, I thought there would be parts of the country that would respond better to the material than other parts. I thought that men and women relationship comedy would be something that the people who like the Blue Collar Comedy Tour would appreciate, but I was totally wrong. I did the show in Seattle for an audience of drag queens, and I walked on stage terrified for my life, but they loved it. It really plays well anywhere. I think our typical audience is couples between 35 and 55, but we also get big groups of women who end up bringing their husbands back to watch the show.

It's really fun for me to see people walk into the theater who have obviously been arguing — he couldn't find parking, and she was being a side-seat driver and then they end up elbowing each other for the next two hours while laughing at their foibles.

When they leave, they leave hand in hand, and that's a real thrill for me.

So, can I assume that you're not taking sides in this play?

Yeah, we really don't take sides. It IS called "Defending the Caveman" and that is certainly what it's about because the writer wanted to explore why it is that men look at women like they're mysterious and women look at men like they're wrong. So it IS a defense of the way men are because we're not wrong, we're just different. But it's about appreciating our differences, laughing about them and understanding that, on some things, we're never going to see eye to eye, and that's OK. But we certainly don't attack women for being the way they are.

This is an honest-to-goodness feeling for me: I just don't understand you guys. What you guys do is like magic. How do you go shopping for shoes and come home with teacups? How do you pick up a grapefruit in the grocery store and know that it's good? There are things that women, as gatherers, do that just baffle men. We're hunters. We're very narrow-minded and singularly focused. We can focus well on one thing, but if we're watching TV, you better say our name and give us a treat if you want us to listen to you.

Have you learned anything about yourself doing this show?

I think I thought that I wasn't one of those guys. But I am. There are of course exceptions to every rule, but I think that in every relationship there's a hunter and a gatherer. And that's what the show is about.