Seattle SketchFest Capitol Hill Arts Center
Through Sept 18.

Less random than improv and more social than standup, sketch comedy has all the makings of an ascendant genre. It requires almost zero attention span. Anyone who's seen Saturday Night Live has a basic idea of how it works. And many troupe rosters remain stable long enough that their members settle into reliably funny grooves.

In Seattle, the sketch-comedy scene is usually overshadowed by the institutionalized behemoth of improvisational comedy. Sketch comedy, improv's scripted cousin, is relegated to occasional performance cabarets and late nights at ArtsWest.

For the next two weeks Seattle SketchFest will turn that arrangement inside out. Founded in 1999 by Mike Daisey, SketchFest has grown to a 12-troupe festival at Capitol Hill Arts Center. The troupes are homegrown (lauded Seattle outfits Bald Faced Lie and Kazoo! perform this Thursday at 8:00 and 10:00 p.m., respectively) and far-flung (returning Portland troupe the 3rd Floor is paired with SketchFest newbies Elephant Larry from New York this Friday at 10:00 p.m.).

If you've never seen live sketch comedy before, you might be reduced to choosing between shows on the basis of typesetting--do you go with exclamation points (Kazoo!), capitals (MEAT), both (FURIOSO!), or neither (Reigel and Blatt)? Though she was reluctant to play favorites, artistic director Val Bush offered some pointers, saying she was very excited about the Royal We (this Friday at 8:00 p.m. and Saturday at 10:00 p.m.), a troupe from New York that specializes in political satire; Ten West (next week), a physical comedy troupe; and The OOPS Guys (next week), performing the campy cabaret act "Lounge-zilla!"

Bush also recommended the all-girl New York troupe MEAT, which performed recently at Portland's Best of the Best Sketch Fest (MEAT performs next week). "I got a taste of MEAT in Portland," she quipped offhandedly.