THEATER REVIEW : ‘Girly’: Strong Ensemble, Predictable Humor

“Girly Magazine Party” at Theatre/Theater is about a bunch of guys sitting around being stupid. “Girly Magazine Party”--the project--is about a bunch of talented guys cooking up a half-baked vehicle for themselves and apparently having a grand old time putting it on. Sure, boys will be boys. But watching skilled artists pose as a pack of jerks horsing around doesn’t necessarily show these performers off to their best advantage.

The kickiest thing about “Girly Magazine Party” is that it isn’t afraid to be puerile, sophomoric, scatological, tasteless and sexist. Normally, you’d have to troll the mainstream comedy clubs to find material this offensive. The play, of course, is meant to be a parody. But the line between a critique and the thing itself is a little blurry here, and the retro-Neanderthal humor gets predictable.

The “Party” is a TV talk show hosted by a Hefner-clone named Tellis Wondersweet (the ably deadpan Jim Turner, who also co-writes and produces). As the publisher of the fictitious Jaunt magazine, Wondersweet has surrounded himself with cronies, most of whom are wanna-be comedians or self-made experts on sundry eccentric topics. The occasion is a taping of the show.

This loose pretext allows the ensemble to have their showcase moments and also makes room for improv. The piece isn’t tightly choreographed, but you buy the sloppiness as part of the taping-session premise. The script, though, could use some work. Most audiences, after all, can only stand so many Gordie Howe jokes.

When “Girly Magazine Party” does click, it’s thanks to the magnetic ensemble, which includes several fairly well-known comics, performers, writers and musicians, such as Steven Banks and Leon Martell. Not everyone is in the cast at each performance: Different guest artists appear each week, and the other players vary some as well. (Fortunately, the promised “bevy of delectable Jaunt Playthings” never materializes.)

Turner, a longtime member of comedy’s Duck’s Breath Mystery Theatre, is a standout as the host whose intelligence is one sandwich short of a picnic. And Dave Higgins, as Wondersweet’s tweedy straight-man Professor Timothy Glendenning, could fit right in on the liberal arts faculty of your favorite Midwestern junior college. But they’re funnier than the setup--written by the performers and Mike Armstrong--they’ve given themselves.

Stuart Blatt’s 1970s-ish set is an aptly cluttered hodgepodge of zebra-skin and chrome, dominated by a large abstract painting of a breast. Leslie Rainer’s costumes range from Turner’s so-awful-it’s-wonderful leisure suit to relatively conventional contemporary wear for the other performers.

* “Girly Magazine Party,” Theatre/Theater, 1713 Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood. Fridays, 8 p.m. Indefinitely. $10. (213) 469-9689. Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes.