COMEDY REVIEW : Cotter Dissects Ordinary With Eye for Absurd

It’s more than a trade-off: Comedian Wayne Cotter explores very ordinary, everyday topics but brings to the task such singular use of detail and clarity of expression--not to mention a twinkling eye for the absurd--that he winds up with extraordinary pieces of stand-up that you don’t hear every day.

And there were other trade-offs evident at his performance Tuesday at the Irvine Improvisation.

Among the notable ones was Cotter’s way of steering clear of anything too personally revealing, rarely opening a window to the darker, more painful side of human existence (his or ours). Thus, he misses a chance to function at a fully poignant, affecting level, to give his stuff the emotional edge of a Jay Leno or an Allan Havey.

He’s just working another side of the stand-up street, apparently more comfortable operating with the cool precision of a Jerry Seinfeld. And Cotter is clearly in the same class as Seinfeld--not bad as downsides go.

If Cotter is a bit of a dispassionate technician, the upside is that he’s an engaging performer, exuding a low-key, boyish charm. While his material and sensibilities may not provoke a hugely emotional response, you do leave a Cotter show feeling quite warm about him. You sense that he’s someone you would enjoy chatting with over a drink.

Actually, you would think that you had already talked with him when you hear some of his bits. For example, say you get annoyed at some of the lunkhead announcements made on airplanes. That’s not unreasonable or uncommon. And Cotter knows what you mean. Early in Tuesday’s show, he cited one that particularly incurs his wrath: “The cabin is pressurized for your comfort . “ Then, he wondered aloud, “Since when is breathing a luxury?”

Or, say you’ve developed a harmless peccadillo from extensive driving, like watching the odometer for significant readings. Cotter has been there too. “When those digits all turn the same, is that a big moment for you?” he asked the crowd. “I love that . . . three three three three one--it’s coming!” Cotter then acted out a scene in which he, overcome with that kind of excitement, drives into a ditch and is approached by a rescuer.

Rescuer: “Can I help you?”

Cotter: “Yeah, just push me two-tenths more.”

Of course, audience members will connect with some of Cotter’s bits and anecdotes more than others, depending on the experiences and recollections they bring to the proceedings. But, like other first-rate observational monologuists, Cotter has crafted material sufficiently universal that the bulk of it will strike a responsive chord in any crowd--and he gives his audience credit for being sharp.

During a piece on shopping for back-to-school supplies as a lad, for example, he indicated that, for him, this included buying a shiny, new lunch box. His clipped recollection went this way: “Seventh grade, first day of junior high. New school. I go in with a lunch box; everybody else had a paper bag. I’m walking around with the Jetsons under my coat.”

Not necessarily side-splitting stuff, but a nice sketch of pre-adolescent awkwardness. And a lesser--or less secure--comic might have mentioned the crippling peer pressure and compulsion to conform that’s so prevalent at that age. Instead, Cotter assumed that the audience would connect those dots, that the bit would obey the less-is-more rule.

And it’s not as if Cotter merely traffics in frothy frivolity. He does have some bones to pick--and picks them effectively. Take the many numerical difficulties facing the average consumer. Revealing that he recently bought a new refrigerator, he said, “You know those egg holes in the door? Know how many I got? Ten . I come home from the supermarket, (and) I have to eat two eggs immediately. They always do this. . . .

“I got an eight-speed blender. It says on the box ‘eight-speed blender.’ I get it home--one of the speeds is off . Off is not a speed! . . . Hot dogs (come) 12 in a package. Buns? Eight. I’m standing in a supermarket trying to figure out the lowest common denominator.”

He’s also more than a little peeved at the way some members of the animal kingdom have gotten a bum rap: “I think we have a lot of misconceptions about animals. Like they say the mule is a stubborn animal. Do you think the mule is really stubborn? What’s a mule typically . . . to do? Go out in the hot, 100-degree desert sun loaded up with boulders. Climb up some craggy incline, eating dust all day. The mule’s a little reluctant. Yeah, he’s a stubborn animal. Like the other species would jump at the chance.”

In a separate section on pets, however, he suggested that some animals fully deserve their less-than-illustrious reputations. “Cats are psychotic,” he said. “Why do cats always decide suddenly--for no reason--they have to be in another room urgently ?”

A few moments later, his voice dripping with contempt, Cotter said, “My brother had the worst pet of all. The worst--a hamster. The thing got sick; he took it to the vet! That’s like bringing a disposable lighter in for repair.”

It’s just this kind of pet peeve that makes Cotter stand out at stand-up. Headlining an extremely strong bill that also includes Michael Pace (who deserves some sort of most-improved award) and Bob Kubota, Cotter continues at the Irvine Improv through Sunday..