‘Inch’ Stretches Its Satire Too Far

They say size isn’t everything, but “Give ‘em an Inch,” Jeff Baron’s new comic one-act at Theatre Geo, ends up being a little too big for its britches.

In what plays like little more than an extended improv skit centered on the waiting room of a penis enlargement clinic, an assortment of insecure males (Barry Pearl, Don Amendolia, Robert Lee Jacobs, Michael McKenzie, and Vincent D’Elia) positively flaunt their various reasons for undergoing this ultimate sacrifice to their own vanity.

Of all types of plastic surgery, this is certainly the most strangely private--unlike hair transplants or breast implants, the results won’t do anything for one’s public image. But don’t expect the unique comic potential in this obsession to figure in Baron’s predictable and overplayed satirical swipes.

The bright spots are supplied by women--particularly Hope Levy as the lab technician with an endearing squeaky voice who delivers a deadpan demonstration comparing a hot dog with a summer sausage. Marsha Waterbury supplies the lone voice of reason as the wife of an overly competitive Hollywood producer.

Waterbury also assumes the title role in “Song of Martina,” a short operatic parody of the career of tennis star Martina Navratilova in which Baron’s bantering lyrics have been set to familiar opera themes. It’s a premise with potential but requires better singing voices than the “Inch” cast can deliver--instead, they gamely try to get by with musical comedy delivery. Affectionate tribute clashes with mean-spirited jibes, with curiously catty results.

* “Give ‘em an Inch” and “Song of Martina,” Theatre Geo, 1229 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m. Ends May 5. $20. (213) 466-1767. Running time: 1 hour, 25 minutes.