'An Act of God' theater review -- 2 stars

"An Act of God," a comedic, tell-all monologue in which four-time Emmy winner Jim Parsons plays God, makes Broadway history as the first show ever inspired by a Twitter handle.

David Javerbaum, a former writer for "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and now a producer of "The Late Late Show with James Corden," is also the creator of @TheTweetofGod, in which he is supposedly transcribing God's random, daily observations. The tweets led to Javerbaum's book, "The Last Testament: A Memoir by God," which serves as the basis for the show.

Jim Parsons is essentially playing Sheldon Cooper (his oddball, self-loving, socially unaware character on the CBS sitcom "The Big Bang Theory") playing God. It's a very funny, very promising concept, but not much of a play or even a stand-up routine.

After some introductory remarks and zingers, Parsons announces that he has written a revised, more open-minded Ten Commandments, and he proceeds to go through them. All the while, he ventures into science, politics, pop culture and biblical tales and even takes a few questions from the audience.

He is joined by Christopher Fitzgerald ("Finian's Rainbow") and Tim Kazurinsky ("Saturday Night Live") as his angels/assistants. The prolific Joe Mantello ("Wicked") is the director.

By offering a live version of his inimitable persona on "The Big Bang Theory," Parsons provides Broadway audiences the same sort of kick as Larry David, who is playing a slight variation of his "Curb Your Enthusiasm" character in the hit comedy "Fish in the Dark."

Even at 90 minutes, "An Act of God" is long-winded and full of unoriginal jabs at common targets. There may be a play to be drawn out of Javerbaum's work, but "An Act of God" is not it.

Fittingly, God receives a bio in the playbill. It turns out he has three children: Jesus, Zach and Kathy.

If you go: "An Act of God" plays through at Studio 54, 254 W. 54th St. through Aug.  2. anactofgod.com.