Improv theater can be traced back to World War II, when bombed-out theaters forced comedians to do improvised routines on makeshift stages at friends' homes atop 55-gallon drums, or inside haylofts for stoic cows. Appreciate dramatic ingenuity with today’s Groupon: for $20, you get an all-festival pass to the Duke City Improv Festival show at The Box Performance Space. Festival performances run Friday and Saturday nights on June 3, 4, 10, and 11, with a variety of performances each night.

The Duke City Improv Festival welcomes 13 comedy acts, from local performers to visiting teams from Chicago, Phoenix, and Oklahoma. Support The Gryffindorks, Albuquerque's longest-running improv team, or indulge sadistic funny bones with Stretchin' It, an adult-oriented troupe from Oklahoma City that employs media and song to entertain and offend in equal measure. Three different groups from Phoenix battle for back-home bragging rights and to determine who will perform at halftime of the next Super Bowl, and the local laugh-lobbers from No Holds Bard improvise their way through "forgotten" Shakespearean texts. Frosty brews from the nearby Tractor Brewing Company grease gullets on Saturday nights, and a slate of improv-enhancing workshops are available for an additional $15 each.