LizAnne at Last Is Going Crazy Solo : Comedy: The talented star of the Orange County Crazies is both excited and anxious about stepping out on her own tonight in Santa Ana.

The Orange County Crazies, like any other comedy troupe, usually finds strength in numbers. But not tonight, when one of its members will emerge from the crowd and take the spotlight by herself.

LizAnne (she prefers one name) will open her two-night solo show, “LizAnne Live . . . Alone at Last,” at the Santa Ana Civic Center’s Annex Auditorium. The performance--featuring comedy skits she shaped with Crazies’ founder Cherie Kerr, plus her own celebrity impressions--is both “a dream come true” and “really a lot of anxiety” for the 31-year-old Huntington Beach native.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” she said, laughing. “There’s pressure because I see it as kind of a test. Do I really have the talent, you know? But this is my night, something I’ve been looking forward to for a long time.”

LizAnne’s been honing her talents with the fledgling Crazies, a group that has had mixed reviews since forming about a year ago. While critics’ opinions on the Crazies have covered a gamut, LizAnne has been singled out for praise.

Kerr said she has considered a one-woman show for LizAnne for 13 years. The two worked on it for months, using as a touchstone some of the characters LizAnne portrayed in three previous Crazies’ revues.

LizAnne said her creations include Connie, a spacey, defensive shoe saleswoman; Sylvia, a Yiddish-mama department store manager; Janice Joan Guthrie, a folk singer overcome by her own social conscience, and a few distinctly local types, from Miss Orange County to a Newport Beach barfly.

Her impressions feature send-ups of Imelda Marcos (“She’s taken it upon herself to wear shoes for everybody, even the poor people who can’t afford shoes”), Roseanne Barr (“I pull out Barr’s nasal voice and other obvious quirks”) and Janis Joplin, a personal favorite.

“Janis is a stretch, mainly because the singing is a risk,” LizAnne said. “But it’s a thrill when I pull it off. I also really love all the energy Janis had. I get pumped up doing her. . . . In the show, (Joplin) comes out and talks about life, then she sings ‘Piece of My Heart,’ a great song.”

LizAnne said she doesn’t approach impersonations the same way as, say, Rich Little does. While Little gets into a celebrity’s nuances, making a precise reflection of them the main gag, LizAnne strives for a general impression, then builds her jokes on that, like the “Saturday Night Live” regulars have been doing for years.

As with many performers, LizAnne began acting up at an early age. She started at age 5 by impersonating her mother’s favorite, Elvis Presley, and progressed to Judy Garland. After graduating from high school in Huntington Beach, she studied drama and improvisation at Golden West College and eventually performed in a couple of local short-lived comedy groups, Under Construction and Let’s Get Serious, both started by Kerr.

Throughout, LizAnne kept her job managing a fast-food restaurant in Bellflower. “It’s difficult making a (performance) career; you have to have money coming in. I hope I’ll be leaving pretty quick, though, once this takes off.”

Considering the widespread preoccupation with the Gulf War, some might think the timing of her one-woman show is less than ideal. But not LizAnne.

“This is the best time, absolutely the best for comedy,” she said. “I have friends who have family over there, and I know there’s a lot of anxiety. Because of that, this is the time when we need laughter. You can’t be frivolous, but you need laughter that’s healing.”

“LizAnne . . . Alone at Last” will be presented tonight and Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Santa Ana Civic Center Annex Auditorium at 23 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana. Tickets: $12 and $15. Information: (714) 840-1406.