COMEDY : There’s No Stopping Todd Glass

Comedian Todd Glass rolled into Irvine this week. Literally.

“The Mobile Comedian,” as Glass calls himself, drives a Nissan truck outfitted with a portable stage complete with lighting, sound system, wireless mike and simulated comedy-club brick wall backdrop.

When he finishes his show inside the Irvine Improv, the Mobile Comedian has been doing another show--gratis--in the Irvine Marketplace courtyard outside the club.

“I never take money for it. It’s just fun for me,” said Glass, adding that members of his outdoor Irvine audiences often eat ice cream and cookies as they watch him perform. “It’s much more relaxed outside.”

The mobile stage suits Glass, who is known for his spontaneous, freewheeling brand of comedy. He has not only done his impromptu alfresco performances in front of comedy clubs, but at gas stations, on college campuses, on the beach and at even at people’s homes.

On Sunday, he’s driving his portable stage to West Palm Beach, Fla., where he’ll be headlining at the Comedy Corner. Then it’s on to another gig in his hometown of Philadelphia. From there, he’s heading up to Montreal, where he’ll be performing for the first time--indoors and outdoors--at the Just for Laughs International Comedy Festival.

The festival, which is considered the world’s largest and most prestigious comedy event, is the latest in a string of career boosts that have come Glass’ way in recent months.

Indeed, “The Mobile Comedian” is on the move.

He taped his first “Dennis Miller Show” a few weeks ago. That came on the heels of his debut appearance on “The MTV Half-Hour Comedy Hour,” and he was recently approved for his first appearance on “Comic Strip Live.”

Although Glass has topped the bill on occasional Monday nights at the Irvine Improv, this also is his first weeklong gig headlining what is considered one of the top comedy clubs in the nation. (Actually his week is cut a bit short. Tonight is a special event, Comedy Central’s “Road Trip With Comics Only” show featuring Paul Provenza, Dana Gould, Cathy Ladman and Barry Sobel.)

“It’s never really like when people say they made it overnight,” Glass said in an interview last week. “It’s a slow process, but every now and then you get a period where you get a burst of good things happening.”

Glass, who recently moved to Hollywood after living in Orange County for four years, began doing comedy while in high school 11 years ago.

“This might sound corny, but it’s the truth: I still love every single night,” he said. “I live to get on stage and have a really good time up there. People ask me what do I do if I’m in bad mood, but even if I was having a rough day, this is something I look forward to that makes it not a rough day. This is like a treat, like getting a massage.”

His enjoyment comes across to his audiences. Glass, who jokes that he looks “a little bit like Fred Flintstone and Oliver North had a baby,” has a friendly, guy-next-door quality on stage. He’s also an adept ad-libber who doesn’t feel he has to stick to any set routine.

“I never go up on stage and do the same thing more than once--ever,” he said. “I do a show in Irvine every night and every night, I’d say, 30% will be different.”

A physical comic with a rubbery face, Glass does a bit about how Tom Jones thrusts his pelvis on any song he sings: ‘He’d be like, ‘Raindrops (thrust) keep falling (thrust) on my head (thrust)).’ What other job can you do that? No other job. You can’t work at the Gap and do that. Someone’s like, ‘Where are the jeans?’ ‘They’re right (thrust) over there.’ ”

One of his funniest bits is simply his impression of his dad smoking. “All dads smoke until their faces hurt,” he says, lighting up a cigarette and going through a series of eyebrow knitting, squinting, cheek-sucking, smoke-spewing facial contortions.

Glass devotes much of his act to his “frustration over stupid things. I don’t really talk about frustration over political things, but just the pathetic overdone talk shows like ‘Phil Donahue,’ ‘Oprah’ and ‘Sally,’ or the pathetic new infomercials that are on late at night: half-hour commercials you watch and you go, ‘Why am I watching this? ‘

“The comedy I really like is observational humor: ‘Didya ever . . . ?’ type of jokes, the kind of jokes where people just turn to their friends and say, ‘Oh, God, that’s so true!’ ”

An example?

“What’s the deal with the sign that says ‘For Sale by Owner’? Of course, it’s for sale by the owner. What’s it going to be for sale by some guy saying, ‘Honey, I noticed the Joneses hardly ever use their boat. Why don’t we sell it?’ ”

Who: Todd Glass.

When: Friday, July 10, at 8:30 and 10:30 p.m.; and Saturday, July 11, at 8 and 10:30 p.m.

Where: The Improv, 4255 Campus Drive, Irvine.

Whereabouts: In the Irvine Marketplace shopping center, across Campus Drive from the UC Irvine campus.

Wherewithal: $7 to $10.

Where to Call: (714) 854-5455.

* TAKING THE STAGE: Todd Glass is reviewed in today’s Calendar section.