Rare Birds & Rogue Elephants
Oh, College.
It's all fun and games until someone has to take a test. College Misericordia in Dallas will give its students (as well anyone who decides to pop in) a Saturday-night study break when it presents a couple of improv comedy groups from the big city.

It just so happens that Philadelphia's Rare Bird Show and the New York City-based Rogue Elephant both boast members hailing from Northeast Pa. Yep, apparently you can take Matt Holmes of Rare Bird Show out of Mountain Top but you can't take the Bear Creek out of Rogue Elephant's Nate Smith. The two decided to bring their respective groups to the region after meeting and realizing their common roots.

It was while training at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in the late '90s that Smith met his fellow Rogue Elephant friends. The funny folks have also incited laughter in Philadelphia and Chicago and continue to perform at UCB periodically. Most spectacularly, Rogue Elephant can boast a two-year run of its trademark Friday-night show at Under St. Marks Theater.

The Rare Bird Show has connections to the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre too, having appeared in the annual Del Close Marathon at the institution. The tickling trio has also been seen in the Philadelphia Fringe Festival and the Dirty South Improv Festival in Chapel Hill, N.C., and has toured the college circuit in Baltimore, New York, Delaware, and the greater Washington, D.C. area.