Dave Attell Livens Up Whee! Hours

After midnight, Dave Attell lets it all hang out. He drinks. He smokes. He debauches in every conceivable way. And just to keep things interesting, he does it in a different city every week.

So it is that “Insomniac With Dave Attell” has traveled the U.S. for two seasons, offering what its theme song calls “a late-night freak-show jubilee” Wednesdays at 10:30 p.m. on Comedy Central. Quite simply, it’s foulmouthed, sophomoric, tawdry--and incredibly fun, combining the elements of travelogue (think a lowbrow Michael Palin), documentary (think Studs Terkel’s “Working”) and boys’ or girls’ night out (think Saturdays in your 20s).

Tonight’s show, shot in Kansas City and one of 10 first-season episodes being repeated, is a prime example of how so many things that are just plain wrong can feel so right. Attell, a balding, paunchy comic whose voice is hoarsened by booze, cigarettes and lack of sleep, starts each half-hour show by ending his stand-up routine at a club.

By 11:29 p.m. K.C. time, Attell has taken us to the Isle of Capri riverboat casino for some one-armed banditry. At 12:10 a.m., we’re in a limo driven by a gentleman named Wayne, soon to be joined by two strippers from Bazooka’s Showgirls. Lap dances and terribly politically incorrect jokes ensue.

Soon, we’re out of the limo, doing what Attell does best: cruising the bars, wandering the streets, interviewing the flotsam and jetsam that’s out at 1:27 a.m. (a phallic-themed bridal party).

The random encounters with those at play give way to Attell’s exploration of those at work: the bounty hunters at Ace in the Hole Bail Bonds, a convenience store clerk, and the guys in the Kansas City Star pressroom.

The show goes on until the sun rises. And the best part of it all? The arrestingly drunk and disorderly conduct doesn’t leave you with a hangover.