By TOM KANE

FORESTBURGH - It's hard to get bored with Neil Simon's plays. As often as they're produced and as often as we're on to his tricks, his gag lines still sneak up on us when we're not looking.

The thing about Simon's plays is that they're so simple. Nothing complex, just ordinary human situations with ordinary human foibles with extraordinary humor.

That's why many serious dramaturgists spurn Simon's work. Lightweight, they say. No insights into character, no denouement, no tragic flaws, no realistic twists of plot and character. Just gags. Very funny gags, but gags nonetheless.

If comedy's purpose is to make us realize the ironies and anomalies of life and the humor in them, then, in my view, Simon succeeds like no other writer of comedy since Moliere.

The anomalies of life were evident in the Forestburgh Playhouse's production of "The Sunshine Boys," a story about an aged vaudeville duo who grew to hate each other even though they were a successful team for 46 years.

Michael Iannucci, a regular this season at the Playhouse, was a superbly nervous nephew to his aged and cantankerous uncle, Billie Clark, one of the partners played by Joel Vig. Iannucci brought the same verve and comic energy to this role as he did in his other roles as Nathan Detroit in "Guys and Dolls" and Seymour, the frenetic plant owner in the "Little Shop of Horrors."

Bob Del Pazzo, played the cool partner, Al Lewis, who hasn't been heard from for 11 years. The two meet for a television network's program about the history of the vaudeville era and they fell right into the same arguments as if they had never parted. Del Pazzo's timing was sharp and incisive.

I had trouble listening to Vig's strident portrayal of the injured and abandoned partner. His frenetic manner grew tiring as the play wore on. Not much real emotion or nuances of character, only hectic movements and nervous twitching that made me wish for Walter Matthau.

All in all, it was a night of enjoyment as was all the other nights I spent this summer at the Forestburgh Playhouse.