Childhood nostalgia in ‘Wonder Bread Years’

You’ve gotta hand it to the guy: Pat Hazell has the courage of his own modest ambitions. A stocky, sneakily witty observational comic, he tells us what he’s going to do in “The Wonder Bread Years” and then he does it and gets off the stage.

“I’m going to take you on a field trip back in time,” he announces near the top of this amiable solo show, “to explore our sense of wonder.” As grand as that syllabus may sound, what Hazell has in mind is pure, unpasteurized nostalgia for a collective American childhood fueled by sugar, ruled by well-meaning if oblivious parents and accompanied by a catchy backbeat of commercial jingles. He’s aiming for the laughter of shared recognition, nothing more nor less. And he delivers it in spades; poignancy sold separately.

On a simple set by David Raphel -- an isolated screen door with service porch, a laundry line with a sheet that’s handy for slide projections, a window and chair -- Hazell roams unhurriedly through what can only be called a routine, illustrated lightly with some well-chosen props: a lawn dart, a Kellogg’s Fun Pak, a can of Manwich.

He uses slides to corroborate some of the finer points of his narrative: Yes, he was compelled to dress as Col. Sanders for Halloween one year, and yes, his family had a sixth sense for bleak vacation spots.

For the most part, though, Hazell manages to conjure an offhanded catalog of dangerous toys, mysterious food products and miscellaneous 20th century cultural detritus more by telling than showing -- or, in the case of a riff about Show and Tell, by inviting us to shout out our own recollections of the classroom ritual which, as Hazell points out, “taught us to brag and covet our neighbor’s goods.”

In a series of anecdotes that begin with “I love my parents, but

For the few who don’t recognize this perennially distracted communication style, Hazell saves his show’s best one-liner: “If you don’t know someone like this, then you are that person.”

“The Wonder Bread Years” steers clear of formal social arenas to focus resolutely on the primary imaginative geography of American childhood -- the home and the yard, the television set, holidays and travel, games and chores, reward and punishment.

Unassumingly and lovingly, “The Wonder Bread Years” captures a child’s natural habitat: the eternal sunny afternoon of the fraught-less mind.

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‘The Wonder Bread Years’

Where: Hermosa Beach Playhouse, Pier Avenue at Pacific Coast Highway, Hermosa Beach

When: 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday

Ends: March 20

Price: $40 and $45

Contact: (310) 372-4477

Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes

Also

Where: El Portal Theatre, 5269 Lankershim Blvd., N. Hollywood

When: Opens March 23. Regular schedule: 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays

Ends: April 3

Price: $35 to $45

Contact: (818) 764-2400