Shear Madness, The Hit Comedy Whodunit

Once in a while, it's nice to realize that, not only can every play aspire to Chekhov, but some don't even aspire to "2 Broke Girls."

Even the title of "Shear Madness" is a corny pun. The play, such as it is, is a series of the six actors opening and closing doors, running around the stage, mugging and otherwise doing everything but acting.

As for the plot, there is one, if you can accept that the ancient concert pianist landlady living above a Hell's Kitchen hair salon has a more convoluted backstory than five film noir femme fatales.

There's a murder -- no spoilers here, not that anything this ridiculous could be spoiled. Two police detectives retrace everyone's movements with a thoroughness that necessitates opening up the fourth wall and involving the audience's help.

If it all sounds totally mindless, it is. But on its terms, it actually works. If you can just go with the endless litany of jokes about current events that sound like ones Joan Rivers was telling Johnny Carson; accept that the salon owner is on the outer limits of gay stereotypes; and that the other suspects have no real-life equivalents, you'll have a great time.

It's easy to see why this show has broken records in other cities. It's the kind of thing someone might decide to see a third or fourth time if he had an evening to kill, felt a little blue or had to entertain his teenage nephew.

The best part of the evening is the way the cast adeptly ad libs throughout the investigation. The night I attended, Jordan Ahnquist, the super-gay hairdresser, planted a brief but firm kiss on the lips of Patrick Noonan, the chief detective.

As much as Ahnquist gives off gaydar, Noonan reeks of "real guy." The way he blushed beet red while almost immediately recovering and returning to character was hilarious and even charming.

As the interrogation grinds on, the actors feed off the audience, which gets really revved up and rambunctious. Like the studio audience at a "Jerry Springer" taping, they begin to identify with some of the characters while gunning for others.

If you're looking for a deeply meaningful evening in the theater that will elevate and enlighten you, wait for Tom Stoppard's next talkfest. If you want to laugh you ass off, see "Shear Madness."

"Shear Madness" has an open-ended run at New World Stages, 340 W. 50th St., in the Worldwide Plaza complex. For tickets and information, call 212-239-6200 or go to the theater's website.