Three Dollar Bill
Comedy Underground,
222 S Main St, 628-0303.
Tues at 8. $6.

To squeeze the most entertainment out of Comedy Underground's Three Dollar Bill show, pay close attention to the details. Note the eternal optimism of comedians working in the thin leather tie of the performance arts: standup. Eavesdrop on a gay comic's appraisal of a straight performer's routine on oral fixation. Watch the two girls sitting in front of you embrace a stereotype more amusing than any savaged on stage as they leave Pioneer Square in their gigantic pickup truck.

America officially disowned standup comedy in 1992, when a shocked nation learned how dangerously close Richard Jeni had come to crossover stardom. But like most disreputable arts, standup now offers a more compelling product for its lack of adoration. Billed as a gay- and lesbian-oriented show, Three Dollar Bill also works as a low-cost current comedy primer. Up-and-comers desperate for stage time battle with sympathetic touring comics for the initial slots, while show founders settle in at night's end with a more conversational approach. Three Dollar Bill rewards repeat visits from its target audience while giving unsure dabblers a show they can leave early without regrets--not a great night of comedy, but a reasonably satisfying one. TOM SPURGEON

Julie Cascioppo
The Pink Door at Pike Place Market,
1919 Post Alley, 443-3241.
Tues at 8:30 and 11.

No cover.Every Tuesday night, while you're probably putting your lunch for work the next day into little Tupperware containers or fiddling with that wretched PlayStation, dozens of devoted followers and several confused tourists just looking for a clean bathroom in the Market make a pilgrimage to the Pink Door to brave the enduring phenomena that is the Julie Cascioppo Experience.

For more than a decade, Cascioppo has confidently tossed schmaltz, a Casio keyboard, a couple of exhausted-looking wigs, naughty banter, and a voice surprisingly deft at interpreting songs you thought you hated all into a furiously agitating blender. The cocktail concocted goes down shockingly smooth. But hey, what's not to love about a woman dressed as a man dressed as a woman improvising "I used to drive Melinda Gates to the Bellevue Nordstrom, she felt so secure with me because she thought I was a gay man" to the tune of Petula Clark's "Downtown"? TAMARA PARIS

Jet City Improv Live Stage Show
Ethnic Cultural Center,
3940 Brooklyn Ave NE, 781-3879.
Fri-Sat at 10:30. $7, $5 with student ID.

Despite its reputation for unrehearsed honesty, improvisational comedy can rely on a dizzying number of cheats. Some of the best improvisers can force every scene through one or more dependable template. One performer may fall back on a couple of basic characters, another may keep in mind key transferable plot elements, while a third may go so far as to use the audience's supposedly fundamental scene suggestion as the only new twist in last week's crowd-killer.

Jet City Improv keeps its eye on the comedic bottom line. With its narrator-host slickly leading the audience through a standard suite of scenes defined by audience suggestions, Jet City functions as the Standard American Improv Troupe: Certain actors are protected from things they're not good at, the men are more aggressive than the women, and many of the biggest laughs come from shared pop culture references. The show's professionalism is as responsible for Jet City's massive repeat business as the fresh slate forced by audience participation and rotating cast members; the show goes down really smoothly. One only wishes for better direction. It's fine to have games that build in complexity and scenes that extend in length, but if the comedic payoffs don't grow to match, future audiences may consider their sore asses before deciding to return. TOM SPURGEON

Late Night Catechism
A Contemporary Theatre,
700 Union St, 292-7676.
Thurs-Sat at 8, Sun at 2. $24.50-$29.50.

The idea of audience-participation theater fills me with terror. It's not that such performances are inherently bad; it's that if I'd wanted to be in the show I would have auditioned, and if I felt the need to be humiliated in public I'd take off my shirt. Fortunately, Late Night Catechism plays more like an "interactive audience experience." Instead of alienating audience members to glean cheap laughs, "Sister" (the nun goes nameless, except for her ecclesiastical title) tailors the show to the crowd (or "class") by establishing a continuous dialogue. This gives the impression of a freshness and originality that may account in part for the show's longevity (Catechism is in its third year). Also to its credit, Catechism's Sister is not a shrill and carping despot. Aubrey Manning plays the nun straight; eccentric yet endearing. Nor is the play a slapstick spoof--its humor springs from the self-evident contradictions and eccentricities found in the culture of Catholicism itself. While non-Catholics will find Sister's pathological disdain of chewing gum and broken rulers amusing, members of the faith will find it hilarious. All in all a fun and amusing way to while away an evening. ADRIAN RYAN

Theatresports
Market Theatre,
1428 Post Alley, 781-9273.
Fri-Sat at 10:30, $9; Sun at 7, $5.

Theatresports' basic conceit is improvisational comedy as competition. Improvisers are split into teams, and each scene is scored by a panel of judges. Although one can imagine this basic framework adding depth and tension to a special performance, as a structure it adds very little to a single show. The good thing is that it's not meant to be taken seriously; the bad thing is that this makes the interruptions and superfluous information that much more annoying.

Despite the added trappings, Theatresports is an extremely conventional show. It also may be the only improvisational show I've ever seen where the women performers were clearly better than the men--a welcome change from the over-aggressive scene-stealing of many male-driven troupes. In general, the company members exude actorly integrity, eschewing quick blackout comedy for longer scenes grounded entirely in technique. The approach is admirable, and no doubt provides a better foundation for the more ambitious shows the company launches, but it can be rough going for crowds seeking a certain number of laughs per minute. But even better than a belly laugh is approbation from an audience educated by repeat viewings to respect the honesty of a certain process. Theatresports has plenty of those. TOM SPURGEON