Kidding himself: Police were a bit taken...

Kidding himself: Police were a bit taken aback when they arrived at the West L.A. residence of one R.U. Kidding? and were told that a violin had been stolen from his machine-gun case. “I explained that I’m a professional clown,” said the victim, who legally changed his name from Joseph Copeland to R.U. Kidding?--question mark included.

Kidding? said that other stolen items included “my costumes and a teleplay I had written. All my makeup was taken, too, so you could say I’ve lost face.”

(To those cynics who point out that this is April Fool’s Day, we assure you that we did find a police report on the burglary.)

Now, back to our story: Kidding? is very serious! about offering a reward for the return of his clown gear, as well as his wife’s jewelry, which was also pilfered.

And his wife’s name is . . .

“Whooya Kidding?” said her husband.

We had to ask?

Is it art or is it compacting? Blake V. Blakey of Newhall writes that he visited the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia the other day, attracted by the following in the school’s calendar:

“Friday (March) 27: ‘Crushing Stoves,’ by Veronica Lajambe and David Colosi. An interdisciplinary project involving crushing six kitchen stoves with a 100-foot crane and its wrecking ball. Empty land behind Chouinard, 12 noon.”

Blakey, who terms himself a fan of “high art,” was disappointed to learn that the show has been postponed until Thursday, same time. Our guess is that another student had checked out the wrecking ball ahead of Lajambe and Colosi on the original date.

Memories: One of the complaints of participants of the once-flourishing est movement was being forbidden to answer the call of nature during the self-improvement seminars. Alan Bailey saw a sign in an L.A. restaurant that inadvertently shows how a compromise could have been reached.

Take that , McDonald’s: A Mexican food stand on Whittier Boulevard proudly displays a hand-painted sign that proclaims: “Tacos--One Zillion Sold.”

Unexpected salute: As a Channel 9 reporter gamely tried to think of something to say at a post-Oscars party that had barely begun, the camera settled on the face of one nearby guest, who smiled appreciatively after a few moments. It was Mitchell Fink, Channel 11’s entertainment reporter.

Now, just a minute: OK, so L.A. ain’t Paris. But when a Times story on the architecture of L.A. was reprinted in a Taiwan newspaper, we think the headline writer got carried away trying to comfort local readers.

Taiwan, whooya kidding?

miscelLAny:

Four of the nation’s most visited amusement parks in 1991 were in Southern California: Disneyland (No. 2), Universal Studios (No. 4), Knott’s Berry Farm (No. 5) and Six Flags Magic Mountain (No. 8).