Take your kids to see "Rap's Hawaii," produced by the Honolulu Theatre for Youth. They might see you in a new light.

Or take somebody else's kids, or go alone. Although this show is aimed at an audience age 10 and older, it will absolutely delight adults.

The skits of Rap Reiplinger, arranged for the stage by Lee Cataluna and directed by Harry Wong, III, also remind us of what made them funny in the first place and pause to note — incredibly — that it has been more than 25 years since they first made us laugh. Remarkably, three of his most popular recordings were released on CD nearly 10 years after his death in 1984.

Rap was one of the creators of the local comedy troupe, "Booga Booga," and brought excitement and new life to the local comedy scene. His slightly cracked and charming, self-mocking humor was immediately recognizable and widely popular.

He helped us see ourselves with target accuracy and hyperkinetic energy that was simultaneously innocent, perceptive and naughty. In a contemporary world often paralyzed by its sense of political correctness, it is refreshing to watch characters who are blissfully aware of their own follies, but who push forward with Archie Bunker righteousness.

Comedy is seldom funny when analyzed, but instantly recognized in performance — when delivery, timing, and physical expression combine. Happily, the HTY revival delivers the material just right — "not too sweet and not too rancid."

Act One is the family material that plays to school audiences. Act Two is added for public performances and is somewhat racier. All of it is true to the original and delivered lickety-split.

But while the fast-forward dialogue sometimes outpaces full clarity, the mostly adult audience at the premiere public performance didn't seem to mind, cheering as their favorite bits were announced and roaring through the dialogue.

An audience like that wants to see a re-creation of the original and HTY provides it. The non-physical bits like "Japanese Roll Call" and the haiku poetry parodies are not inherently visual and not as successful as the broad physical comedy.

Pomai Lopez is the distracted hotel operator in "Room Service." Kimo Kaona dons floppy ears and a rubber nose to play the barking dog in "Singing Telegram."

But it's Charles Timtim, who earned his acting stripes as a glowering Othello in the HTY version of the Shakespeare classic, who gets the sweet spot as Auntie Marialani in the cooking show spoof that ends the play.

In gray wig and bright muu muu, Timtim is spot on as the tipsy television chef who downs a bottle of wine while preparing a rubber chicken for the roasting pan. In a moment of generosity, she pours some down the bird's gullet — then drinks it back out of the carcass when the bottle is empty.

That's physical comedy in its most ridiculously pure state.

Someday, someone might rework Rap's material in a new and different light. But for now, mirroring the original is the best way to go.

Joseph T. Rozmiarek has reviewed theater performances in Hawai'i since 1973.