If you begin a night out this weekend with laughter, chances are your good mood will carry through the evening.

This collegiate wisdom comes from John Baer (senior-speech communication).

Baer is one of the performers for "Don't Adjust Your Set," a presentation of the University Readers of the department of speech communication. The performance is one that will make the audience laugh "from the very first line," he said.

"Don't Adjust Your Set" belongs to a genre of performance art called Readers' Theatre, storytelling performances of written works. Readers' Theatre is different from traditional theater in that the performers keep their scripts in hand and direct their speech to set points in the audience, rather than speaking to one another.

The result is a show that is similar to radio drama, and one that is "great stimulation for your imagination," said Tony Lentz, assistant professor of speech communication.

Unlike a traditional theater performance with full costumes and gestures, Readers' Theatre performers do not engage in the realism one might see in a play.

"The audience has to fill in the blanks," Lentz said.

Upon mention of the history of Readers' Theatre, Lentz produces an old scrapbook that documents University Readers performances that date as far back as from 1940.

Yellowing handwritten announcements, black and white photographs and piles of typed programs fill the book with rich tradition.

Readers' Theatre has "been around for a long time," he said.

"Don't Adjust Your Set" will be a performance of a fantasy story, entitled "A Case of the Stubborns," by Robert Bloch, in which an old stubborn man will not accept that he is dead and continues to go about his day.

Sonya George (senior-journalism) is directing the performance.

"Not a lot of people know what Readers' Theatre is," she explained.

The performance this weekend will provide a good taste of Readers' Theatre, she said, and a chance to see a very humorous show.

"Don't Adjust Your Set" will be performed at 8 p.m. today and tomorrow in 112 Kern Auditorium. Admission is free.