Sketching Out Lots of ‘Sunday’ Silliness

“The Show Formerly Known as Sunday” at the Groundling Theatre will never be known as riotously funny. This new potpourri of sketches and improv by the Groundlings’ Sunday Company takes a long time to get going before delivering a few solid laughs.

Even the best bits are more silly than witty. Spoofing the overblown best-song routines that litter show-biz awards shows, Chris Parnell dons ninja attire and choreographs an amusing sendup of the theme from “Mortal Kombat.” Three “actor-attorneys” (Brian Palermo, Patrick Collins and Karri Turner) demonstrate exaggerated examples of workplace sexual harassment. A coarse but still funny sketch features Holly Mandel and Ana Gasteyer as two matrons who unwittingly embarrass a younger male relative by parading around in pantyhose and casually examining each other’s physical flaws.

Yet weak writing hampers too many bits. The opening sketch, about a nerdy couple who discover drugs, launches the first of many throwaways. A piece about two drunks who teasingly lecture a buddy on the virtues of marriage begins promisingly but never really goes anywhere. The oversize (18-member) ensemble adeptly handles several improvised bits, but director Jennifer Joyce has trouble making this a “Sunday” worth knowing.

* “The Show Formerly Known as Sunday,” Groundling Theatre, 7307 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles. Sundays, 7:30 p.m. $12. (213) 934-9700. Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes.