Having Fun With ‘American’ Cabaret

Kevin Kaufman and John Everest’s uneven cabaret musical revue “American Twistory” is a fractured American history lesson set to music, with six exuberant ensemble members (Paul Ainsley, Cindy Benson, Lauri Johnson, Hope Levy, Bret Shefter and Craig Wasson) harmonizing and mugging with minimal props at the Cinegrill.

The famous sale of Manhattan Island becomes “Give Me Some Beads for Broadway,” with the Native American salesman (Ainsley) as slick as any used-car dealer and the Dutch tourist (Wasson) toting a camera. Wasson later portrays George Washington with a dead-on Clinton-esque impression. Well, why not? Didn’t that president also sleep everywhere?

Unfortunately, too many of the contemporary twists fall flat. Relating Andrew Jackson to the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, is an act of desperation. The “Alma Mater Song” and the “Wall Street March” depend largely on sophomoric word associations. Kaufman and Everest tend toward corny humor that varies greatly in cleverness.

Under the direction of David Galligan, most of the sketches flow smoothly. Galligan readily acknowledges the vaudeville-style patter with the cast doing verbal drum rolls, and this makes some of the bad jokes more bearable.

The best segments are when the cast has something of substance to work with: the recurring “We’re Gonna Fight a War” song (Shefter), “Rebels With a Cause”--which takes on Elvis, doo-wop and black leather jackets, or the wonderfully insipid Frankie and Annette parody “A Nuclear Love Song” (Levy and Shefter).

*

* “American Twistory,” Cinegrill, Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, 7000 Hollywood Blvd. Mondays, 8 p.m. Ends July 27. $10. (323) 466-7000. Running time: 1 hour, 50 minutes.