ONE OF THE LITTLE-RECOGNIZED laws of entertainment is that the importance of any innovation is directly proportional to the amount of stand-up comedy it makes available for public consumption. The advent of the long-playing record allowed millions of people to enjoy the middlebrow shtick of Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner, and videocassette recorders brought the raunchy rantings of Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor and Andrew Dice Clay safely into living rooms. Now, inevitably, we have the first comprehensive cd-rom dedicated to this peculiarly American form of artistic expression, Comedians (Magnet Interactive Studios, for PC and Mac, $44.98, fax: 1-202-471-5807).

Based on the acclaimed 1991 book of pictures and text by photojournalist Arthur Grace, Comedians puts a multimedia gloss on the life of the stand-up comic--not your everyday stand-up comic, the kind who gets heckled in obscure clubs with cheesy names like Uncle Giggles, but 13 heavy hitters, ranging from Joan Rivers and Alan King to Steve Martin and Whoopi Goldberg. As you navigate your way through a virtual comedy club, pointing to and clicking on various icons, you are treated to stunning black-and-white photographs of the comics (lifted straight from the book, the full text of which is also available here), sound bites from interviews, printed quotes, and 30-second-to-two-minute-long snatches of live performances in a small video window (about three or four per performer) that defy you to keep a straight face. Steven Wright: "I can levitate birds, but nobody cares." Robert Klein (as a flight attendant): "Will the Jew who ordered the kosher meal please make himself known?" Bob Hope: "The Supreme Court ruled that there can be no more praying in school. From now on, kids have to study to get good grades."

Comedians is so cleverly designed that action-game programmers would do well to study it. Most of the objects strewn about the club--there's a fax machine in the manager's office, a microphone hanging over a wooden stool, pictures on the walls--are vehicles for the delivery of stand-up material. In the dressing room, for example, you can slip a virtual videocassette into a virtual vcr and view a clip of your favorite comic. Click on the condom dispenser in the bathroom, and you get a series of routines about birth control; move over to the nearby urinal, and you get a...flushed urinal (and believe me, you don't know the true meaning of the word multimedia until you see your hard-disk light flashing as this happens).

Alas, if only design were all. Because Comedians concerns itself with seasoned pros and not struggling hopefuls, there are few real comedic insights to be gleaned here. When Grace elicits from Wright what it's like to face a packed audience, it's akin to a sportscaster asking baseball star Cal Ripken Jr. how it feels to step up to the plate for the 10,000th time. Also, many of the disc's subjects have long since transcended the stand-up genre. I'm sure that while Robin Williams still occasionally hits the clubs, no one rooted in the '90s would think to describe him as a stand-up.

Which brings us back to those video snippets. Unfortunately, they're about as fresh as reruns of Fawlty Towers. Jackie Mason on Richard Nixon! Richard Lewis on sex therapist Dr. Ruth! Ultimately, the comic who really shines is Sam Kinison, whose hilarious riff on the Last Supper will have devout Christians rushing to disconnect their sound cards. With his trademarked bellow and menacing bulk, Kinison blows his colleagues right off the screen. It's a shame that his death in 1992 isn't mentioned anywhere in the text.

In the end, it's only fitting that we judge this disc by the same criteria that apply to any stand-up comic. So let's put the verdict this way: Comedians' timing is perfect; its delivery is sharp but the material is a bit stale.

--From ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

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REFERENCE

CAMPAIGNS, CANDIDATES & THE PRESIDENCY COMPTON'S NEWMEDIA,

CD-ROM FOR PC, $39.95, FAX: 1-619-929-2511

IF YOU THINK CURRENT U.S. POLITICIANS have their scandalous moments, wait till you spin Campaigns. Among other juicy tidbits, you'll learn that Grover Cleveland had an illegitimate son and that Andrew Jackson's opponents dubbed his wife an adulterer and his mother a prostitute. Lending serious balance and perspective to the mix is historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. on video. In addition to being full of fascinating political memorabilia, the disc offers a trivia game in which the winner gets to be...why, President, of course. Compelling, entertaining and informative, this disc shows how much fun American history can be.

