Tonight, tonight.

Is the subject line from West Side Story, or a Smashing Pumpkins song? You decide!

Improv Thunderdome The rules of this make-it-up-as-you-go cage match haven't changed: Three teams compete for 30 minutes apiece, with the audience's favorite advancing to the finals this spring. In Round 1 last month, the funniest, most ambitious team rightly advanced after reducing the sell-out crowd to sinus-clearing laughter. Round 2 features what might be the three most ambitious improv formats to share a bill in recent history. Scriptease will improvise the final half-hour of a widescreen disaster movie, with audience help; Babel Fish promises to mine Beckett-style theater of the absurd for what it's calling "lowbrow, mass-consumption, entertainment history"; and Antiprov threatens a conceptual pantsing of the short-form games and scenes that have for decades been improv's mainstay. (Added attraction: Trip Fives Jared Brustad and Ed Doris do a two-man show at 7 p.m.) Friday, Feb. 8 at 9 p.m. at Westport Coffeehouse, 4010 Pennsylvania, 816-678-8886. (Alan Scherstuhl)

-The Pitch

...And the Improv Thunderdome has its second session at 9 p.m. Friday at Westport CoffeeHouse, 4010 Pennsylvania. This one will feature Babelfish (Joe Henley, John Robison and Nathan Stewart) vs. Antiprov (Scott Connerly, Jessica Robins and Joe Stephenson) vs. Scriptease (Rene Boudreaux, Drew Davidson and Clayton Ingram). The winners earn a place in the Thunderdome finals on April 12. Tickets cost $8. The show follows a set of “A Pair, Unsuited” by Ed Doris and Jared Brustad at 7 p.m. ($5, or both for $10).
Brustad and Doris came up with the Thunderdome concept.
“The first idea was to have a bunch of teams compete one week, then have the winning team come back the next week and then, like a king of the hill thing, have the others try to knock that team off,” Brustad said. “The problem was the local improv community really isn’t big enough to do that yet.”
The alternative was this once-a-month competition loosely based on a concept used in Philadelphia. It allows the teams time to prepare and even rehearse as much as you can in improv. It also inspired a few births of improve teams.
“Because of Thunderdome there are people who weren’t associated with any group but just wanted to get on stage,” Brustad said. “The Babelfish members used to be associated with other troupes but just wanted to try this.”
Loaded Dice (Clay Morgan, Rob Grabowski, Patrick Lindorst and Charley Belle) won the first Thunderdome in January. While Brustad said they really were the best prepared of the three acts that night, they also brought the most friends and family. That’s not a bad strategy considering the winner is determined simply by audience vote.
The ultimate winner will claim the biggest share of the box-office pot, which is what’s left over after the CoffeeHouse is paid, Brustad said. After one show, the pot is at $300. The final preliminary round will be March 15. Brustad said they also hope to get the champion a spot on the KC Improv Festival tentatively scheduled for September.
For more information, call 816-678-8886 or see westportcoffeehouse.com (Ward Triplett)

-The Kansas City Star


As of this moment they have stopped taking reservations because it is sold out. Eep! This is exciting and nerve wracking at the same time. Tonight is going to be so much fun.