Theater Review : Bit Too Much Empty Space on the ‘23rd Floor’ : * Sluggish timing trips up Huntington Beach production of Neil Simon comedy, about his days writing for a hit TV show.

Neil Simon’s plays may look simple to pull off, but a lot of people are flimflammed by them. They require as much technical care and style as Sheridan, Wilde or Coward.

The current revival of “Laughter on the 23rd Floor” at Huntington Beach Playhouse is a perfect example of how just a couple of missteps can throw Simon out of joint.

“Laughter” fills in a gap in the playwright’s autobiographical later works. His “Brighton Beach” trilogy ends with “Broadway Bound,” defining the young Simon’s big jump from Brooklyn to Manhattan; “Laughter” describes what happened when he got there.

The action takes place in the conference room where television’s No. 1 show, starring Max Prince, is written each week. It’s 1953, and Max Prince is, of course, Sid Caesar, for whom Simon wrote during the heyday of Caesar’s “Your Show of Shows.”

There is little plot, except the decline of Prince’s ratings and the eventual cancellation of his program, but the slide downhill is perfect Simon, comical and cynical, witty and worldly, with engaging insights into the minds of comedy writers.

*

These writers are funny people, even when they’re dead serious, and that’s director Michael Ross’ biggest stumbling block. We never see the avalanche of funny that should be oozing out of them. Ross’ timing tends to be sluggish, and his predilection for physical comedy often further slows down the Simon comic clockwork.

Some of the actors come awfully close to being on target, their effect only softened by general timing that doesn’t crackle as it should. But what usually generates the laughs is the play, not the performances.

*

Simon’s alter ego, Lucas, the new kid on the staff, is given a fine breezy New Yorker reading by Don Cisternino, lacking only the knowing, slightly wicked glint in his eye that would hint at what Simon would become. Daryl Mendelson’s Russian expatriate head writer Val, and Eric Wolf Chaikin’s flamboyant, womanizing Milt are pretty close too. Crisper timing would put them right.

Greg Stich’s Brian, who claims he writes screenplays, and eventually does, and Thom Gilbert’s Kenny, along with Laura Caputo’s Carol, who doesn’t want to be thought of as a woman but as a writer, mostly look like ordinary office workers who are worried about downscaling. Giovanna Fusco’s bubbling secretary Helen, who wants to become a writer, hits the right notes, but Ross’ slow timing defeats her big moment.

Slow timing in his physical comedy moments also keeps Andrew Kelley’s Ira, the world’s funniest hypochondriac, from being as funny as he could be. The timing is more disastrous for Richard Meese, as Max Prince. Not only does he delight in long pauses, which he fills with nothing, but his grins and grimaces and his spastic physical tics are not the stuff of a great comedian, no matter how eccentric he might be.

* “Laughter on the 23rd Floor,” Huntington Beach Playhouse, 7111 Talbert Ave. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends Oct. 10. $15. (714) 375-0696. Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes.

Don Cisternino: Lucas

Eric Wolf Chaikin: Milt

Daryl Mendelson: Val

Greg Stich: Brian

Thom Gilbert: Kenny

Laura Caputo: Carol

Richard Meese: Max Prince

Giovanna Fusco: Helen

Andrew Kelley: Ira

A Huntington Beach Playhouse production of Neil Simon’s comedy. Co-produced by Bettie Muellenberg and B.J. O’Rourke-Smith. Directed by Michael Ross. Scenic design: Mickey England. Lighting design: Russell Clelland. Sound design: Ron Wyand. Costume design: Donna Fritsche. Stage managers: Sharon Maxwell, Patti Toubail.