Comedy Review : Drew Carey <i> Looks </i> Like a Funny Guy . . .

With his crew-cut and horn-rimmed glasses, Drew Carey looks like a high-school science teacher, circa 1963. That alone is enough to set him apart from most comics working the club circuit.

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He also has an unusual delivery--an even, low-key vocal style and a light touch with physical comedy that serves his material well.

It’s the material itself, alas, that holds Carey back. Repeatedly during his set Tuesday at the Irvine Improv (where he plays through Sunday), Carey strayed into potentially rewarding comic terrain, only to let that potential slip away into commonplace observation. With Carey, you want to laugh, but the payoff just isn’t there.

The forays into standard-issue comic subjects didn’t fare any better. Carey has a precise and often whimsical way with words, but even that can only go so far in disguising a general lack of ideas. Gee, aren’t marijuana smokers forgetful? Zzzzzzz . . .

A few items hit the mark. A bit about the cold winters in his native Cleveland evolved into a delightfully against-the-grain diatribe against environmental correctness.

“Where’s that global warming we’ve been hearing so much about?” he demanded, offering an image of Cleveland residents on their lawns, spraying aerosol cans into the air in an attempt to raise the temperature.

He wondered aloud why people only strive to save the cute animals, saying he’d like to see a movie called “Free Willard.” And about the whale in “Free Willy”: “I guess it was OK to lock him up while they were making the movie, huh?”

Carey operates best at a certain level of whimsy and surprise that plays against his super-straight physical aura. He has a sitcom-ready persona, and indeed he was a star of the NBC series “The Good Life,” which was left off the schedule for next fall when the network announced its season a few weeks ago.

“They canceled the show. Thanks for all the cards and letters,” Carey said sarcastically not long after taking the stage.

Carey is distinctive enough that he may soon land back on TV. In the meantime, the break may provide a good opportunity to hone his stage material.

* Drew Carey continues through Sunday at the Irvine Improv, 4255 Campus Drive, Irvine. Show time tonight: 8:30. $8. (714) 854-5455.