“Laughter” at the Morgan-Wixson

How funny is a group of television comedy writers trying to be funny? Not half as entertaining as The Santa Monica Theatre Guild’s production of Neil Simon’s “Laughter on the 23rd Floor,” which runs through February 14 at the Morgan-Wixson Theatre in Santa Monica. Directed by Lewis Hauser and produced by Len Magnus, the show transports the audience to 1953, the 23rd floor of a building in New York City where seven comedy writers gather to create sketches for The Max Prince Show, starring the high-strung, lovable lunatic Max Prince. Based on Simon’s early experience as a writer for Sid Caesar’s “Your Show of Shows,” “Laughter on the 23rd Floor” (1993) captures the creative antics characteristic of some of Simon’s comic collaborators-among them Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner and Larry Gelbart. The Simon character, Lucas (Chris Kuechenmeister), introduces his fellow jokesters to the audience as they enter the writers’ room one-by-one, each with his (or her) own quirky appearance and persona-not to mention their diverse cultural backgrounds, which are the root of many jokes. We meet Milt (Jeff Witzke), Val (Dennis Delsing), Brian (Neilsen Scott Montgomery), Kenny (Chris McCann) and Carol (L. Kate Siegel), who prepare us for the entrance of the biggest little man behind the curtain, the Napoleon-meets-Woody Allen character modeled on Sid Caesar-Max Prince (Barry Silver). Max must tell his writers, whom he later calls his “flesh and blood,” that the NBC network wants to cut the budget and length of the program because the material is “too sophisticated” for the average American audience. Yet the NBC executives aren’t the only ones with a black list: Sen. Joseph McCarthy has called World War II Allied commander Gen. George Marshall a Communist, and this news equally enrages Max, who refers to McCarthy as “Senator McNutcake.” The team of writers rolls with the punches (literally), sometimes cracking five jokes a minute in attempt to lighten the mood, boost their egos or conceal their insecurities. Even the whiny writer/hypochondriac, Ira (Patrick T. Rogers), who stumbles into the session tardy, as usual, spits out his share of jokes. While it takes the first act to really get to know these characters and their relationship with each other, the second act (seven months later) is faster-paced and funnier, even with a slower, more drugged-out Max. We finally get to see the writers collaborate and act out the movie version of Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” starring Marlon Brando, with Max as Julius Caesar. Here, the acting and direction capture the climactic high of comedy writers fighting for a laugh-the cast gets several with this scene. Barry Silver’s strong performance as Max reveals an underlying fatherly love for his writers despite his neurotic behavior. He gives the audience an inside look at the pain behind the laughter (“Nobody hates Max the way Max hates Max”) and wins our sympathy with his unfaltering loyalty to his band of comics. In an exhilarating moment, Ira gets down on his knees to teach Max the “Roma” number and before long Max breaks into song joined by his ensemble of writers. The cast pulls off these sudden spurts of collaborative harmony with great pizzazz. The contrast between the characters’ quick wit and light joking, and the dark political news about McCarthy/blacklisting/Russia’s H-bomb, which we get from characters as well as the voiceovers between scenes, successfully creates a build-up of tension on the 23rd floor. Kenny’s earlier declaration that “maybe we’ll never have this much fun in our entire lives” rings truer than ever by the end of the production. The impressive one-set stage (designed by William Wilday)-mustard yellow, mauve and beige walls, and classic wood furniture-evokes the 1950s to a T, as do the stylish costumes (Karen Jay), which perfectly characterize each writer. Jeff Witzke as Milt is hilarious in his white suit, and Max’s secretary Helen (Brittny Roberts) creates a character that matches her flowery, bouncy dress-an eager wannabe comedy writer who can’t quite crack a joke. In an environment where being an “honorary lunatic” is the highest form of respect, Simon’s characters are a famous tribute to some of the greatest comedy writers and to the gut-wrenching comic process. The production’s poignant moments are interspersed among endless wisecracks and ba-dum-bums because, after all, laughter and tears often share the same space. Performances run Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m., and a special Saturday matinee January 31 at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $15 for adults, $12 for seniors and $10 for students, with group reservations available. The Morgan-Wixson Theatre is located at 2627 Pico. Contact: 828-7519.

