COMEDY REVIEW : ‘Crazies’ Take Aim at Orange County--and Miss

Announce that “Orange County Crazies” are on the attack, and the mind quivers at the possibilities: from faceless developers to jackbooted skinheads, from the men who built the drive-in church and Fantasyland to the all-too-real figures of Wally George and Rep. William E. Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton), the term comes loaded with colorful, somewhat ominous significance.

On a most basic level, then, people everywhere can rest easy knowing that the one group that actually calls itself the Orange County Crazies is merely a comedy troupe; unfortunately, based on their inaugural show recently at Orange Coast College, the Crazies offer little else to be thankful for.

With a 2 1/2-hour revue titled “This Is Orange County,” the troupe promised an original and satiric look at life amid these erstwhile bean fields. Instead, laden with misfiring skits and shopworn gags cribbed from television and other comedians, the Crazies could make even the last half hour of “Saturday Night Live” seem brilliantly inspired.

Often mistaking profanity for comedy, the home-grown Crazies even had trouble linking their sketches to Orange County and its peculiar life style; they relied instead on the gratuitous insertion of local place names, and, predictably, reserved most of their mild slights for Garden Grove, the county’s downscale whipping boy.

In timid, tepid fashion, the Crazies trotted out a Sinatra-like lounge singer (“Frank Capistrano”), a beauty pageant filled with repellent women (“Miss Orange County”) and a restaurant staffed by the handicapped (“Upscale Restaurant”). They yawningly took on yuppies (“Yuppie Girl Rap”) and the fitness craze (“Aerobics Girl”). They warbled vague new lyrics for “I Love L.A.” (“I Love O.C.”) and proffered a “Jeopardy” parody with categories like “John Wayne Airport” and “Orange County Traffic.”

In the rare instance when they stumbled upon a worthy subject--zeroing in on pastor Robert H. Schuller, Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder, rapacious developers, porous oil tankers--the material fell well short of its potential. It’s now 35 years after Mad magazine’s “Mickey Rodent” parody, 20 years after Ralph Bakshi’s “Fritz the Cat” cartoons; can the Crazies really think that a Mickey Mouse who swears is the cutting edge of comedy?

Perhaps if presented under different pretenses--as a high-school talent show, say, or an insurance-company employee revue--the Crazies would merit indulgence, if not appreciation.

But given that the group is directed by a former member of the Groundlings, the Los Angeles comedy troupe, and charges $12.50 a head (Visa/MasterCard accepted), the weakness of the material can’t be excused. Mercifully for those responsible, the program, which gives a paragraph-long biography to the prop manager, omits writing credits.

While the writers escaped anonymously, the troupe’s enthusiastic and competent cast was left holding the stage. Every one of the 14 Crazies outshone his material, and several displayed promising talent. B.J. Porter, a 19-year-old student, did an amusing Ray Charles turn as a blind waiter; LizAnne, a burly actress who uses only one name, stole every scene she was in. Their efforts only underlined the evening’s disappointment.

The Orange County Crazies will next appear tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Orange Coast College, Science Hall, 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa. Tickets $12.50. Information: (714) 840-1406.