These Clowns …

MON 10/13

Comedy as we know it teeters on the precarious relationships of people who would hate each other if they didn’t love each other: Akbar and Jeff, Bart and Lisa, Cousin Larry and Cousin Balky Bartokomous. Kapoot Clown Theater capitalizes on that same basic relationship, only with mime. Now, we know what you’re thinking. Mime: Who needs it? Well, maybe you do, and you don’t even know it yet. These guys take their cues from Native American clowns, who traditionally used the humor of clowning to shame wayward tribesmen into rectifying their behavior — so be warned that the audience is not sacred, and a spectator may well find himself transformed, in an instant, from mocker to mockee. Kapoot Clowns also bring elements of European, postmodern clowning and performance art into their shows. It’s so impressive that it almost doesn’t make sense.

This week starts with a workshop with the original duo of Dan Griffiths and Stephen Chipps as well as new member Jim Williams. That takes place at 7 p.m. Monday at the Just Off Broadway Theater, 3051 Central. The troupe performs next Friday and Sunday. For details, call 816-753-0517.— Gina Kaufmann

Houston, You/We Have a Problem

10/10-10/11

With Full Frontal Comedy’s shows at the Chestnut Fine Arts Center (234 North Chestnut Street in Olathe), the skilled comedy improv group — which never fails either to provoke laughs or, with equal aplomb, go down trying — is roasting all the scarier elements of the season, titling its show Witches, Warlocks and Whitney Houston. Founder Tina Morrison says of the title, “We were looking for something evil, and we like alliteration, so it was Whitney Houston, who’s skinny and scary.” Morrison adds that the troupe is getting away from semiscripted sketches in favor of more impromptu games based on audience tips. “We now have five different formats, so every show is truly different,” she says. Call 913-403-4340 for reservations.— Steve Walker

Glass Act

10/9-10/12

Dealing with family members can be tough, no matter how much we say we love them. That’s why it’s good sometimes to see people with more frightening families than your own. You can gain perspective from one evening with the Glass Menagerie‘s Wingfield family. Tennessee Williams wrote the play based on his experiences working in a shoe factory and taking care of his spoiled mother and shut-in sister after his father abandoned the family. The Rockhurst University Theater presents the Glass Menagerie at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and at 2 p.m. Sunday in Sedgwick Hall’s Mabee Theater. Rockhurst University is at 1100 Rockhurst Road; for details, call 816-501-4828.— Michael Vennard