Although her illness first became apparent in the early 1960s when she was a 17-year-old student at Palisades High School, Kay Redfield Jamison didn’t seek treatment for her manic depression until a decade later, when she had completed her doctorate and was a professor of psychiatry at UCLA. In 1995, she bravely told the story of her own affliction in “An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness,” a book that went on to became a New York Times bestseller. Jamison will share her personal and professional reflections on mental illness in a lecture at the Palisades Branch Library, 861 Alma Real, at 2 p.m. on Saturday, February 7. Manic depression, also known as bipolar disorder, is characterized by extreme emotional highs and lows. It is a disabling disease that often becomes progressively worse if left untreated. In Jamison’s case-made all the more ironic by her education and training in psychology-the author initially felt that her depressions were a passing phase. “There’s a certain amount of denial involved to keep on going,” says Jamison, who now is Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore. “I assumed I could handle anything that came my way.” In fact, like so many other sufferers, Jamison reveled in the highs, which brought periods of intense creativity and feelings of accomplishment. Although these episodes were inevitably followed by crushing, debilitating lows, Jamison was slow to accept the need for medication, fearing it would deaden her spirit. Her harrowing journey-and ultimate recognition of the need for both medication and psychotherapy in order to heal-is chronicled with candor and wisdom in her memoir. Jamison explored the link between mental illness and creativity in an earlier book entitled “Touched with Fire: Manic Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament” (1993). While her book outlines biographical and scientific evidence for a relationship between manic- depressive illness and artistic creativity, it does not romanticize the connection. “Nobody can be creative if they are hospitalized or dead,” says Jamison, who has spent her entire career advocating taking medication to treat depression and warning about the dangers of suicide. Her most recent book, “Night Falls Fast,” is a treatise on understanding suicide, something the author is increasingly optimistic about the possibilities of preventing, but deeply frustrated by the lack of public and professional awareness of the terrible toll it takes. However, Jamison is encouraged by a public that is increasingly better educated about depression. “People know the symptoms and how common it is,” says Jamison, a 2001 recipient of the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship. “They’re much more aware that there are medications out there. It makes a huge difference.”

Last week, Village School kindergartners became scientists for the day when they visited the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium. Educators encouraged the youngsters to use their senses to learn about the ocean life in neighboring Santa Monica Bay. Formerly the UCLA Ocean Discovery Center, the aquarium was taken over by the nonprofit organization Heal the Bay last year, after budget cuts meant UCLA could no longer run it. Heal the Bay reopened the aquarium in June and it is now booked through the summer with elementary education programs. The aquarium complements Heal the Bay’s mission of ocean conservation and stewardship. Fortified with a snack after the short bus ride to the aquarium, located just underneath the carousel at the pier, the 45 kindergartners excitedly descend on the aquarium. Education manager Vicki Wawerchak and educator Nick Fash are ready for them. “When we go inside we’re going to be scientists,” Wawerchak tells the students. Once inside, the “treasure hunt for animals” begins, and they’re told to look for the soft and squishy orange sea cucumber or the red spiny lobster. Students are taught to take out their scientific “touching tool”-two of their fingers-to gently feel the “jello-like” sea cucumber and the “sticky” jellyfish, among others in the waist-high touch tank. The 2,000-sq.-ft. aquarium is filled with sea life, all of which is found in Santa Monica Bay. The viewing tanks have different themes-one is filled with crustaceans, the pier tank reflects the sea life right under the pier, and a rocky reef tank contains eels. The large touch tank contains invertebrates such as sea urchins, sea stars and snails. “The kids love it,” says teacher Stephanie Don Vito of the aquarium. “They can see the animals and touch them. It’s not too big and the presenters are great.” Up to 60 students can visit at a time, divided into two groups. Wawerchak leads them in a program where they learn about sea stars, sea urchins and sea cucumbers. Lucky young volunteers get to hold the animals, as Wawerchak explains through words and funny physical demonstrations how sea stars dine on mussels. “They barf their stomach up outside their body and into the mussel, make a soup [with their digestive juices and enzymes] and suck it in.” “Gross!” yell the kindergartners. “Scientists don’t say ‘gross,’ they say ‘Wow, cool!'” explains Wawerchak, a native Palisadian who has been a marine biology educator for 10 years, and who gains her young audience’s rapt attention. Soon she has the children demonstrating the sea star digestion along with her. Later, small groups of children gather around a sea star in a plastic container. When the sea stars are placed on their backs as an experiment, they start to turn over. “Flip over sea star,” the kids chant. “Ours is flipping,” another group says excitedly. And with arms raised high in the air, a third group shouts: “It flipped!” The children touch the sea stars’ tube feet, and back at the touch tanks, see one with its stomach partially out. For the second half of the trip, the groups switch, and Nick Fash leads them out onto the beach. Kids continue their scientific exploration right next to the pier, looking for bird footprints, feathers and guano (“What scientists call sea bird poop,” Fash says). Then, given plastic colanders to use as sieves, the kids pair up and see what they can find in the sand-shells, rocks and tiny sand crabs. “They learn there’s more to the beach than just laying a towel down and playing in the waves,” Wawerchak says. “There are animals and a food chain.” Palisadian Vicki Warren is one of several Heal the Bay volunteers assisting this morning. The small staff relies on many volunteers-to help with education programs, greet the public and answer questions, or assist senior aquarist Jose Bacllao in feeding and taking care of the animals and tanks. The volunteers and educators say it’s particularly rewarding to work with students who have never been to an aquarium or put their toes in the sand. “It’s fun to get them to not be afraid,” Warren says. The aquarium, 1600 Ocean Front Walk, is open to the public from 2 to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 12:30 to 5 p.m. on weekends. Heal the Bay runs the aquarium with the help of a grant and assistance from the City of Santa Monica, but they are looking for donations to help in continuing the aquarium’s work. The entry fee is $1 per person, with a suggested donation of $5. Children 12 and under are free. The aquarium is also available weekend mornings for birthday parties. Sundays are shark days, with a talk and feeding at 3:30 and shark movies, crafts, discussions and stories the rest of the day. A “microbiologist” program for 3- to 5-year-olds will take place on Monday afternoons in March. For more information or to make donations, call 393-6149.