Killer Material

Ladies and gentlemen, introducing for your reading pleasure, L.A.-based stand-up comic Biff Kincaid. Having accepted a last-minute request to fill in for friend Art Westcott at Chortles Comedy Club, Biff realizes that the first performer, Ned Lando, has stolen all his material from other comics. After the show, Biff learns that Lando paid the sound technician $100 to tape the routines of the gig's two other acts: Biff himself and female club-manager Kelly Malone. Biff confronts Lando outside the club and discovers, just before he's knocked out, that the thief has sold the tape for $1,000. Biff wakes up in Kelly's apartment, and by morning romance is afoot. When Biff goes to see Art, he finds his friend shot through the head. As the last person to speak to him, Biff becomes the prime suspect in his murder. Suddenly things aren't so funny, and Biff begins to put a lot of miles on his Mazda RX-7 in pursuit of Lando and the real killer. Barton, himself a former comic, writes from the heart. He knows L.A. and the comedy scene, the clubs and the unglamorous day world of the rank-and-file entertainer always looking for the next job. Barton and Kincaid certainly rate a return engagement. Agent, Matt Bialer at William Morris. (Apr.)