Was the joke on them or was it on us? That question ran through my mind as I watched “Japanese Action Comic Punk Band” Peelander-Z mock its native kitsch culture, or perhaps American youth’s perception of its culture, during its super happy fun time set Saturday at the House Café, 263 E. Lincoln Highway.

Ugh, who cares? I have never seen a crowd scream the seemingly meaningless words “Mad Tiger” over and over again with so much aplomb. Nor have I seen a band of maybe superheroes rock out so intensely.

Each member of Peelander-Z has a representational color, much like the Power Rangers. The singer/guitarist wears yellow, the bassist dons red and the drummer wears green as they incite impromptu jump rope, limbo and even human bowling in the middle of their set.

Sure, the punk tunes, with names such as “Karaoke Party,” “Ninja-High Schooool” and “Mad Tiger” were something of an afterthought compared to Peelander-Z’s onstage antics but the costumes were adequate for the crowd participation hijinks that ensued.

When Peelander-Z Yellow instructed the crowd to buy a CD for each crowd-member’s mother in the most stereotypical “Engrish,” strangely enough, the audience respectively obliged, and obeyed every ensuing command.

The supporting bill was very strong. Openers Richardson Richardson made the ladies swoon with lush double bass and iPod ballads about beautiful straight-edge girls, fine-looking gummi bears and the large sunglasses they wear.

Follow-up group Jim Crowbot rocked in mean punk-dub-fugazi fashion. The band kept a solid, tight groove throughout, which allowed frontman Mike Finnigan to occasionally mistreat his guitar, leaving it on the floor of the stage for a quick jaunt into the arms of the thrashing townies below.

I am not sure how I really feel about super awesome fun times of Japanese camp groups such as Peelander-Z. I get the feeling that what they’re doing is vaguely racist and disrespectful, sort of like a modern-day minstrel show. But they sure do know how to get a crowd moving, laughing and limbo-ing, so they must be doing something right.