SHOW GOES FOR GIGGLES : SHOW TICKLES BRAIN AND THE FUNNY BONE

Trivia has become big business, with new versions of the popular Trivial Pursuit board game introduced in stores almost weekly, and new “trivia” game shows airing on television. Now, Orange County has its own spinoff on cable-TV--a live phone-in comedy-game show called “Guess What?”

The program, produced by Rogers Cablesystems in Garden Grove, is hosted by comics Kirk R. Gross and Bob Nash. Airing Thursdays from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m., the program is carried on cable stations in Fountain Valley, Westminster, Garden Grove and Huntington Beach, among other cities. Actually, “Guess What?” is a comedy program disguised as a quiz show: While relatively simple questions like “What is the birth of five babies called?” or “Where does Robin Hood live?” are being asked, Gross and Nash engage in spontaneous repartee, punctuated by prerecorded comedy skits.

Three years ago, with little more than a producer’s vague directives, a primitive phone board and a list of trivia questions, the show--hosted only by Gross--made its debut. (At that time, it was called “You Got It” and originated from Huntington Beach.) “That first show was pretty much a disaster,” Gross, 23, now also the show’s producer, recalls.

“Guess What?” has come a long way. One of the more significant changes was to bring in Nash, 27, to beef up the comedy.

Other changes include an upgraded set and scoreboard and the presentation of the short video skits or “breaks,” which Gross and Nash write, act out and direct. Generally, these are parodies with titles such as “Life Styles of the Arrogant and Confused” and “Sea Search.”

But the show is mostly a mix of improvised patter, free-form goofiness and trivia. Although “Guess What?” comes together each Thursday without a script, it sticks to a fairly consistent structure.

The program is divided into 30-minute segments. Gross, sitting at a desk, starts each segment by rattling off eight trivia questions. Subscribers call in, select a question and try to answer it.

This process is carried out against a backdrop of non-stop irreverence. Gross jokes with each caller, jokes with Nash, jokes with the small studio audience and jokes with the jokes. He’s not beyond pulling such stunts as ordering a pizza and having the startled delivery boy bring it to him while the cameras are rolling.

Most of the callers who answer correctly merely earn a point for their hometown on a scoreboard kept by Nash, but modest prizes--10 free games at a local bowling alley, a free pizza--are awarded for correct answers to some questions.

As these prizes, provided by the show’s sponsors, suggest, “Guess What?” is a low-budget production. Only three of the 11 cast and crew members are paid; the rest are college interns or others seeking live television experience.

Despite its frequent plugs for sponsors, “Guess What?” has attracted a number of regular viewers who call in each week, even if they can’t answer the questions. The studio audience also has its share of regulars, most notably the Slash Brigade.

The Slash Brigade evolved from Nash’s dramatic way of adding a fifth line--the slash--to a city’s score. Nash explains: “About the second or third show this year, some people began chanting ‘slash, slash.’ . . . And now (the Slash Brigade) has become a real, living, breathing animal.”

Brigade leaders Tony Benoun, 27, and Jay Eskridge, 18, take their place in the studio audience each week, encouraging other audience members to join the chanting--and to join the Brigade. Although only about five or six Brigade members attend any one show, Benoun, who lives in Westminster, says more than 40 people have signed his Slash Brigade roster. And Benoun, a self-described “TV-aholic” who owns three VCRs, has had 1,000 Brigade membership cards printed for the recruits he is seeking.

Meanwhile, Gross and Nash are looking for ways to capitalize on the exposure they are getting from “Guess What?”

“I’ve always seen ‘Guess What?’ as more of a steppingstone for us,” Gross says.

First, the pair plan to hit the stand-up comedy circuit, working as a team. “Both of us have done stand-up in the past,” Gross says. “I feel I’m at my strongest in front of a camera--to me it’s natural and easy. Stand-up is tougher, but I enjoy it. We’re planning an hourlong cable special, which may be a kickoff for touring or doing some other stand-up performances.”

This shift to club comedy hardly means they’re turning their back on the camera, however. “Stand-up may be becoming a priority now,” Nash says, “but I don’t think we’ll ever leave the television medium.”

Another in an occasional series examining the comedy scene in Orange County. Today: A look at the cable TV comedy game show “Guess What?”