VENICE : Comic Leaves Them Laughing in Boardwalk Farewell

Comic relief at Venice Beach suffered a major loss Monday as Michael Colyar, a popular boardwalk comic for nine years, gave his last beach performance before embarking on a full-time acting career.

“I am really going to miss that beach, but I have a mission,” said Colyar, who will be starring in the movie “Kangaroo Court” with Gregory Hines this fall. “I came out here to act. I need to put more time into studying my craft.”

If his last performance is any indication, he will be missed on the boardwalk. The 37-year-old comic drew about 500 people for his Labor Day performance, hiring six security personnel for crowd control. He was showered with gifts, including cash, champagne, food stamps and elephant toys and trinkets to add to his elephant collection.

“I am sure he wants to make a lot of money acting, but he’ll be missed here. He is a very well integrated part of Venice life,” said Tony Raimondo, who frequently drove from Oceanside to see Colyar perform.

One fan wrote Colyar such a moving letter that after reading it, Colyar called the man--at 1 a.m.--to thank him.

“I said I’m sorry to call at this hour, but I just had to thank you for your wonderful letter,” Colyar said.

Colyar says his routine evolved from a “Red Foxx-type” of comedy to one that tackles controversial issues such as racism, sex, AIDS, drug addiction and homelessness, head-on.

It was a homeless man in Venice who turned Colyar’s attention to those issues, particularly racism.

“He said to me, ‘It’s the white people that are the colored people. They are the ones that turn purple when they are cold, pink when they’re hot, red when they’re mad. Brown people stay brown all the time,’ ” said Colyar, who incorporated the quip into his act.

By addressing such issues as racism with humor, Colyar says, people would listen and remember.

“The substance made people want to stay,” he said. “It moved their hearts and in turn that moved my heart.”

As the fan wrote Colyar in the recent letter: “Your act is an excellent vehicle for reminding all of us to be kind and sensitive to each other.”

At the Boardwalk on Monday, fans shared that sentiment.

“I really like him. He tells it like it is in a way people can relate to, but without offending them,” said Jodi Baverle, 23, who drove from Orange County to see Colyar perform.

Although Colyar found the Venice act personally rewarding, he says, it limited his career by defining him solely as a comic. In fact, he was trained in musical theater in Chicago, and would like to try his hand at drama.

In addition to acting, Colyar, a former crack user, has made social issues a cause. He is currently producing a videotape on AIDS awareness and safe sex for high school students that he hopes will be distributed to schools nationwide starting next spring.

“We need to help each other and be kind to each other, and not . . . hide from things,” he said this week.