NYUK-NYUK TIME; STOOGES FANS GO NUTS AT CONVENTION.

Byline: Eric Moses Daily News Staff Writer

The first-ever West Coast convention for fans of the Three Stooges was supposed to be a nyuk-filled, ``woo-woo'' weekend.

Instead, it began Friday on a somewhat dour, mysterious note with the news that someone had hijacked 120 cases of freshly brewed ``Three Stooges'' beer that was being trucked from Atlanta to Burbank.

Bob Benjamin, whose mother, Jean DeRita, was married to Curly Joe DeRita for 27 years before the comic actor's death, was perplexed by the theft.

``What is this world coming to?'' said Benjamin, who with his mother and brother helped found Comedy III Productions Inc. to promote the Stooges' legacy and control their trademarks.

The beer was supposed to be sampled at a Friday night reception for the most ardent followers of the Stooges, or in their words ``Very Important Knuckleheads.''

Though the lager is not yet available for sale in California, those who have tasted it say it doesn't have the bitter taste of a Heineken, is not a microbrew and goes down like Michelob.

Panther Brewing Co., a Boston-based firm named for a fictional company the Stooges worked for in one of their nearly 200 film shorts, has offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the brew-heisters, said Patrick Lauerman, who handles merchandising for Comedy III Productions.

``We want to call in the FBI, CIA and IOU,'' Lauerman said. An emergency shipment of 10 cases was being flown in to quench the thirst of the ``VIKs,'' he said.

But the weekend get-together at the Burbank Airport Hilton Hotel and Convention Center was not just about beer, or the lack thereof.

``We're trying to keep the Stooges alive,'' Jean DeRita said during a break from signing books and posters with her late husband's likeness. ``They've made a lot of generations happy, and we are trying to keep them alive for future generations.''

The Burbank gathering is the first one west of Philadelphia, and was created because Stooge-o-philes demanded it.

And some, like Leo Wolene, 52, of Northridge, paid for it - with a pie in the face.

Wolene, a longtime fan, took part in a truly amateur performance of a famous Stooges scene: Madame Pompadour's birthday bash. With the usual Stooge hilarity, the fancy affair soon degenerated into a pie-throwing contest.

For $50, any knucklehead can throw a few shaving-cream pies and take home a videotape keepsake of the performance.

``I don't mind looking silly,'' Wolene said, wiping the gobs of white foam from his face, nose, hair, neck and ears.

Everyone at the convention seemed to have a favorite Three Stooges memory.

``Lucky'' Giorgianni, 70, of Valencia remembers racing to the movie house in New Brunswick, N.J., to see the latest Stooges short. Cliff Batham of Mission Hills recalls the night his Stooge-inspired father picked up a pie and mashed it in his mother's face.

``Every Thanksgiving we talk about it,'' Batham said.

Admission to the convention, which will continue today and Sunday, is $20 for adults and $10 for children.

Be warned, however. If you attend, you're sure to bump into a Curly impersonator who will offer his hand in greeting, then as you reach out, he'll pull his hand away and slap you silly.

``Nyuk-nyuk-nyuk.''

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3 Photos

PHOTO (1--Color) Stooges look-alikes Robert Hill (Moe), right, and Dave Knight (Curly) crack up Bethany Hashek.

(2) Host Gary Owens interviews Moe Howard's daughter, Joan Howard Maurer, in front of Moe's portrait.

(3) Comedian Jonathan Winters can't help but smile at all the wacky goings-on at the convention.

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News