A Stand-Up Guy Is Drawing Laughs--in a Bookstore

Comedian Ed Crasnick likes to talk about life--and enough folks are listening to fill a bookstore.

If you want to catch Crasnick, who has devoted most of his 36 years to performing, you’ll have a good chance to see his act at LA (The Bookstore) in Santa Monica.

The 90-minute performance, staged Wednesday evenings throughout the summer, consists of a series of skits and conversations based on what Crasnick calls his “life experiences.”

The stand-up comedian begins each show with a monologue and shares insights as well as bits of humor and wisdom with the audience on such issues as communication, love, death and family matters.

Take, for example, Crasnick’s feelings about his family. They live in Boston and he lives in Los Angeles. It’s not a coincidence, he explained, because although he loves his relatives, he needed “geographic distance.” He says California is a refugee camp for people at war with their pasts.

“I am trying to create a living room where people can come and be themselves,” said the Marina del Rey resident, who appears on stage wearing plaid pajamas and a bathrobe. “You give the audience something to take home, and it goes beyond a joke.”

Crasnick’s shows feature homemade videos, musical entertainment and guest appearances by actors such as Shirley Knight and Judge Reinhold, and comedian Howie Mandel. Each show includes an assortment of other local comedians, actors and musicians.

The performance has generated large crowds since its May debut, in part because the show is free. The only requirement is that you arrive early enough to get a seat.

Producing a comedy show is a pleasant respite for Crasnick, whose stand-up career has included performances on cable channels MTV and A & E as well as writing television scripts for Mandel’s “Sunny Skies” on HBO and appearing weekly on KMPC’s “Peter Tilden Show.”

“It’s like a town hall meeting and a bar mitzvah,” said Crasnick of his somewhat autobiographical show. “The show is about bringing people in and connecting with other human beings.”

“The Ed Crasnick Show,” 8 p.m. Wednesdays. LA (The Bookstore), 2433 Main St . , Santa Monica. Admission is free. Information: (213) 464-8778.