DAVIS’ RULES : A Sense of Humor and Willingness to Work It Are Required of Evan Davis Fans

“Well,” comic Evan Davis was saying by phone from the road last week, “a lot’s happened. Clinton’s in. I really like him. But I don’t know if anyone from Arkansas should ever be given power. Not till their reading levels come up a little. . . . It’s scary to think he worked at a gas station at one time and everybody called him Goober.”

Thank heaven Perot was in the race, Davis said.

“He’s a funny guy. He quit for a while: ‘You put your right foot in, you put your right foot out. ‘ . . . I could picture him if he were in the White House. Just hitting people in the head with a shovel: ‘Clean that mess up!’ (Ponggg! )”

The thing is, Davis said, Americans had to have a sense of humor during the presidential campaign.

“You had to laugh or you couldn’t tell they were lying,” he said. “If you were laughing, they were lying. Case in point: ‘I didn’t inhale.’ . . . ‘Read my lips’ is another case. He has no lips.”

Davis, who is headlining at the Brea Improv this week, is a 12-year comedy veteran whose act was once described by a Los Angeles entertainment weekly as “a playful, feel-good, spontaneous show that lightheartedly emphasizes social awareness.

He accurately portrays many of society’s insecurities and gently reveals fresh insight into the world.”

Like that Porsche that goes from zero to 60 in 3 1/2 seconds. “Who’s this for? “ Davis wonders. “Single mom on the go? ‘Put your helmets on, we’re going to day care!’ ”

Or how Barbie managed to pay for her Ferrari. “Ken don’t work. I think she’s taking G.I. Joes to the Dream House.”

Davis, who writes new material every day, said he tries to keep “a good chunk” of current events in his act. “You have to now,” he said. “It’s gotten so competitive that you can’t just do the same jokes over and over.”

Although he’s having to faze out his political material now that the election is over, Davis said that “people still love it because Clinton is in. There’s hope. I mean, George (Bush) wanted more evidence of global warming. How about sun screen 50? How about, ‘I can’t leave the house without putting Mop ‘n’ Glo on my face’? . . .

“George said we were in a recession because we weren’t spending enough. Hey, my cards are maxed. Some of you people ain’t doing your shopping.”

But, Davis said, Bush can’t be blamed for the recession.

“It’s everywhere. The Soviets had to leave that cosmonaut up there six more months because they were out of money. What a crummy phone call to have to make. How would you tell the guy? ‘Sergei, collect call. . . . You gotta make the Tang last. . . . Good news: You still have a job.’ ”

“I go wherever the audience goes,” Davis said of his stage act. “If they want to laugh at political stuff--and it turns out in this election they did--I’ll deal with that, and if they want to deal with the recession or something else I’ll do that.

“The show kind of bends with the cultural winds. But the main thrust is you’ve got to have a sense of humor. It’s like a little workout going to a comedy club with me. Think of it as your humor workout.”

On a personal note, Davis mentioned that he just moved onto a 30-foot sailboat docked in Marina del Rey.

“That really freed me to get out of (paying) rent,” he said. “I’ll never be homeless. Unless I sink it. So I leave those little stick-on memo notes for myself around the boat: ‘Don’t drill holes.’ ”

It is, he acknowledged, a real Southern California lifestyle. He even goes in-line skating every morning.

“Rollerblades are exciting,” he said. “But you’ve got to watch out for bike racks--they can tear the shorts right off you. Nothing like a six-foot blond guy sliding by at 200 m.p.h.. Naked.”

Dennis McLellan is a Times staff writer who regularly covers comedy for OC Live! What

Evan Davis.

When

Thursday, Nov. 19, and Sunday, Nov. 22, at 8:30 p.m.; Friday, Nov. 20, at 8:30 and 10:30 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 21, at 8 and 10:30 p.m..

Where

The Improv, 945 E. Birch St., Brea.

Whereabouts

Take the Lambert Road exit off the Orange (57) Freeway and go west. Turn left on State College Boulevard and right on Birch Street. The Improv is in the Brea Marketplace, across from the Brea Mall.

Wherewithal

$7 to $10.

Where to call

(714) 529-7878.