Willum Cubbert, center, played by Jeremy Pyle, is an unassuming young architect, who is landlord to his friends Tansy McGinnis, (Samantha Vickoren) and Axel Hammond (Eric Romero). The three friends devise a plan to get rid of their houseguest from hell, Rick Steadman, also known as "The Nerd."

We could all use some good laughs these days, and “The Nerd,” now playing at the Barnstormers’ Theatre in Grants Pass, might just deliver them.

That’s depending on your brand of humor, of course.

Written in 1994 by New York actor-playwright Larry Shue, “The Nerd” hovers somewhere between hardly believable and comically clever. The formula veers between sophomorically silly and fatuously funny, between highly amusing and — at times — just plain stupid. The play conjures up antics similar to the bumbling Steve Urkel in the 1990s ABC TV sitcom “Family Matters” (“Did I do that?”) or the zaniness of the 1994 Jim Carey classic “Dumb and Dumber.”

“The Nerd” introduces us to Willum Cubbert, an unassuming young architect whose career is just beginning to take off. He is about to hold a dinner party to impress a contractor who’s hired him to design a luxury hotel when Rick Steadman, a long-lost houseguest from hell, appears at his front door in a Beelzebub costume.

Rich is oblivious to the havoc he is about to wreak in Willum’s life.

So why is Rick Steadman showing up now? Rick saved Willum’s life while serving in Vietnam, but Willum had never met Rick. They exchanged cards and letters over the years, in which Willum offered to help Rick should he ever need it. Yet Willum never thought Rick would actually take him up on his offer.

Yet here Rick is at Willum’s door — straight from losing his job as a production line chalk inspector. Rick Steadman, as portrayed by actor Sky Scholz in Barnstormer’s production, is quite simply the funniest person in the show.

Willum has been renting rooms to long-time friends — Tansy McGinnis, an attractive woman with career goals, and Axel Hammond, a self-important drama critic, who used to date Tansy. Axel believes Willum is so focused on his career, he’s missing out on the important things in life, like the fact that Tansy now has a crush on Willum. Tansy has been trying to subtly let Willum know, but losing hope, she has decided to move to Washington, D.C. to take a job as a TV weather-person. Samantha Vickoren plays Tansy as compromised and timid.

Eric Romero has the gestures of a full-of-himself Axel Hammond down, but he has a way to go to convince us he’s a drama critic, at least the stereotypical kind — reflective, stuffy, with an air of sophistication. We don’t get that the character Axel has the intellectual capacity of a renowned theater critic like Brooks Atkinson, but then again, this is supposed to be Terre Haute, Indiana, and Romero is young.

Warnock Waldgrave, a no-nonsense, demanding, irascible contractor who has hired Willum to design a hotel complex, is played with vigor by the actor Jonas Stewart. Warnock arrives with his neurotic, plate-smashing wife, Clelia, played by Heidi Elise.

The also couple bring their precocious, obnoxious son, Thor, played by Maxfield Stewart. This kid knows how to be spontaneous, loud and funny. His character seeing demons becomes a running gag that almost steals the show.

Jeremy Pyle plays Willum with gentle sincerity. Pyle portrays Willum knowing when to respond to Rick, but his Willum is overly anxious rather than ill-at-ease. Pyle plays Willum as unsure of himself, and Pyle presents the character as someone experiencing avoidant personality disorder. He delivers lines looking down, so it is hard to understand him.

Pyle is also stepping into one of his first lead roles however, and with Ryon Lane’s spot-on direction, it seems certain they will dial Willum down in time.

In the end, the dinner party becomes the catalyst for a series of stupefying gags after Rick moves in.

One of the best moments is when Tansy, Axel and Willum decide they’ve had enough of the awkward, gawky houseguest and devise and introduce a series of daily, bizarre rituals to try and drive Rick away. There’s a memorable scene with cottage cheese, another where everyone’s footwear is flung out a window, and a surprise ending that suddenly lends some sanity to what was a cascade of outrageous situations.

This is a professional, volunteer theater company that strives to give new actors a chance, so although some of the acting could use some polishing, there’s always something to take away from the productions — this one offers plenty of good laughs.

Barnstormers Theatre, 112 N.E. Evelyn Ave., Grants Pass, has performances of “The Nerd” set for 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays, through Feb. 25. Tickets begin at $20; group discounts are available.

See barnstormersgp.org, email at barnstormersgp@gmail.com or call 541-479-3557 for showtimes, tickets and further information.