‘Gangster Planet’ Rebuilds L.A. With Laughs

If Aristophanes were alive today and had watched L.A. burn, “Gangster Planet” could be the result.

To transform L.A.’s so-called “uprising” into a laugh riot requires acute cynicism or a clown’s humanism. At the World Theatre in Hollywood, “Gangster Planet” somehow merges both. By lampooning liberal pieties and anxieties, authors Taylor Negron and Lawrence Justice contribute more to “rebuild L.A.” than all the high and mighty rhetoric of the past year.

“Can’t we all just laugh along?” is the one-act’s motto, but the bad pun violates this satire’s civil rights. “Gangster Planet” is what “Saturday Night Live” used to be: a mix of stand-up, sitcom and falling down.

The setup is deceptively simple. On the tiny World Theatre stage, a “stressed-out” hipster named Sandy is cursing an insufferably loud leaf blower. His city, like nostalgia, ain’t what it used to be.

In a series of asides to the audience, Sandy describes L.A.’s tense mood on this evening in late April, 1992. Everyone has someone to hate: “. . . African-Americans hate the Korean-Americans, and the Korean-Americans hate the Mexican-Americans, and the Mexican-Americans hate the El Salvadoran-Americans, and the El Salvadoran-Americans hate the Lebanese-Americans, and white people hate themselves. And everybody hates the co-dependents.”

Co-dependency emerges as the play’s theme when Sandy’s worst nightmare comes true. The riots? A mere diversion compared to his upwardly mobile mom (Cynthia Szigeti) and dad (Richard Reicheg), suddenly destitute and homeless, moving into his Hollywood Hills apartment.

Eccentric? Mom likes to hide fruit in briefcases and under car seats. Dad insists on teaching an Andy Warhol clone (Hennen Chambers) the rumba.

Oh, and once in a while they tune in to watch the other riot on TV. Their comment? “Why is Bree Walker so shiny?”

What sounds absurd and irresponsible is saved by pitch-perfect writing and Borscht Belt timing. Looking like a lost hound dog, the long-haired Negron is a veteran comedian who transforms Sandy’s self-pity into deadpan humor. Szigeti and Reicheg work off one another like a classic comedy duo. If Chambers stumbles while imitating Robin Williams being Robin Williams, well, who wouldn’t?

The climax pulls the rug out from under us, but not with slapstick. Negron and Justice insert a serious monologue that profoundly comments on our city. No sermon. No rage. Just a healing catharsis that suggests we all can get along.

* “ Gangster Planet,” World Theatre, 6543 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood . Fridays-Saturdays, 10:30 p.m., Sundays 2 and 7 p.m., indefinitely. $10. (213) 466-1767. Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes.