‘Pillow Talk’ Tops Punch Line Festival

Gleaned from Manhattan Punch Line’s annual one-act play festival, “Best of the Fest” Goes West at Coast Playhouse is a mixed bag that makes one curious about those plays that weren’t considered “best.”

Two of the five plays are directed by local directors. Peter Tolan’s “Pillow Talk,” under the sure-footed, delicate guidance of Dennis Erdman, finds young Aaron (Thomas Haden Church) and Doug (Joshua Malina) on the first night of their auto odyssey across the country, staying in Aaron’s grandmother’s Arizona mobile home. Doug has never slept in the same bed with another male. Their road to Nod is filled with potholes and detours, macho insecurity, wry bonding and some gentle jabs at what being male means to both.

The dialogue is incisive, revelatory and full of wit, without a wasted word, and each moment vibrates with humor that derives from character rather than situation. The performances by Church and Malina are full of affection for the tender male ego, and comically inventive. A gem of a piece.

Tom Donaghy’s “Portfolio” is a one-joke piece about a photo session falling apart at the seams. Dea Lawrence is funny as the European model, as is Tom Alan Robbins as the bird-man whose charges disrupt everything, but even Robin Saex’s bright direction isn’t able to bring off the touch of fantasy that pulls the session together.

Punch Line artistic director Steve Kaplan directs the remaining three plays to their best advantage, but only two of them make points. David Ives’ “Sure Thing” is a charming, but too clever by half, dissection of a pick-up, with each moment repeated in instant replay, with variations on the theme. Michael Zelniker and Becky London bring the couple into full reality, with all the proper shadings the replays require.

Ron Carlson’s “The Tablecloth of Turin” is as funny as the title, but again a one-joke item, the tablecloth in question being from the Last Supper. Peter Zapp’s expert portrayal of the insurance investigator who displays and lectures on the cloth, makes even the idea that the Apostles were drinking California wine work.

“Trudy & Paul Come to the Rescue,” by Michael Aschner, is pure sitcom writing about fear and apprehension before a wedding. Its silliness quickly wears out its welcome and its slightness is amplified by its being the longest of the “best.”

Manhattan Punch Line’s “Best of the Fest” Goes West, Coast Playhouse, 8325 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood. Thursdays-Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 5 & 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m. Indefinitely. $17-$20; (213) 480-3232. Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes.

Doug Motel Solos in ‘Mind Salad’

Doug Motel, who wrote and performs “Mind Salad” at the Coast Playhouse (directed by Michael Michetti), thinks funny and that’s the first requisite for creating humor. The British screenwriter he plays in his one-man show doesn’t always think that funny. That’s the only problem with the show.

Mick Calendar, trying to break into Hollywood, has spent his whole life trying to escape his own mind. His “mind” is an effete type that won’t let him alone, and guides him into most of the mistakes he’s made. Their conversations, although a dandy frame in which to place a gallery of freer, fuller portraits, could be edited down. It would leave room for Motel to cast his satirical net further into the sea of contemporary types he so artfully re-creates.

Motel’s soft British accent vanishes (he’s a master of dialect) whenever he reaches outside Mick’s restricted ego. His black drag-queen guardian angel sparkles but, like most of his juicy re-creations, is overshadowed by a pseudo-macho Hollywood bartender with a Jersey accent, and his attempt to pick up a dizzy Valley girl. They’re a delight.

Motel’s art is portraiture, and his likenesses are often startling, vocally and visually, but his Mick Calendar just talks too much.

“Mind Salad,” Coast Playhouse, 8325 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood. Saturdays, 11 p.m. Ends Oct. 3. $16; (213) 871-5802. Running time: 1 hour, 15 minutes.

Timothy Leary Meets Charles Manson

“Timothy and Charlie,” Tim D. Riel’s imaginary cell-block meeting between Timothy Leary and Charles Manson, receives a bang-up production under Mick Collins’ strong direction at the Lost Studio.

The performances are excellent: Bill Moseley’s often distracted Leary, Gill Gayle’s gravel-voiced, snide Manson, Jay Arlen Jones’ black guard, and especially, on film, playwright John Steppling’s brief, gentle image of the man who thought Leary’s message belonged in the university curriculum.

What’s missing is the humanity of the two protagonists. The only time they come to life is during an LSD trip, when their philosophies are put aside and their personalities explode into view. Otherwise they spend their time discussing ideas and comparing ideological notes. If Leary had ever had this confrontation with Manson, the fires of their passions would have caused a much greater human blaze than Riel has imagined.

“Timothy and Charlie,” Lost Studio, 130 S. La Brea Blvd., Hollywood. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m. Ends Sept. 6. $15; (310) 281-8208. Running time: 2 hours.

‘Beautiful Stories’ for Comic-Book Fans Only

Dan Sweetman illustrated Dave Loupre’s “Beautiful Stories for Ugly Children” for D.C. Comics. Maybe on the printed page they work. Under Wayne Coe’s direction at the Los Angeles Theatre Center’s Theatre 4, they are not the stuff theater is made of.

The stories are mostly read by a narrator and the accompanying action and dialogue are simplistic. A “For Mature Audiences” disclaimer could mean mature 6-year-olds.

Coe wavers between cartoon style and naturalism, which further distances the material from the viewer, particularly in the most interesting of the three stories, “Beneath the Useless Universe,” a faint carbon of “It’s a Wonderful Life.” This one is for comic-book fans only.

“Beautiful Stories for Ugly Children,” LATC Theatre 4, 514 S. Spring St. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends Sept. 27. $12; (213) 466-1767. Running time: 2 hours, 10 minutes.

‘Hollywood Hills’ Skewers Industry

“INSIDE the Hollywood Hills” opens with a warm-up by a comic. On the night seen, the comic was Mike Dugan. He struggled, but left the audience colder than he found it.

What follows at Theatre/Theater is a purportedly satirical musical revue skewering the “inside” world of films. Much of the material (lyrics by “Alan Smithee”--producer/performer David Bruskin) is too inside for all but an industry-oriented audience, and not nearly as funny or clever as it thinks it is. The music is all too familiar: “Somewhere Ovitz the Rainbow,” “When You Dish About a Star,” “Ding, Dong, the Pitch Is Dead.” The performance rights must have cost a fortune.

Only one of the four-member cast can always be heard above Alan Axelrod’s sprightly keyboard. Michele Spears can belt a song, moves well and looks professional.

“INSIDE the Hollywood Hills,” Theatre/Theater, 1713 Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood. Wednesdays, 8 p.m. Ends Sept. 9. $12; (213) 469-9689. Running time: 1 hour, 15 minutes.