Physical Examinations : Brian Regan’s Cocky Dufus Character Should Be Seen to Be Believed

Brian Regan gives goofballs a good name. He could be their poster child. A shot of the facially active Regan with two Bic pens and a slide rule sticking out of a pocket protector is not a big stretch.

In his show Tuesday at the Irvine Improv, the highly charismatic comic quickly won the audience by somehow infusing this endearing dufus character with a cocky schoolboy swagger, something like a hip, thirtysomething Don Knotts. It was an odd coupling but an infectious one.

From an initial bit about sleeping on a fold-out bed with its death bar down the middle to his ending piece on what animals think, Regan kept his excellent 50-minute headlining set moving briskly. (His take on what a bird in a cage must be feeling is a good example of his closing bit: “I’ve been blessed with the gift of flight. Thanks for the environment.”)

To simply read about or listen to Regan, however, is to miss a large portion of his act. The former theater student injects a hefty dose of histrionics to punch up the patter. Listening to him describe the fold-out bed is one thing, but to watch him physically work through the routine lifts it to the next level.

Regan takes advantage of the entire stage, not just the designated spot behind the microphone--another trick he learned in college theater. He rarely stands statue-like, simply spewing jokes and stories into the microphone. He prowls. Mugs. Laughs.

But for all his clowning, Regan also reaches into another area of comedy. He relates to his audiences as a fellow traveler with similar self-doubts and concerns. While first-class airline passengers carry on laptop computers and briefcases, Regan is bringing on an Etch-A-Sketch (“I don’t want to seem like I’m showing off, but those are stairs.”) Were he an art critic, he’d deduct two points from Picasso for putting two eyes on the same side of the head.

By holding himself up as the foil in self-deprecating humor, the comedian lets audiences see that even a hip Barney Fife isn’t all suaveness and good times. Audiences take comfort, seeing that “I’m like this. You’re like this. We’re all relatively normal.” This window into another life serves as a reassuring glimpse.

“I try to touch on a lot of different things, but my favorite subject is behavior,” he once told The Times. “I think a lot of comedians like to talk about the outside world, and I prefer to talk about the ‘inside’ world, the stuff that’s going on inside.”

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That inside stuff has become the right stuff for Regan, who quit college about 12 years ago to pursue comedy full time. His professional credits include “The Tonight Show” and a litany of cable spots, including two Showtime specials (“Something’s Wrong With the Regan Boy” and “A Pair of Jokers,” with his brother Dennis.) He headlines clubs and colleges across the country and also won $10,000 in the 1988 “Miller Lite Comedy Riot.”

A longtime New York resident who recently moved to Los Angeles, Regan is trying to get Hollywood to take notice. It shouldn’t be difficult. He is a self-assured performer with a proven track record, enjoys wide appeal and is among the cleanest comics working. He even does shows for children, without having to change his material.

And besides, it’s time something good happened to a guy who told the crowd that his father made him ride to school on a pogo stick with a basket on it. . . . I guess you had to see it.

* Brian Regan performs through Sept. 18, except Monday, at the Irvine Improv, 4255 Campus Drive. Show time tonight: 8:30 p.m. $8-$12. (714) 854-5455.