Nightlife in Houston

The PG-rated program is led by a talented team of in-house improv experts in the vein of Drew Carey’s popular Whose Line Is It Anyway? show on the ABC Family Channel. As a member of the audience, you’ll not only create the show (skits are created on the spot from audience suggestions), you might be in the show, too. Each week, the guffawing gurus invite members of the peanut gallery on stage to act out scenes and test their improv skills.

Laughter and lovable fur companions are undeniable life joys. Score a twofer with today's Groupon, offering a $20 ticket to Canines and Cats Comedy Hour on January 27 at 6:30 p.m. at the Houston Improv Comedy Club and Dinner Theatre (presale tickets are available for $25 until 1/24, after that the tickets are available for $40). The laughfest doubles as a fundraiser for Houston's homeless pets, benefiting HOPE, HPPL, and SNAP. There's a full bar and dinner served at the show for maximum laughter enjoyment. The club also has a two-drink minimum and a mandatory 18% gratuity on your meal.

At The Mezzanine Lounge, a sports-oriented upstairs and a lower-level lounge stack atop each other inside the double-decker bar that Citysearch named Best Sports Bar in 2008 and 2009. The kitchen, like the bar, stays open until 2 a.m. daily, grilling chicken tenders and fresh half-pound patties for burgers such as the Twisted Texas burger, slathered in spicy barbecue sauce and topped with jalapeños. DIRECTV and other cable packages wire round the clock sports coverage to the bars’ more than 30 TVs sprinkled artfully throughout the venue, supplying clear sightlines from anywhere, including the restrooms. Between strolls to the covered patio, patrons can aim cues atop red felt pool tables and drop quarters into an internet-capable jukebox, which stocks more than 150 CDs and can download further titles or add fictitious Grammy wins to Percy Sledge’s Wikipedia page.

As an international jazz club, Cafe 4212 Jazz Bar & Grill treats guests to a rotating lineup of blues singers as well as a seasonal menu of eclectic and classic dishes. Cafe 4212’s chefs use fresh and locally grown ingredients when available to crafts hors d'oeuvres such as fruit kebabs and Jamaican-style meat patties as well as entrees of praline-pecan ham and Cajun shrimp. Diners can also sip international wines, imported and microbrewed beers, specialty cocktails, and martinis.

Jazz performances on weekend nights and during Sunday brunch send patrons heading for Cafe 4212’s dance floor. Walls ornamented with red and gold hues pop against the restaurant’s ivory-clothed tables and tan leather couches, and a large outdoor patio supplies a romantic setting for couples to take in some fresh air or scream at passing airplanes.