COMEDY REVIEW : Insults Can’t Wake Up Crowd : Humor: Tom McGillen’s routine had a bang-up finish but the audience was lethargic for most of the show.

One of the nice things about being a stand-up comedian is that you get to stay out late, use dirty words and meet lots of new people.

Wednesday night at the Improv in Pacific Beach, Tom McGillen could have lived without the last. The 240 new faces in the audience didn’t exactly warm up to him. They were polite, but cool.

So McGillen--who has played most of the big clubs in the country, opened for Jay Leno and appeared on the top comedy shows on TV and has some feel for working a crowd--tried to woo them with insults. It was a nice try.

* “I’ve never seen this in my entire career. You people sit there like a proverbial . . . oil painting. I do Don Knotts and you erupt. What did I do? Hit your level? Mayberry?”

* “You people are slow. You’re like a . . . cruise ship run aground in here. Let’s wake it up or I’m gonna toe-tag you and run (you) outta here. We got body bags in the meat locker for you.”

* “I’ve got the deadest . . . audience I’ve seen in 15 years.”

* “You people don’t get out a lot, do you?”

* “You’re not even a kinky crowd.”

* “Despite yourselves, I’m gonna take you people on a trip to the movies.”

Ironically, this comes from a guy who was lauded by Variety in 1987 for his ability to handle a Houston standing-room-only crowd. “He not only got the rowdy house quiet, he got them to applaud,” the article reported.

But maybe the lethargy wasn’t the crowd’s fault. Maybe it was McGillen’s material. He relies heavily on theatrics to keep his act running. His material is good and maintains a lively pace, but it’s not riveting stuff that keeps the audience eagerly waiting for his next observation on life. So the crowd was content to sit back and absorb, rather than lean forward and participate.

Some of his observations focus on what it’s like growing up as an Irish Catholic. “It’s great being Irish Catholic. You can have all that Catholic guilt and drink it away.” He also discusses being raised in the Motor City. “Hey, look, a rare white guy from Detroit. Tag his ear. Watch his migration.”

Not content to just pick on those in attendance, McGillen also found time to insult Oceanside (“Compared to Oceanside, Bakersfield is a think tank.”) and people who attend the Del Mar Fair (“I saw animals turn away from people at the fair.”)

And he wonders why the crowd didn’t throw flowers? McGillen also had plenty of insults for others too, including Nashville (“I didn’t know we had a city in America where teeth were optional.”)

McGillen delivers these barbs in a comfortable, easy style, with a clear voice, nice teeth and splendid imitations.

His impressions include Beaver Cleaver, Don Knotts, Australians, the Irish, blacks, Neil Young, Katharine Hepburn singing a U2 song, a quick Mr. Ed, a father who whistles while he talks because a tooth is missing, and others. Most of these impressions are recurring themes in the show.

At any time, Beaver might step in to answer a Motown bully. An Irishman might break into song. Or an Aussie might take over the dialogue.

At one point, a heckler objected to a negative interpretation of Neil Young’s singing. McGillen was almost relieved to hear from him. It gave him a chance to break the pace and break new ground. The snappy, though one-sided, repartee seemed to wake up the crowd: “Ever get the impression you’re playing Ping-Pong with somebody who doesn’t have a paddle?” the comedian asked.

The trip to the movies was McGillen’s finest piece, but you have to wait about 40 minutes for it. “Love Bunny of Godzilla” is a spoof of Japanese movies that were dubbed by someone who spoke neither Japanese nor English. You’ve seen them: The lips are moving, but there is no sound. Or there are voices, but no lips are moving.

Using a black, skull-fitting beanie with a red tassel, fake glasses and oversized teeth, McGillen turned the Godzilla bit into the 45-minute set’s highlight. For the crowd and McGillen.

It was hardly worth staying out late for, though.