THE BIZ : Music to Laugh By

The good part about all those sitcom-taping tickets floating around town is that TV fans can watch their favorite actors at work. The bad part is that shooting a half-hour show can last anywhere from two hours (for a well-oiled machine like “Cheers”) to nearly four (for kiddy-littered shows like “Full House”). The fun can wear off quickly for a bleacher-bound crowd. There’s the warm-up comedian, but part of his job is to be less amusing than the show, so much of the between-takes entertainment duty falls to the house band.

Over at “Seinfeld” on the CBS Studio Center lot in Studio City, the four-member band Jerry’s Kids plays during every Tuesday night taping. “The music cuts the warm-up guy a little slack,” says drummer Al Lohman. “He can relax and we can keep the audience going. We select music that we just know is going to work.” Their repertoire ranges from rock to jazz to the USC fight song.

The band--Lohman, 32; vocalist and keyboard player Reno Wilde, 32; guitarist/saxophonist Andy Najera, 37, and bassist Glen Holmen, 32--is in its third season with “Seinfeld.” Before that, they played for “Evening Shade” and “Designing Women.” The band also performs around town and does session work. “We’re always looking to expand our horizons,” says Lohman. “You always try to keep the musician life going.”

For the moment, the boys in the band are happy to be making a living in the tough sitcom market, where economics have made house bands a luxury. “At one time, there were a ton,” says Lohman, “but now there aren’t a lot of us. And it’s kind of a closed field. You really pretty much have to have a connection.”