THEATER BEAT : Culture Clash’s Send-Ups Right on Target

In the face of L.A.’s fast-diminishing Eurocentric society, the very name Culture Clash epitomizes the city’s multiracial tremors. The comedy trio of the same name, known for deflating Latino icons like Che Guevara and Frida Kahlo, is unfurling a fusillade of slapstick and satire, “Culture Clash Unplugged,” at the Fountainhead Theater.

Given that Latino culture is almost non-existent on TV and on most stages, it’s terribly refreshing to see the raucous, irreverent Culture Clash: Richard Montoya, Ric Salinas and Herbert Siguenza.

The three performers are generally funnier than their material, which has a tendency to deflate once a skit gets beyond 10 or so minutes. But then this is a mix of new and old material, some of which is being tried out in preparation for the group’s next big show, “Carpa Clash” (a title inspired by the traditional tent shows of Mexican circuses).

Right off the top, in “The Interrogation,” Culture Clash declares its disdain for the term Hispanic because it’s Iberian and not Chicano-rooted as in Aztlan , the native name for northern Mexico (the land the Yankees stole). A compendium of Chicano idioms and slang used in the production is printed in the program.

There are hilarious parodies of a Chicano pop star singing “Coming to America” and of an Anglo trying to impress his lady by dancing the salsa (all awkward rump bends). Another skit--from the Clash’s popular 1991 show “A Bowl of Beings”--brings back the ghost of Che Guevara who, after asking who won the Vietnam War, is told “The Vietnamese did . . . and then they moved to Orange County.”

The show’s most clever satire is “The Frida Monkeys,” featuring a huge, heavy-eyebrowed “self-portrait” of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo in a jungle setting, in a remarkably flamboyant artistic likeness.

Culture Clash can lapse into silliness at times, but when it’s on--which is most of the time--it’s unerring.

* “Culture Clash Unplugged,” Fountainhead Theatre, 1110 N. Hudson Ave., Hollywood. Thursdays-Sundays, 8 p.m. Ends April 11. $12.50. (213) 466-1767. Running time: 2 hours.