In Madison, we love David Sedaris. Year after year, the author packs Overture Hall with fans of "Me Talk Pretty One Day" and his deadpan radio humor.

But those searching for signs of Sedaris in Laboratory Theatre's production of "The Santaland Diaries" are likely to come away disappointed.

Joe Mantello adapted Sedaris' stories about his adventures as an elf at Macy's SantaLand into a one-man play in 1996. Michele Gerard Good, artistic director of Laboratory Theatre, has adapted it further, adding more characters and song interludes while cleaning up some of the naughtier bits.

The resulting play, which marks Laboratory's Madison debut, feels like a mismatched revue, with happy holiday songs bookending cynical complaining.

As our narrator, Crumpet the elf, R. Peter Hunt is so bitter right from the start that it can be hard to find the humor in his rants. The narrator is mad about his costume, the stupidity of his coworkers, the rudeness of Macy's customers and the fact that he's been reduced to working a menial job.

I suppose I'd be more sympathetic if so many other people weren't in the same boat right now. I want to tell Crumpet (or Blisters, as he renames himself) to stop whining and appreciate the work.

As a whole, "The Santaland Diaries" makes for a mildly entertaining hour in the Evjue, but it doesn't flow well. Songs like "Cactus Christmas" and "The Man with a Bag" are fun, a welcome contrast to Hunt's unrelenting sarcasm. But where do they come from? It feels like they've parachuted in from a totally different show.

Good directs and her best moment is a song. She rewrites "Carol of the Bells" as a witty "tribute" to holiday shopping which opens, "Nintendo Wii, Monopoly, Playstation III, Elmo tickle me" with a chorus of "very, very, very, very greedy."

Of the added cast, Lisa Spierer milks an amusing turn on "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town," during which she gleefully dismembers a bear. Sara Key, whose Mad Rollin' Doll handle is Maverick, spins deftly around the Evjue in "Silver Bells" before lurching into the Christmas Eve shoppers' fray.

"Santaland" would be funnier if the script hadn't been cleansed of some of its best lines. In the original, a costume supervisor cracks, "You're not a dancer. If you were a real dancer, you wouldn't be here. You're an elf and you're going to wear panties like an elf."

I miss that.

But I understand, most of the time, why Good cut the things she did. There are children in this production (one girl is only five), so most strong language was out.

Some trims seem to be for length: Sedaris' imaginary conversations with soap opera stars in the essays can get tedious. Also, Hunt doesn't have to play the narrator gay, as Sedaris does -- Good also removed the reference to his crush on fellow elf Snowball.

But by taking away from the script and adding other elements to compensate, namely music and 11 extra cast members, I start to wonder if Good is working too hard to make an existing script fit Laboratory's mission. (Also, how did a joke about a group of "profoundly retarded" people make the cut? It got no laughs, probably because we were all so startled at its insensitivity.)

I'll be interested to see, when Bricks Theatre takes over the production for two performances on Dec. 20-21, how "The Santaland Diaries" works as a solo show for a specifically adult audience. I have a hunch it will fit both Hunt and the script much better than this production does.

Note: The Bricks Theatre production of "The Santaland Diaries" will star R. Peter Hunt but will be produced independently of Laboratory Theatre.

IF YOU GO

When: Thursdays through Sundays through Dec. 19, 7:30 p.m.

Where: The Bartell Theatre, 113 E. Mifflin St.

Tickets: Advance, $12 adults, $10 seniors/students; $15 and $12 at the door

On the web: bartelltheatre.org

Bricks Theatre presents "The Santaland Diaries"

When: Sunday, Dec. 20 and Monday, Dec. 21, both 7 p.m.

Where: Dec. 20 - The Frequency, 121 W. Main St., Dec. 21 - The Brink Lounge, 701 E. Washington Ave.

Tickets: $15

On the web: site.thebrickstheatre.com

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