Leaner, Not Much Meaner : Humor: Despite vows to show her fans a more aggressive side, Roseanne Arnold sticks to the familiar at Humphrey’s.

SAN DIEGO —  The show wasn’t exactly what was promised, but that’s probably for the better.

Before coming to San Diego to play two shows at Humphrey’s on Sunday night, Roseanne Arnold, nee Barr, promised her fans a meaner, more aggressive and caustic humor.

She was tired of being a punching bag. She was tired of taking abuse. It was time for her to have her say, she said.

Sunday’s 7 p.m. show, however, did not exactly follow the game plan.

A good portion of her material came from her most-recent album, “I Enjoy Being a Girl,” released in December.

Wearing an all-black outfit--an above-the-knee skirt and a fluffy top--Arnold, 38, looked healthy, robust and trimmer, the results, no doubt, of her recent fitness regimen. She has lost 45 pounds since February.

Her observations were not particularly scathing or attacking. Her routine was pretty much an outgrowth of the Domestic Goddess material on which she rose to stardom. She was Everywoman and, to a lesser degree, Everyman.

She even kidded about her much-criticized rendition last summer of “The Star Spangled Banner” at a Padre game, a rendition that even President Bush found time to criticize. She did not, however, offer a reprise.

“ There was a day in my life,” she told the largely appreciative Humphrey’s crowd.

She limited her singing to a couple of harmless, apolitical ditties interspersed among the jokes.

For the most part, her 60-minute set was a folksy and humorous offering, much of it based on personal experiences.

“We’ve got like 10 lawsuits. It’s me and (husband) Tom’s hobby. . . . I’m personally clogging up the whole court system.”

On stage, Arnold didn’t move around much, preferring to stand behind the microphone rather than wander or pace as she offered up her observations.

Her act ran together well and never veered into hostility. In an interview a few weeks ago, she said she was going on the offensive, but Sunday’s offensive was never much more than a sputter. She attacked no one. She offended no one.

Discussing parenting, Arnold saved her barbs for nameless experts, with their sometimes inane advice.

“They tell you not to hit your kids in anger,” she said. “When would be a good time? When you’re feeling particularly festive?”

She talked about women and myths, including the Barbie doll. What she would prefer, however, is a little more realism. “How about a trailer-court-abused Barbie? Or a homeless Barbie?”

Throughout the show, Arnold seemed to be enjoying herself. She smiled often, punctuating those smiles at times with laughter and giggles.

She was pleasant and jovial, in contrast to numerous descriptions of her as cranky and cantankerous. This night, she was neither.

She even opened up her family to the crowd, mentioning that her sister is gay and then wondering why homosexuals never come out of the closet except on major holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving.

“I can see why it’s not Veterans Day, when everyone has a gun, but why not Ground Hog Day?”

She even appeared comfortable with fat jokes--interesting since she flays Arsenio Hall every chance she gets for his barrage of remarks about her weight.

She described how fat people give directions:

“Go down here to Arby’s, past McDonald’s. . . . It’s the chocolate brown building. You can’t miss it.”

Sunday’s shows were part of what she bills as the “Honeymoon Tour” in honor of her renewed wedding vows with her husband, who is also her opening act.

Her delivery remained level and conversational, even when she veered into a few bawdry areas. Nothing too coarse or offensive, though.

She talked about Oprah and self-esteem in a homey, folksy way. She also kept the pace up, avoiding the lulls that bog down many hourlong routines.

She even took a detour into the unscripted when a member of the audience asked where John was, referring to John Goodman, her husband on her TV show, “Roseanne.” Even here, she kept calm, gently chiding the questioner after intimating that he might have been drinking.

“Where’s John?” she said, repeating the question. “Uhh, it’s only TV.”

About the most risque she got was at the end of the performance, when she displayed the tattoo high on her left breast, a rather modest gesture but appreciated by her fans, who a few moments later rewarded her with a standing ovation for the evening.