‘Ladies’ Looking for Laughs : Comedy: All-female show gives eight performers a stage for their humor.

At first blush, talking to a lawyer about comedy makes about as much sense as talking to a comedian about law. No one has ever accused lawyers of having ready smiles or quick wits.

Anita Milner, however, is a lawyer who can talk seriously about comedy. She caught the bug seven years ago on a cruise ship when she was at Cal Western law school. On a lark, she worked up a three-minute routine to perform during an amateur hour on the vessel, but she didn’t begin to pursue the avocation seriously until a year and a half ago.

On Friday and Saturday nights, she will be doing something she has been wanting to do for a while. She and some fellow female comedians have put together “Ladies of the Evening,” touted as San Diego’s first all-women, stand-up comedy event.

“I’d like to make it an annual event and draw from the talent available each year,” Milner said, adding that such an outlet helps women in comedy. “It’s harder for women because many of them have family obligations.”

The show features eight San Diego County-based comedians, including two full-time performers who tour regularly and play conventions and comedy clubs, Debbie Tate and Mary Jo Crowley. Crowley was also involved in launching the event.

“I’ve never played to a bad audience, but I’ve played to some tough ones,” said Milner, 54, who has worked most of San Diego County’s comedy venues. “No one has ever heckled me, probably because I’m a woman, have never insulted an audience . . . and I’m older.”

The Escondido lawyer uses comedy as a release from job stress.

Hecklers, late hours, fear of failure, smoky joints and low or no pay are a release?

“In comedy, you know what you’re going to say,” she explained. “There are no surprises like there can be in a courtroom.”

Milner said she would be happy to trade in her law books for joke books and let the audience be her judge and jury . . . if she could only make a living at it. She figures that if she survived playing to an audience of just two people (one of whom walked out during the show) at the Comedy Store, she can survive anything.

“And I found out later the woman who was still there was a bag lady who had just come in to get warm,” Milner said.

She avoids obscene language and draws her material from an understanding husband, two “semi-beautiful’ grown daughters (one of whom would rather iron than do what her mother does), a brother and life in general. But Milner’s spouse bears the brunt of her routine.

“My husband and I went to see an X-rated movie,” she said. “Afterward, I explained it to him. He cried.”

When finding talent for the show, Milner was careful about who she asked to perform, trying to skirt performers who lean too much to off-color humor.

“We’re telling people they can bring children but only in their late teens,” Milner said, adding that some of the material is somewhat suggestive. “This wasn’t put together for a family.”

Others on this relatively clean bill are:

* Karen Rontowski, who recently was a runner-up in the “Funniest Person in San Diego” contest.

* Kathy Foley, a flight attendant who performs weekly at Los Angeles clubs, bills herself at “the air bag,” and also helped put on the program.

* Jere Evans, who also performs regularly in Los Angeles.

* Lorian Elbert, a Comedy Store worker who performs there weekly.

* Betsy Mill, a San Diego performer and owner of a desktop publishing firm. She also helped put the show together.

“Ladies of the Evening” is scheduled for 8 p.m. Friday at the Patio Playhouse, 1511 E. Valley Parkway, Escondido, and at 8 p.m. Saturday at The Theater in Old Town, 4040 Twiggs St., San Diego.