Improv Battle

The first rule of improv is agreeability. If someone says the scene you're sharing takes place in Louis Armstrong's colon, you go along with it. Playing nice can chafe, though, which might explain Improv Thunderdome, the gloves-off comedy grudge match that stomps its first team at 9 tonight at the Westport Coffee House (4010 Pennsylvania, 816-678-8886) and doesn't relent until a champion is crowned in April. "The idea came from wanting to create a monthly competitive show where some teams get eliminated and others live to fight another day," explains Jared Brustad, who, along with fellow Trip Five Ed Doris, serves as this competition's Vince McMahon. "Nine teams enter. One team leaves."In each round, three teams perform. "Each gets 30 minutes to do whatever style of improv they want," Brustad says. Then the audience plays Caesar, choosing with a vote who lives and who dies. Tonight's combatants: Loaded Dice, featuring longtime pros Rob Grabowski and Clay Morgan; Balls Out, which includes up-and-comers Ashley Kirk and Bess Wallerstein; and Man Panties, a two-man team boasting Keith Curtis and Tommy Todd, young performers of great promise. Thunderdome action will set you back $8; in addition, Brustad and Doris debut their own two-man show at 7 p.m., which costs a separate $5. See both for $10. Westport Coffeehouse
Sat., Jan. 12, 7 p.m., 2008