COMEDY REVIEW : Reviving a Show That’s Dead-Tired : * Unlike the other acts on the bill, headliner Tim Bedore manages to put a little life into his routine at the Improv in Irvine.

Perhaps the audience at the Improv, in tribute to the season, got together before Tuesday’s show for a secret holiday feast.

It’s unlikely, but it would explain the sleepy, overfed air that pervaded the club, which seemed caught in that seasonal post-gluttony torpor where even simple acts--reaching for the TV remote, for instance--require intense effort.

Most of the comedy, alas, only fed the lack of energy. Opening and middle acts Dave Little and Howard Leff are polished performers, but their laconic deliveries failed to break through. Even a guest set from fast-talking East Coast comic and writer Jon Ross failed to spark much response.

All three seemed well aware of the situation, and Little in particular simply gave in and had a bit of sardonic fun with it. Sometimes audiences and comics just don’t connect.

But headliner Tim Bedore refused to acknowledge the silence of the house--and had a bit more success than the others. Bedore is not a particularly remarkable comic, but he has all the tools a solid club headliner needs--sharp writing, good timing and a likable personality. His two-night engagement ended Wednesday.

To his credit, Bedore delves into political and topical humor more than the average club comic does. Sometimes he takes the easy route by focusing on physical attributes (Strom Thurmond’s hair, for instance) or he makes dated references (Gary Hart). Still, he works his best bits into an overall theme, decrying the lack of leadership in Washington.

One solution he offered: doing away with elections and replacing them with a system patterned after jury duty.

And Bedore questioned David Duke’s claims of being a former Nazi and former Klansman. “That’s not a subscription you let run out,” he said.

Even the overworked ground provided some good lines. On Dan Quayle: “He’s the kind of guy who drives into a tunnel and expects the cassette to fade out.”

Discussing freeway driving, Bedore complained that Californians are too cautious, that a light drizzle will cause them to slow down to 15 m.p.h. “I’m from Wisconsin!” he yelled. “I can do 80 on ice! Let me out front.”

He opened with a funny seasonal bit, on standing in line at the post office. He observed that postal clerks seem to disappear with a “Civil Service shuffle” after every three or four customers, and he guessed at their thoughts as they disappear: “Oh God, I’m beat. I had to tear a sheet of stamps in half.”

On a night when everyone in the place seemed to need a nap, the line took on an extra meaning.