Actor Paul Reiser Comes Home to Stand-Up--for One Evening

Comedian Paul Reiser, who over the years has devoted an increasingly large part of his time to acting--and stars in the popular TV sitcom, “My Two Dads”--will make a rare appearance as a stand-up comic Thursday at the Laff Stop in Newport Beach.

A native New Yorker, Reiser dabbled in theater while attending State University of New York at Binghamton, where he graduated with a degree in piano and music composition. He was also drawn to comedy and, not long after graduation, was doing spots at such top New York clubs as Catch a Rising Star, the Improvisation and the Comic Strip.

Reiser was continuing to hone his joke-telling craft when the first acting break came through serendipitous means, or at least that’s the way the perhaps-apocryphal story goes. He accompanied a friend to an audition for a feature film and was mistakenly escorted into the office of the director, Barry Levinson, who wound up casting Reiser in the movie--”Diner.”

Since then, he has racked up several other acting credits in both films (“Beverly Hills Cop,” “Beverly Hills Cop II,” “Aliens,” “Cross My Heart”) and television (TV movies “You Ruined My Life” and “Sunset Limousine,” as well as guest stints on various series and sitcoms).

As a comic, he has performed in most of the country’s premier rooms and appeared on both “The Tonight Show” and “Late Night With David Letterman.”

A year or so ago, he starred in his own hourlong HBO special, “Out on a Whim.” Consistent with his modus operandi --but quite different from most comics’ cable specials--only half of “Whim” was spent on Reiser’s bemused, vaguely neurotic stand-up material, while the other half was devoted to a wry mini-movie.

These days, he is very busy with “My Two Dads,” in which he and actor Greg Evigan portray former romantic rivals who years ago fell in love with the same woman. The woman dies, and both men are given custody of her daughter, now 12, because one of these very dissimilar guys fathered the girl--but through the wacky magic of sitcoms, it’s impossible to determine which one.

Things are much more straightforward about Reiser’s Laff Stop appearance Thursday: There will be two shows, at 8 and 9:45 p.m., tickets cost $15 and reservations are required. Information: (714) 852-8762.