It's time to forget all previous misconceptions of sketch comedy.

Let all thoughts of Saturday Night Live and MAD TV fly out the window as No Refund Theatre (NRT) brings the cult-classic comedy of Mr. Show to a live audience. At 8 p.m. tomorrow and Saturday, NRT will present select sketches from the late-'90s HBO series on the stage of 111 Forum.

The stage adaptation is the brainchild of director Dan Hopper (junior-theatre), a self-professed "huge fan" of the television show. Hopper said trying to preserve the show's comic brilliance in this stage version was a great challenge.

"We try to do it in a way where we weren't necessarily imitating the show, but also not taking any liberties," he said, noting that the sketches had a big influence on him as a writer.

As a mastermind behind the recent Phroth Phest 2004, Hopper clearly enjoys working with this genre.

Episodes of Mr. Show, which ran for four seasons on HBO, were performed live and taped in front of an audience, so a decent amount of material was fairly easy to accommodate to the stage, Hopper explained.

"The thing about Mr. Show is that it's funny when you see it for the first time, but the 10th time you see it, it really is funnier," he said. "People should come both nights."

Co-director Kasey Soska (junior-psychology) noted that this particular NRT production offers a "very absurd sort of humor" achieved with uproarious situations.

"This show is hilarious," he said. "It's got a lot of moxie and pizzazz."

Soska explained that Mr. Show has widespread appeal due to the variety of sketches and abundance of jokes; also, the audience does not have to worry about character development or "that whole plot thing."

Although audiences overflowed into Phroth Phest just a few weeks ago, Hopper said Mr. Show presents a different level of comedy, not regurgitated jokes, and a second trip to the Forum for outlandish humor will be well worth it.

"I think these sketches are a little more grown up," Hopper said. "It will expose you to something that I think is probably the best sketch comedy show on television."

"It's just on such a high intelligence level," he added.

As one of only two females in the cast, actress Julia Hynes (junior-women's studies and sociology) said the hysterical rehearsals bode well for the performance.

"A lot of people think Dan Hopper is a comic genius, so they'll want to come see this," she said.

Aside from the guaranteed hijinks, Soska said the show's setup is audience-friendly because one does not have to be knowledgeable about theater to enjoy sketch comedy. Also, the short length of the sketches complements weak attention spans.

Hynes said she is confident that people will find pleasure in something new and crazy.

"The average college student will think it's really funny and will definitely enjoy it," she said.

However, she also realized that this sense of humor may not appeal to everyone.

"My parents, on the other hand, I'm really worried about," she added. "And it's probably not good for young kids."

For anyone else though, Hopper said it promises to be a great show, and people definitely do not have to be familiar with the original television version.

"Fans will appreciate it, but I think if you've never seen if before it might be even better," he said.