STAGE REVIEW : ‘The Nerd’ Goes Past the Brain to Funny Bone : Comedy: Lamb’s Players Theatre excels in hilarious comedy, except for troublesome tampering with script.

What happens when you cross an irritatingly pushy, tambourine-playing goofball with a mild-mannered architect who hasn’t the gumption to tell anyone to leave--even when that someone starts driving him crazy?

In the case of Larry Shue’s “The Nerd”--you get silly, slapsticky fun.

There is nothing even remotely deep about “The Nerd.” There are no socially redeeming qualities--just the irresistible magic of laughter.

And, after it’s over, you’re not likely to sit down with your theater companion and discuss the meaning of life. Rather, you’ll remember the moment when the actors were hopping around with bags over their heads or the architect’s boss ended up with cottage cheese dripping all over his face.

Sounds dumb, but for those who haven’t seen the show, you won’t be able to resist the jokes. And for those who have seen it, the Lamb’s Players Theatre’s current production at the Lyceum Space can still make you laugh till you cry.

Much of the credit for that goes to Shue, who in his tragically short life, wrote the recipe for two of funniest souffles now in regional theater repertory: “The Nerd” and “The Foreigner.”

His formula for both was simple and similar. A nice, but unassertive fellow gets thrust in a situation that forces him to loosen up, act loony, take chances--all in order to survive. In the process of using his wits, he gets confidence--and the girl.

But you need good cooks to translate even seemingly foolproof recipes into confection. And Lamb’s Players provides all the right ingredients whipped together with impeccable timing.

At the heart of the cast is the performance of resident Lamb’s player David Cochran Heath, who sheds every shred of dignity from his last Lamb’s role (as Atticus Finch in “To Kill a Mockingbird”) to portray Rick Steadman--the Nerd Who Came to Dinner. It’s not just what he says and how he moves that are funny--it’s the cheerful good will with which he wreaks havoc on architect Willum Cubbert’s life.

Doug Waldo plays a fine straight man as the architect driven to distraction. James Pascarella steals several scenes as the architect’s humorless boss with the hair-trigger temper. Luther Hanson drives the tempo with his steady stream of wisecracks as Willum’s friend, Axel.

Carmen Beaubeaux injects about all the sweetness this show can stand as Willum’s girlfriend, Tansy. Cynthia Peters gets good mileage out of playing the boss’s mousy, pained wife. And Jeremy Lapp does well as the boss’s son Thor, who strikes monetary deals with his dad in exchange for good--or at least less bratty--behavior.

The direction by producing artistic director Robert Smyth keeps the action swift--which is vital here. The jokes simply have to come faster than the audience’s ability to anticipate them.

The technical work is less inspired. Mike Buckley’s set offers a stylish, workable version of Willum’s apartment for the action, but the details could certainly be more imaginative. Veronica Murphy Smith’s costumes are appropriate, but obvious. The lighting by Lawrence Oberman should have been much dimmer--and spookier--in the scenes where Thor comes into the room alone and is supposed to be freaked out by some sights (that shall here go unnamed) that don’t really seem all that scary in the bright light.

The one serious problem here, however, is the troupe’s decision to substitute a joke about the Declaration of Independence for one about the Bible. Shue, in both “The Nerd” and “The Foreigner,” pokes fun at certain proponents of organized religion--as well as everything else. And, although Lamb’s program describes its ensemble as being bound together by “a commonality of Christian faith,” when the company starts to meddle with the playwright’s words so no one is offended, it crosses a dangerous line.

As good as this production of “The Nerd” is, the company would be better off not doing certain plays if it can’t do them as written.

“THE NERD”

By Larry Shue. Director is Robert Smyth. Set by Mike Buckley. Costumes by Veronica Murphy Smith. Lighting by Lawrence Oberman. Stage manager is Sharon Maley. With Doug Waldo, Luther Hanson, Carmen Beaubeaux, James Pascarella, Cynthia Peters, Jeremy Lapp and David Cochran Heath. At 8 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays with Saturday/Sunday matinees at 2 through July 19. No performances July 5-8. Tickets are $17-$21 with discounts for groups, active duty military, youth and seniors. At the Lyceum Space, 79 Horton Plaza, San Diego, 474-4542.