Dressed in a suit and speaking quietly and directly to the audience, Trumbull unfolds his story about his engineer father. He talks of the latter's battle with cancer, the debilitating effects of the chemotherapy treatment, his father's decision to donate his body for medical research, and more.

What makes the tale so poignant is the amount of detail, peppered with unexpected moments of humor, woven into it. Anyone who has lost a loved one is sure to be moved by the performance, particularly during the section that Trumbull agonizes over what to say in his eulogy to his father, and the advice given to him by a friend that puts everything in perspective.

It's in moments such as this that Trumbull varies his vocal rhythms, taking on the voices of other characters. It proves an effective choice, contrasting with the writer/performer's manner of speaking for the majority of the hour-long show -- a deadpan near-monotone that is somehow still emotionally resonant.

-- Dan Bacalzo