Compact Laughter : Comedy: Today’s performers are surprised that fans are rediscovering recorded humor, thanks to CDs.

Once told, even the finest jokes fade away into the ether. But if tape is rolling and a record company is willing, the laughter may not be so fickle: Gags captured on a CD can be laughed at forever.

An increasing number of record buyers are rediscovering the pleasures of recorded comedy, and comedians are finding that a digital document of their work offers relative permanence, increased accessibility, and, quite often, a potent boost to the career.

“My CD has changed my career and my life,” says veteran stand-up Paul Mooney. Having spent 15 years as a writing partner with Richard Pryor, Mooney’s no stranger to recorded comedy. But last year he experienced it first-hand with the release of “Race,” a collection of highly provocative, racially charged material from Mooney’s stand-up performances at the Punchline in San Francisco.

As any fan of Pryor, George Carlin, Cheech and Chong or Firesign Theatre might be quick to point out, comedy records are not a new idea. Those comedians’ respective albums became breakout successes in the ‘70s, and, even before then, comics ranging from Bob Newhart to Lenny Bruce to Bill Cosby gained wider audiences with comedy LPs. But now, as vinyl has given way to digital technology, comics and comedy fans are showing a renewed interest in laughs on disc.

“People knew about me before, but the recognition and attention I’m getting now from the record is great,” says Mooney, who has a five-record comedy deal. “I’ve heard that at a university somewhere in England they’re studying the record in a sociology class. The record’s got a life of its own, and I absolutely love that. . . .

“Now that I’ve got a record out, you can hear me whether you’re in your car or in prison. I can be anywhere. Pygmies could be asking me for autographs soon.”

Plenty of non-pygmies have been snapping up comedy-related recordings, according to current pop charts. Musical gagster Weird Al Yankovic is scoring with “Alapalooza,” his 10th collection of gently subversive pop parodies. The engagingly dim team of Beavis and Butt-head have a Billboard Top 10 hit with their goofy deconstructions of rock tunes. Many classic comedy albums of the ‘60s and ‘70s are selling again as CD reissues. And some stand-ups are finding themselves among heavyweight company on local pop charts.

“I was in Roanoke, Va., a few weeks ago,” says comic Jeff Foxworthy, “and my comedy album was the No. 3-selling record behind Pearl Jam and Snoop Doggy Dogg. I was ahead of Meat Loaf! I was shocked.”

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Foxworthy’s record “You Might Be a Redneck If . . .” contains material culled from stand-up concert appearances at the Majestic Theater in Dallas, and was released last June. The comedian has had his share of career successes, including eight “Tonight Show” appearances and HBO and Showtime specials. But the success of the album continues to thrill and surprise him, especially since he first approached the recording with some reluctance.

“My manager came up with the idea, and I said, ‘Nobody buys comedy albums anymore. We’re wasting our time.’ A hundred thousand copies later, I just keep saying, ‘Wow.’ ”

Comedian Martin Lawrence was also reluctant to put out a record, but now counts the emphatically ribald “Talkin’ S---” as a proud piece of work. His record, released in September, is approaching gold status. Recorded partly at the Comedy Store, it offers fans a re-playable club experience.

“When you hear some powerful comedy on a CD,” he says, “it’s almost like you can touch the performer. I recorded my album at clubs with people right up under me, so along with the comedy, you’re hearing all the little things you’d hear in a club. The fans have really enjoyed it, and the industry respects its success. I started out thinking, ‘Who needs a comedy album?’ and now I’m ready to do my second.”

As the star of Fox’s “Martin,” the host of HBO’s “Def Comedy Jam” and with the concert film “You So Crazy” due out March 11, Lawrence is already enjoying life as a high-profile comic. But he feels that his CD has given him a chance to forge an even stronger connection with his audience.

“It’s nice to have your comedy exist in a way that people can hear it whenever they want to, and the CD gave me a way to give people something of quality. Now they can listen to me in their cars and have something to laugh at instead of worrying about drive-bys.”

Some comedians fear that the material on a record has to be retired once it’s been widely heard, but Foxworthy says that his experience proves otherwise.

“I had just started doing concerts when the album came out, and I figured the album was 50 minutes of material I couldn’t use. It was just the opposite--people got upset if I didn’t use that material. I’d see people backstage who’d say, ‘I brought 20 people to hear you do the thing about your wife’s cold butt. Why didn’t you do it?’ ”

Among working comics, the king of comedy albums would have to be George Carlin. Beginning with “FM & AM” in 1972, Carlin quickly unleashed a string of four gold records that widely established him as an irreverent and incisive voice of the counterculture. He’s continued to record since that time, and has seen his comedy make the jumps from vinyl to eight-track to cassette to CD. He’s still taking inspired potshots at the powers that be. And he’s still setting new standards for stand-up performance: His most recent record, adapted from his “Jammin’ in N.Y.” HBO special, is up for a Grammy next week.

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“This may not be unusual for a comic to say, but I like for everybody to hear my stuff,” Carlin admits. “And, having been a disc jockey early in my career, looking at a shelf and seeing records with my name on them means something to me. In some ways, the records are simply a by-product of my performances and my HBO specials, but they’re also something I can hold, and look at as proof of my work. I put my videos next to my records and I feel satisfied about what I’ve done. That’s a good time for a deep sigh.”

Carlin’s first three albums were repackaged as a two-disc set a little over a year ago, and continue to sell well alongside his more recent records. As for the enduring popularity of his work, the star of his own Fox sitcom feels that though he’s still capable of outraging pillars of the establishment, his fans listen to his legacy of comic rants with a great deal of affection.

“I’m like the friendly uncle who’s full of opinions. A well-liked pain-in-the-butt. ‘George said God should do what? Well, that’s just George.’ I think that’s the attitude toward me. It’s nice to know that the older stuff is still appreciated, and I’m happy to still be out there, hacking away.”

One young comic who cites Carlin’s work as an influence is “Saturday Night Live’s” Adam Sandler. His recently released debut album, “They’re All Gonna Laugh at You!,” is currently doing respectably well on the Billboard charts. Sandler’s record is a change of pace from the usual concert recording, as he put his stand-up material aside and developed sketches and musical numbers loosely based on his memories of high school and college. Over a three-day period, he recorded the new material in a studio with a cast that included Conan O’Brien, fellow “SNL” member Rob Schneider and several of the “SNL” writers.

“I think you can most honestly capture what your comedy’s about on a record,” Sandler says. “I had the kind of total control over this material that I would never have on TV or in a movie. There’s a side of me that’s just impossible for NBC to air, and that’s what ended up on the record.”

Sandler’s record may eventually duplicate the success of the self-titled debut from New York’s prank phone-call specialists, the Jerky Boys. The pair’s collection of odd calls to unsuspecting victims has gone gold and has been perched on the national charts for almost a year.

“It’s a different kind of humor,” says Jerky Boy Johnny B., “and our success on the charts shocked us at first. But you look at some of the music on the charts, and it’s not such a shock.”