Intelligent Comedy Needs More Laughs

Seeing most comedy sketch groups leaves you with one basic impression: These folks sure watch a lot of television. It’s nearly impossible to get what a lot of groups are doing anymore without watching a lot of television yourself.

But in the cleverly titled show by comedy quintet Lester McFwap at the Raven Playhouse, “Lester McFwap’s Innuendo & Out the Other,” an early indication this won’t be the usual routine ruled by network fare comes from two sketches: one on the history of the chair, mocking the Ken Burns school of TV documentaries, and another spoofing the PBS standby “This Old House.”

Lester McFwap is one company that actually assumes you watch PBS.

This is a group made up of smart performers and writers who aren’t afraid to hide that fact. In any case, the PBS references are a bit of misdirection, since “Innuendo” is strikingly spare of TV-isms. Instead, the sketches are about life beyond the couch, lined with literary, theatrical, even scientific references that are pretty much unheard of along Comedy Row on Sunset Strip.

This is wonderful, but in its quest for more intelligent comedy, McFwap sometimes forgets to be funny. Too many sketches end with a thud, a letdown, a lull, or linger on after the best laugh has been delivered. An early scene by Michael Lindsay, “Why Johnny Can’t Think,” is like this, as is the too-long Thomas Konkle bit, “World o’ Hats,” which takes performance art to its logical dead-end.

The group isn’t trying to reinvent sketch comedy. Some of the members here recently staged a revival of sketches by the classic British troupe Beyond the Fringe, as if to acknowledge the standards on which the art form is based.

But too many scenes here don’t sustain themselves, such as Lindsay’s bit depicting a restaurant run by people who talk like David Mamet characters, or an interview with a man with a transplanted hand.

Better are brief, punchy bits like “Recital,” in which Gino C. Vianelli’s obnoxious recorder player is shot dead by miffed first violinist Konkle, or brilliant scenes of mock-Shakespeare and gross-out humor (“Who Pooteth?”).

There’s also a nice mingling of the five players’ different styles, including Tom Mills’ mercurial physical touches and Konkle’s and Lindsay’s effective dual chemistry.

The group is an unmistakably solid unit. Now it’s time to get funnier.

BE THERE

“Innuendo & Out the Other,” Raven Playhouse, 5233 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood. Thursdays, 8 p.m. Ends June 29. $10. (310) 226-7047. Running time: 1 hour, 20 minutes.