Mirrors: Off the Wall Again

Fractured Mirror is back.

Long before the Orange County Crazies hit the local scene, Fractured Mirror was treading the boards, offering comic looks at, as member Tricia Burson put it in 1989, “everything--sex, love, marriage, life, death, time.”

Back then, the troupe was appearing regularly at Tustin’s L.P.R. Dinner Theatre. When the venue closed in March, 1990, the Mirrors went into semi-dormancy. Monday, they’ll mount their first show in about six months, at the Improv in Irvine.

Their last gig was a private party--for a man who was about to go into surgery. “It was a coming-out party for his prostate,” says troupe member Stephanie Thomas.

After L.P.R. closed, the group performed for a short time in an underground club (Beneath Broadway, which is literally underground) in downtown Long Beach. But since then, dates have been sporadic at best.

Thomas said that is partly because the group has had difficulty finding a regular home, and partly because member and chief writer Robert Ferrera moved to Northern California to go to school. Ferrera can’t make it to Monday’s show in Irvine but is still considered part of the group and is expected to return to Southern California after obtaining his teaching credential.

Monday’s show will consist primarily of old favorites from the group’s repertory. Thomas said the Mirrors are ready to begin performing regularly again, and she hopes the Improv show will lead to a continuing relationship with the club.

Unlike the Crazies, who do some improvising in their shows, the members of Fractured Mirror stick to a script. Also, while the Crazies concentrate on skewering Orange County, Fractured Mirror’s material ranges beyond the county borders.

How does the group feel about the Crazies, who have been playing steadily since their debut in early 1990? “We like ourselves better,” answered Thomas. “What can we say?”

Fractured Mirror and comedian Howard Leff will perform Monday at the Improv, 4255 Campus Drive, Irvine. Show time: 8:30 p.m. Admission: $7. Information: (714) 854-5455.

From the county’s oldest comedy troupe to its newest: OxyMoron, an offshoot of the Orange County Crazies, will also perform Monday. The group plays the first and third Monday of every month at the Blue Marble Coffeehouse, 1907 Harbor Blvd. in Costa Mesa, beginning at 8 p.m. Admission is free.

Members of the group say they take a more freewheeling, improvisational approach to comedy than do the Crazies. For information on OxyMoron, call (714) 495-9642.