Oh, the wonder of two wheels

Right in the wake of the Tour de France, “Le Comedie du Bicyclette� pedals into town to fulfill the demands for French-themed bicycle entertainment.

A wind sprint of musical and sketch comedy, the hourlong show returns to the Improv- Olympic West in Hollywood after a short stint in Chicago.

Described in its opening moments as “an entertainment with French overtones -- a fantasia, if you will, on the charms and delights of the bicycle,� it feels more like a brie-induced fever dream suffered by Lance Armstrong the night before the big race.

Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Dreams allow you to clean out the junk drawer of the mind and that’s exactly what the Bicycle Men -- Dave Lewman, Joe Liss (both writers for “3rd Rock From the Sun�), Mark Nutter (co-writer of the Chris Farley movie “Almost Heroes�) and John Rubano (an actor who’s appeared on “Seinfeld� and “According to Jim�) -- seem to be doing: tossing out four minds’ worth of accumulated material on mimes, Texans, youth hostels and high school-level French vocabulary lessons. (Quick, do you get a baguette at a boulangerie or a patisserie?)

And like a dream, “Le Comedie du Bicyclette� is unapologetically nonsensical.

While it nominally follows the tale of an American tourist named Steve trapped in a French town when his bicycle breaks down, it hops between creepy puppet shows that give new meaning to the word deja vu, by playing out the previous scene; an abrasive Texan named Austin Houston, who has a large white cowboy hat and an extra appendage to boot; a talent contest of dubious legality; and a trio of arrogant Gallic bicycle repairman who appear to believe in a higher power (manifested as “l’homme du bicyclette� -- “the bicycle man� -- complete with racing jersey and winged helmet).

There are plenty of musical numbers (music and lyrics by Nutter), including a paean to breast implants, the world’s most unsettling lullaby, a Monty Python-esque tune called “Unremarkable Man� and, of course, an ode to the bicycle (“It’s a symbol, sure you bet / hat’s my bicyclette.�)

The best sketch comedy plays to the audience’s highest level of intelligence (no one needs to spell out the French gender-pronoun jokes, for example, you either get them or you don’t).

That’s what makes even the show’s lone flat spot -- a talent show contestant with a truly stomach-turning skill that we won’t detail here -- fail smartly.

“Le Comedie du Bicyclette� is a sketch comedy bumblebee; from the way it’s put together it doesn’t seem like it should fly but does -- and the result is far funnier than the sum of its bicycle parts.

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‘Le Comedie du Bicyclette’

Where: ImprovOlympic West, 6366 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood

When: Tuesdays, 8 p.m.

Cost: $10

Info: (323) 962-7560