Clubs in Tempe

Voted the Best Local Performing Arts Troupe by readers of the East Valley Tribune in 2011, National Comedy Theatre’s ensemble of players concocts improvised situations at lightning-fast speeds, relying on audience participation and their own wits to elicit thunderous laughter and applause. After turning to their all-ages crowd for assistance in shaping games and scenarios, the cast employs knowledge gleaned from operating-room sketches to tickle ribs with anatomical exactitude. The show often favors spontaneity over prudence, with performers gleefully stepping into their roles as acrophobic skydiving champions or long-winded court stenographers. Audience members get to select the winning team at the conclusion of the show, and can learn the form themselves during improv classes.

Jester’z offers up game-based and family-friendly improv, featuring absurd scenarios capable of loosening up straight-laced librarians and splitting the sides of hardened motorcycle gangs. The performers make up situations and details as they go along, and what hilarity emerges is a result of training, audience suggestion, and underlying psychological issues. Experience this comedic instability firsthand at a Jester’z show. The show's 10 p.m. start time coupled with the clean laughs make the experience equally ideal for filling awkward silences during first dates and preventing awkward outbursts during after-hours office outings.

Today's side deal slides your funny bone a tall, calcium-rich glass of milk. For $10, you get one ticket (a $20 value) to see acclaimed joke-jockey Marc Maron fling cutting witticisms and acerbic satire from the stage of MADCAP Theaters in Tempe. Arrive 30 minutes before the show to pick up your tickets at the will-call area.

At Stand-Up, Scottsdale! bellies ache from a rotating selection of nationally known comedians seen on Comedy Central and late-night talk shows. The intimate 180-person venue, where such local legends as David Spade got their start, beckons a cast of talented funny persons that changes regularly. Voted Best Comedy Club this year by Arizona Foothills magazine, the ha-ha hot spot has recently hosted performances by noted names including Dana Carvey, Frank Caliendo, and Norm Macdonald. With a recent appearance on Spike TV's "Bar Rescue," they now boost a full menu of pub-food appetizers and entrees keeps would-be hecklers otherwise occupied, and Wednesday evening open-mic nights allow rookie comics to test their mettle.

The Chaos Comedy Improv troupe spins lightning-quick thinking into tapestries of cachinnation during Saturday-night showcases of unscripted comedy. A vibrant, quick-witted cast evicts any lingering drama from the Dearing Acting Studio stage, giving audiences a reprieve from all non-laughing matters as they munch on house-popped popcorn. Upcoming performances vary wildly, as the troupe never plays the same show twice or forgets to wear random clothing found in a back alley. Fans of unadulterated imagination can rejoice that Chaos Comedy keeps the laughs family friendly.