AUSTIN — By the standards of the comedy troupe Broken Lizard, The Slammin’ Salmon is a modest comedy with modest roots.

The film takes place at an upscale Miami restaurant where waiters engage in various high jinks as a way to generate more sales, garner extra tips, and avoid the wrath of their boss, an intimidating ex-boxer (Michael Clarke Duncan) who needs cash to pay off his gambling debts.

Many years ago, three members of the troupe worked together as servers at a New York restaurant called Busby’s, where they almost inadvertently started gathering ideas for individual gags and character quirks.

“We amassed a pretty good amount of [material],” co-star Steve Lemme said during this year’s South by Southwest Film Festival.

Anchor Bay Films

From left, Jeff Chase plays Anthony, Kevin Heffernan is Rich Parente and Carla Gallo is Stacy in The Slammin’ Salmon.

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It was several fledgling years later that the group — which also includes Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Paul Soter and Erik Stolhanske — broke through on the big screen with the low-budget Super Troopers (2001), and later followed up with Club Dread (2004) and Beerfest (2006). The quintet continues to collaborate on the scripts for each project.

“The writing is very communal,” Lemme said. “If one guy or two guys have an idea, it goes very quickly into the five-man pool. We’ve always found that five minds come up with more jokes.”

Unlike some of the troupe’s earlier projects, Slammin’ Salmon had a bumpy road from script to screen.

Broken Lizard’s regular director, Chandrasekhar, was involved with other projects and unable to devote enough time behind the camera during the narrow window in which the film needed to be shot, though he does play a principal role in the cast. So Heffernan stepped in to make his directorial debut.

In addition, last year’s Hollywood writers strike complicated productions throughout the industry, causing the troupe to find independent financing and work outside the traditional studio system.

“It was kind of a tough time. We had written this script a while back, and we were keeping it in our back pocket for a time when we could shoot something low-budget, because it all takes place in one setting,” Heffernan said. “It was a very quick timing thing that happened pretty fast.”

Preproduction on the film began on the first day of the strike in November 2007, while production wrapped just as the strike was ending about four months later.

“It was actually kind of advantageous for us because a lot of people were out of work, so we were able to get tons of people,” Heffernan said.

Oscar nominee Duncan, meanwhile, holds his own in terms of comic timing with the troupe despite being a relative newcomer to broad comedy. Lemme said the role originally was written for a real-life boxer, Mike Tyson.

“I think Michael did a great job,” Lemme said. “We’ve worked with a lot of actors who improvise, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen one who did it as well as he did. Every take he would just keep going. It was phenomenal.”

Heffernan said he first became aware of Duncan’s comic potential while watching Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. Because the part required someone who was both naturally funny and physically intimidating, Duncan became the ideal choice.

“We didn’t know how many guys were out there who fit the part so well and could do that kind of stuff,” Heffernan said. “We never got to rehearse with him, so I was terrified. But he’s an incredibly funny guy.”

The Slammin’ Salmon is currently playing at the Angelika Film Center in Dallas.

TODD JORGENSON can be reached at 940-566-6871. His e-mail address is tjorgenson@dentonrc.com.