A PASSION FOR ART: RENOIR, CEZANNE, MATISSE AND DR. BARNES

CORBIS PUBLISHING, CD-ROM FOR WINDOWS, $49.95, FAX:

1-206-746-1618

PHILADELPHIA PHYSICIAN ALBERT C. Barnes was a sour, crusty, brilliant eccentric who amassed one of the world's greatest private collections of Impressionist and post-Impressionist art. The goal of this gallery, from the staccato narration to the peppy jazz introduction, is to make the subject of art dramatic, to make it mysterious, so that you're lured into viewing and learning about great works and the artists who created them. You can click for a close-up of a painting and then scroll to any part of the canvas. You can also peruse extensive examples of Barnes documents and memorabilia--including a rather lively audio clip of the good doctor railing against a magazine writer who crossed him in an article. Here is a fascinating disc demonstrating that a passion for art is perhaps as artful as the works themselves.

ROB ROY: LEGEND OF THE MIST ACES ENTERTAINMENT/MGM, CD-ROM FOR

PC AND MAC, $29.99, FAX: 1-708-799-8375

WITHOUT SHEDDING ANY LIGHT ON WHAT a Scot wears beneath his kilt, this disc offers a look at the making of the epic romance Rob Roy. Providing a wee bit of context, Legend spotlights Scottish history by briefly detailing clan lineage as well as famous places, events, mysteries and people, including real-life rebel Robert Roy MacGregor. But this dullish text pales in comparison with the countless photographs, movie clips, and cast and crew interviews. The breathtaking aerial footage of the Highlands, scored with traditional pipe and whistle music, also impresses.

HOME GAMES

BEAT THE HOUSE INTERPLAY, FLOPPY DISK FOR PC, $39.95, FAX:

1-714-252-2820

LIKE A LOW-BUDGET CASINO IN NEW JERsey's Atlantic City, this gambling tutorial isn't much to look at, but it delivers the goods: Instructing would-be bank breakers on the best way to beat the odds at blackjack, craps and poker, among other games. However, as any slot jockey knows, it's one thing to run through a simulation in the comfort of your home, and quite another to plunk yourself down in a real casino, where you're likely to be distracted by complimentary drinks or gyrating showgirls. That's what makes Beat the House oddly dispiriting: No matter how good you think you're getting, you know the odds are still against you.

HODJ 'N' PODJ VIRGIN INTERACTIVE, CD-ROM FOR PC, $79.95, FAX:

1-714-833-8717

WELCOME TO THE MYTHICAL, MULTIFACeted kingdom of Po-Poree, where you can view a hilarious fairy tale, play a loopy board game (in which you encounter a shopkeeper with a New York City accent and a whole lot of attitude) and also pick your way through 18 minigames ranging from word searches to medieval variants of Space Invaders and Battleship. This impeccably styled British production is one of those rare CD-ROMS that can be enjoyed by both children and adults--and its simple menu-driven interface guarantees that you will want to keep it on your hard drive long after you have got rid of other software.

ONLINE

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION (INTERNET, HTTP://WWW.SI.EDU)

NOW YOU CAN ROAM THE HALLOWED halls of the world's largest museum and research complex without having to drag the family to Washington. In an appropriately stuffy style, this mammoth site houses more than 1,500 pages of highlights from the Smithsonian Institution's 16 museums and galleries and Washington's National Zoo as well as answers to the most frequently asked questions and helpful tips for tourists. Each museum section includes extensive text complemented all too infrequently by photographs and the occasional video or audio clip. An impressive resource, this splendid collection may leave you thirsting for the real thing

BODY & GRACE: AMERICAN BALLET

THEATRE (HTTP://WWW.I3TELE.COM/PHOTO

--PERSPECTIVES--MUSEUM/FACES/ABT.HTML)

ADDING A RARE TOUCH OF REFINEMENT to the Net, this site spotlights the dancers of the American Ballet Theatre, gracefully captured in black-and-white images by photographer Nancy Ellison. The troupe's principals are posed in character and the other dancers in movements they've personally chosen to express themselves (also available are title-heavy biographies only an aficionado could appreciate). Each dancer embodies a fluid beauty, impeded only by the graphical limits of a computer monitor. But it's the added photos from productions dating back to the 1940s that fully illustrate the ABT's rich 55-year history. Accessed via the Photo Perspectives Museum, Body & Grace is worthy of a standing ovation.

--From ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, which is available on the World Wide Web (http://pathfinder.com/ew/)