Reviews of One Man Show (1980)
by Jacques Bogart

I tried to avoid the top notes, as I do with most fragrances, and it dries down quickly to a creamy scent with what I think is castoreum and incense being prominent. I think if I had different skin chemistry this would be better, but this dry, almost dusty quality lasts a long time (when I said creamy, I didn't mean in a gourmand way; if there is any sweetness, it's minimal). Also, I think this would be good for layering (such as with Cuba Red) but I have yet to try it that way. This is certainly not one to spray more than two or three times, depending upon your skin chemistry. And it may be that different notes seem dominant, depending upon your skin chemistry. However, at 100 ml for less than $10 delivered (check around when the discounters are offering coupons, like just before or after the Christmas/New Year's holidays), it's worth a shot, especially considering the layering possibility. And if Kouros is just a bit too much for you, but you think you'd like it if it were less powerful, this might be the way to go. I look forward to "fiddling around" with this one.

Too much and it'll be called Everyone in the Room Show. The bergamot in this is really, really fizzy and haphazardly dances with the "80's fougere" powerhouse drydown making for a dizzying, average scent. Soapy orange.

Man, this is so harsh with a sparkling bitterness that takes a long time to give way to some woody sweetness in the drydown. After about three hours One Man Show smells rather good and much smoother and friendlier than the initial olfactory assault. Wear it for the hell of it! That is, IF you have a pair... It's an anti-scent in today's context.

One Man Show or the lonely man Show if you like, coz you are likely to be left alone if have this on. I tend to agree with foetidus on the standards issue. I wish i didnt have to come down hard on OMS having used it myself years ago i really thought highly of it back then, but seriously who wants to smell like a farm hand? lets match OMS for you guys if you dont already know, OMS is similar to Benetton's COLD and versace's discontiuned GREEN JEANS,i think what gives OMS away is that its harsh notes never give way to softer tolerable unforgettable notes that powerhouses are known for.

An interesting curio from a bygone era that somehow managed to survive. As one of the first widely (more or less) available Western fragrance products to pierce the Iron Curtain, OMS had been a bit of a cult and a status symbol in Russia in the years of primary capital accumulation, worn by a motley crowd of students, factory directors, the fledgling office plankton, petty entrepreneurs and hard-eyed boys with baseball bats practicing the fine art of bad debt collection. Walking down the streets of Moscow or riding the subway in those days, you'd think OMS was the official smell endorsed by the City of Moscow. Since then, its image has reverted to that of a dated budget smell for middle-aged nerds. But I digress. Its nostalgic value aside, OMS is a real viper of a scent, on par with Puig's Quorum in terms of brutal macho force (if not as complex) and equally difficult to wear if you are socially conscious. Whatever the intended notes (and there are quite a few) and progression, what I mostly get is a solid wall of something dry, leathery, harsh and bitter, a smell that has always reminded me of leafing through dusty pages in a second-hand book shop - not a bad connotation in my book, as a matter of fact. I keep a bottle at home for that note alone, but never venture outside wearing this beast.

Basically a stronger version of Photo by Lagerfeld, and in the same family not only as Lagerfeld, but also Francesco Smalto. All three fragrances "amp up" BIG TIME on my skin rather than "dry down" over the course of the day. Photo's by far the best of these three Eighties "powerhouses," but all three remind me very much of one another.

All I can say of all three in general (and One Man Show in particular) is APPLY IN MODERATION. (Otherwise, you'll need to call in HAZMAT teams to clean up the aftermath if you over-spritz.)

One Man Show (OMS) has an interesting name (sort of like Carons the Third Man), and is an interesting 80s creation which still holds up well today.

OMS opens with excellent top notes - the fusion of citrus, herbs and floral components create an inviting accord. The heart notes are a bit more serious, spicy and woody - the nutmeg and incense clearly dominate. Although the rose and jasmine notes arent very noticeable, they do their part in making sure that the nutmeg and incense dont over do things. The drydown is quite woody, leathery, and smooth.

OMS is a fragrance which is more suited to colder weather. Also, it helps if you go easy on the trigger when using it in the summer - the heat tends to make the woody/spicy accords stand out more. However, if applied in moderate amounts, OMS creates great sillage. Its also very long lasting. Great value for money too!

This one man show is not a one trick pony.

A pretend 80’s powerhouse. The bergamot / rosewood / cumin / incense in the opening tricks one into thinking there’s something great in store. The wood, spice, incense provide a bitterness that moves the fragrance into the ‘severe’ territory. Ordinarily I would like a dry, biting accord like this but this one is overdone because it doesn’t balance with anything and it’s not headed anywhere—there’s simply harshness. I can’t determine the florals in the mix—if they are there, they are overwhelmed. It stays especially dry / green / bitter on the skin without yielding up the variously claimed carnations, rose, or jasmine. The intensity is powerful at first, but it weakens. It loses projection and strength but not it’s roughness. It lasts for a reasonable length of dry down. The dry down is not bad—leather, moss, lots of wood, without much sweetness—but it is quite nondescript. In all, One Man Show is rough and substandard.

Great scent as far as I remember- I used it years ago. I am thinking of buying a new bottle.

I'm glad I discovered One Man Show. It's so incredibly refreshing and long lasting. It reminds me of a lush, vibrant greenhouse; lots of greens with some light florals. It is concentrated so one or two sprays works for me. If I could only have one cologne, this might be it.

a very outdated smell which gives incredible migraines...TOO STRONG AND IN YOUR FACE!! ALMOST RANCID

"Sir, if I may, that is as aggressive and odorous a scent as I've known you to wear." So spoke my valet to me today. I replied, "Well, you've a point, for I just received a big bottle and am trying it out, and the exceedingly sharp opening note, replete with incense, is certainly assaulting my our noses." One Man Show is aptly named, for there is probably exactly ONE man who is madly in love with this scent. The very forward bergamot and incense is, unfortunately, also joined by one of the strongest soapy characteristics imaginable. It's not exactly cloying, for it basically knocks you out straight out of the bottle. Even if on first trying you actually like this, I would recommend a very spare application.

Wicozani

ARISTOCRAT SHOOTS FRAGRANCE AT LEARNED SOCIETY! Police were called last night to the Society of Perfumes in Paris following the shooting of the fragrance One Man Show by the eccentric aesthete Baron de Charlus. Eyewitnesses report that de Charlus was heard shouting: 'I refuse any longer to dignify this sinus-destroying syrup with words!' Producing a revolver, he tossed a bottle of One Man Show in the air and shot it to pieces. 'I have no regrets,' de Charlus was reported as saying later, 'I only wish I had shot it sooner!' One Man Show is believed to be in a critical condition but the House of Bogart are confident it will recover.

Excellent! This fragrance is really a classic one!! It gives me an absolut serious looking and all the girls really like it... But here in Brazil, you gotta take care when wearing it, because the smell becames a little strong due to the hot weather.

Classic 80s woody-aromatic fragrance. Flowers and citrus notes turn into woody, ambery accord. Top note is sharp and produces a tickle in the nose when sniffed. Flowers at the top are way too obsessive. Develops into woody notes with hints of amber and leather. My father's absolutely favourite.

At the beginning of perestroika One Man Show was probably the most popular cologne in Russia, my native country. Probably that's because it was one of the few upscale fragrances that were readily available in the stores back in that time. So much popular it was that it got its own nickname - Vanka (from "One" and the Russian name Ivan). The smell of One Man Show often transports me to that late 80's time, which wasn't the merriest one.