THE BIZ : Music to Laugh By

The good part about all those sitcom-taping tickets floating around town is that TV fans can watch their favorite actors at work. The bad part is that shooting a half-hour show can last anywhere from two hours (for a well-oiled machine like “Cheers�) to nearly four (for kiddy-littered shows like “Full House�). The fun can wear off quickly for a bleacher-bound crowd. There’s the warm-up comedian, but part of his job is to be less amusing than the show, so much of the between-takes entertainment duty falls to the house band.

Over at “Seinfeld� on the CBS Studio Center lot in Studio City, the four-member band Jerry’s Kids plays during every Tuesday night taping. “The music cuts the warm-up guy a little slack,� says drummer Al Lohman. “He can relax and we can keep the audience going. We select music that we just know is going to work.� Their repertoire ranges from rock to jazz to the USC fight song.

The band--Lohman, 32; vocalist and keyboard player Reno Wilde, 32; guitarist/saxophonist Andy Najera, 37, and bassist Glen Holmen, 32--is in its third season with “Seinfeld.� Before that, they played for “Evening Shade� and “Designing Women.� The band also performs around town and does session work. “We’re always looking to expand our horizons,� says Lohman. “You always try to keep the musician life going.�

For the moment, the boys in the band are happy to be making a living in the tough sitcom market, where economics have made house bands a luxury. “At one time, there were a ton,� says Lohman, “but now there aren’t a lot of us. And it’s kind of a closed field. You really pretty much have to have a connection.