Comedy Notes

COMICS' FILM MIXES MADNESS, MADCAP

hree funny people together should be able to make a funny movie. Or, as it
turns out, they could make a serious documentary, as is the case with
''Sixty Spins Around the Sun,'' playing this afternoon at the Boston
International Film Festival. The short film, directed by comedian Laura
Kightlinger and produced by Kightlinger, Jack Black, and Judith Love Cohen,
follows political activist and comedian Randy Credico, the causes for which
he fights, and the madness that surrounds him.

Mostly it's the madness. Filming started in 1996, when Credico was working
on his ''Humor for Hoffa'' campaign to elect Jimmy Hoffa Jr. president of
the Teamsters. Kightlinger interviews comedian friends whom Credico
persuaded to perform to help the union cause; some of the comics were not
entirely willing. Nick DiPaolo admits that he's more of a Republican and
not much on unions, but that he came because Credico asked.

Kightlinger laughed at first, hearing Credico on her phone pressuring
people into doing stand-up in pool halls in small California towns.
Kightlinger had known Credico since their late '80s days working in Boston
comedy; Kightlinger started as an Emerson student; Credico usually played a
couple of times a month. It wasn't until the Hoffa campaign that she
decided to start chronicling Credico.

''I really saw it from the angle that, this person is so charismatic that
he can cajole his old friends into doing these thankless benefits, really
guilt-tripping them into it,'' she says.

When Hoffa's presidency quickly fades into the background, Credico's
attention turns to a series of New York state measures called the
Rockefeller laws, which provide strict punishment for anyone caught dealing
or holding hard drugs. This takes up most of the film, as Credico goes to
Tulia, in Texas, a state with laws similar to New York's, to fight the drug
arrests of dozens of the town's African-American population.

During filming, he aided in the release of nine people from prison. He's
still working with two organizations, Mothers of the Disappeared and the
William Moses Kunstler Fund for Racial Justice, to free people with similar
records.

''He wants to effect change, and he wants to make a difference, and it's
interesting to see what's at the core of that,'' Black says.

The final portrait is of a passionate, imperfect man who causes as much
irritation as he inspires admiration. A string of girlfriends attest to his
single-mindedness concerning political causes, and to his explosiveness.

Larry David of ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' says he is amazed that any comedian
would think about anything other than himself and act on it, while
confessing that he's not sure their friendship would last if they didn't
both like fine cigars. Kightlinger herself cringes slightly thinking about
trying to tame Credico's boundless energy for the camera.

''I think all of his overreacting, all of his drama, I think to him he
thinks it's completely necessary,'' Kightlinger says. ''And in fact, I feel
just talking about him, my blood pressure rising.''

As for Credico, he just believes in making the most of his time, which he
figures is ''Sixty Spins Around the Sun,'' if he's lucky. Credico will be
49 tomorrow.

''I'm a human being, and I've got a lot of flaws,'' he says. ''And so, 30
percent of my life I'm doing good stuff, 70 percent of my life I'm not;
that's the goal.''

Comedy Homecoming

For Christian Finnegan, Tuesday night's gig at the Regattabar with Gary
Gulman and Kelly MacFarland will mark the first time the Acton and Concord
native gets to do stand-up in front of a hometown crowd. Finnegan graduated
from Walnut Hill School in Natick, a high school for the performing arts,
but didn't discover stand-up until he moved to New York to attend NYU.
Having switched majors from acting to writing, comedy seemed to be a
perfect fit.

''Stand-up I just fell into because it felt like a nice marriage of the two
things I like to do - to write and to perform,'' he says. ''I definitely
took the back door. I wasn't one of those kids hanging around the comedy
club at 14.''

He returns home having scored a spot at the Just for Laughs Festival in
Montreal, and with a part in a sketch on Comedy Central's ''Chappelle's Show.''

Around Town

Bob Seibel headlines Nick's Comedy Stop tonight and tomorrow. ... Sam
Walters hosts Eric Brown, Kevin Carson, Deb Farrar-Parkman, Joe Randazzo,
Jesse Shapiro, Alana Devich, Joe Wong, Mary Beth Cowan, and Christine
Herman Sunday at the Comedy Studio.

"Sixty Spins Around the Sun'' shows today at 12:55 p.m. as part of the
Boston International Film Festival. For more information, call 781-935-0871
or go to www.bifilmfestival.com.

Gary Gulman, Christian Finnegan, and Kelly MacDonald play the Regattabar
Tuesday at 8 p.m.