STAGE REVIEW : ITCHEY FOOT: ONE YEAR OF ‘FEETBALL’

The Itchey Foot Ristorante’s resident comedy/improv troupe, the Itchey Feet, celebrated the first anniversary of its “Monday Night Feetball” this week. Using the group’s own analogy, it was a game that was mired in the middle of the field for too long. The Feet may have kicked a field goal or two, but there were no touchdowns.

The Feet plays the usual array of improvisational games, including some of the hoariest. Please, no more “Dating Game” parodies or John Wayne impersonations (one sketch combined these cliches, without vivifying them in any way). As expected, show-biz references dominated the evening, with sexual references a close second.

Still, there were more detours into other subjects than I’ve seen at some of the competition. Although a brief glance at Texaco’s bankruptcy wasn’t a big success, it at least indicated that someone had been reading the day’s news. When someone offered “Passover” and “sex” as suggestions for the opening blues, the group selected the former and managed to make musical jokes on the subject without crossing the boundary of bad taste.

Bryan Rasmussen appears to be a lenient director. There are too many Feet (11), especially for such a tiny stage. A few of the eight men don’t add much; one of them, groping for something to rhyme with “fondle,” found “rondle” and “mondle.” One entire segment, including 15 brief bits, was aptly titled “Rejects.”

The evening’s highlight was a scripted series of brief condensations of movies; particularly sharp were Kimberly Johnson’s takes on the Katharine Hepburn and Jane Fonda roles in “On Golden Pond” and Robert Malcheski’s solo rendition of “The Wizard of Oz.”

These lasted only a few minutes out of a 2 1/2-hour evening. The Itchey Foot chairs were not made for such long sits.

Performances are at 801 W. Temple St., every Monday at 8 p.m. except the first Monday of each month (213) 481-3943).

Cover charge is $5.