‘Superbad’ premiere chock-full of comedic superstars

Monday night’s “Superbad” premiere, held at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, appealed only to those with very specific entertainment tastes.

The small crowd leaning against the temporary railings on the other side of Hollywood Boulevard screamed only twice during the red-carpet proceedings. Once when David Spade arrived. The second time was for Hanson.

But for comedy nerds (like myself), it was a total starstruck geek fest. Judd Apatow in person! Rachel Dratch! Charlene Yi! Jay Chandrasekhar! Aziz Ansari! The guy who played the mean Asian gynecologist in “Knocked Up!” Apatow’s kids Maude and Iris!

Both Michael Cera and Jonah Hill, the two stars of the film, were wearing borrowed suits from a photo shoot they had done the day before for GQ. “We’re going to be GQ’s Man of the Year with Judd and Seth [Rogen],” said Hill, who looked fantastic in a grey Zegna suit and untucked dress shirt.

Cera, who looked even better in a just-too-short-at-the-wrists-and-ankles pinstripe suit matched with a skinny red, poorly tied tie, practically bounced in excitement when his publicist pointed out Hanson’s arrival.

“Holy [expletive]! Holy [expletive],” he said. Then he turned to me. “Don’t write how excited I am. OK, write it, but say that Chris Mintz-Plasse said it.”

“Oh my god, is that what you are going to use?” asked his publicist as Cera moved down the line.

Just as we hoped, Mintz-Plasse, who plays the film’s nerd who dubs himself “McLovin” (and who apparently was not involved in the GQ shoot), was wearing the suit he got for prom. Although he did inform us that he bought his cake-batter-colored shirt and brown tie just the day before.

Inside the awesomely ornate theater (best movie theater in L.A.!) Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment , had to ask everyone to be quiet twice before she introduced Apatow, who introduced “Superbad’s” co-writers Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who introduced the film.

“Thank you for coming and for getting dressed up to hear more [penis] jokes than you’ve ever heard in your life,” said Apatow. “The last time I was up here it was for the premiere of ‘The Cable Guy.’ I loved that movie … and I hope that nobody gets fired after this.”

Rogen, who looks older than his 26 years, was not as comfortable (or as funny) as his mentor. His speech before the film, which centered around two profanities we can’t print, was short, just a bit awkward and ended with, “Let’s watch the movie.”

The after-party wasn’t held at the Hooters across the street as my date had guessed (hoped?), but at the much more swank Tropicana at the Roosevelt Hotel. Walking in, one had the feeling of attending a rich kid’s graduation party. There was a full bar, but there were also a couple of kegs. The dessert table had both fancy-looking mini fruit tarts and Twinkies. And the crowd was split between the grownups and the youth.

Hill and Cera stayed mostly in a clump with a group of friends. (Hill is the glad-hander, Cera is the weird-joke-maker). Mintz-Plasse, whom I had planned to stalk, was sadly nowhere to be found.

But I did see Peter Bogdanovich. He was wearing a cravat.

At 10:30 Apatow passed by, carrying his daughters off to bed, and around the same time I noticed Rumer Willis had arrived in a floaty white dress and straw fedora clutching the hand of a friend. (You know it’s a party when the paparazzi bait shows up!)

Since nobody there was really all that famous, the section with the reserved tables -- with individual platters of sushi waiting on them -- was almost entirely vacant.

Judd Apatow’s crew, apparently, likes to mingle.