photo by: Contributed and Journal-World Photos

Left to right: Nerd Nite, "Good Night, Lawrence!", "The Middle Tell."

In Card Table Theatre’s one-night comedy show “Good Night, Lawrence!” absolutely no one in the city is safe — not even the performers.

“We pride ourselves on being equal-opportunity satirists,” said Will Averill, a local playwright and co-artistic director of the group. “Nobody gets off easy, including ourselves.”

The group of funny people will take the stage Saturday at Maceli’s, and they’re hoping longtime townies will enjoy their act’s local flair.

Averill allowed me to hang out and watch some of the show’s rehearsal earlier this week, and I found myself unable to hold in my laughs. Those who have participated in the culture of Lawrence over the last 20 years will get a kick out of the many references only a true townie could understand.

Some sketches will clearly target members of the community for their actions that have filled the pages of this newspaper, while others will just be plain silly with no apparent reason whatsoever (you’ll see when the whole group begins singing about cotton balls). Also on the agenda: a puppet show spoofing Lawrence’s recent history and a stand-up set from Kansas City-based comedian Brock Wilbur. The event will be hosted by former local TV host Mike Anderson.

photo by: Dylan Lysen

Paul Rosen, left, and Jason Keezer rehearse lines for the puppet show portion of “Good Night, Lawrence!” The show aims to poke fun of the Lawrence community.

The show will be the first for Card Table Theatre in quite awhile. Members of the group, which originally produced the “Victor Continental Show” in Lawrence for many years, said they are happy to be back to producing local comedy for the Lawrence community. The group plans to have at least two more shows in the spring and the summer.

“The idea is to get back to the roots of what ‘Victor’ was,” Averill said. “There is not a lot of humor that is specifically dedicated to the community … We’re hoping to fill the cheeky, late-night (scene).”

Sarah Mathews, who performed in the “Victor” sketch shows for years, said she’s excited to be performing again and working on a new project with the group.

“It’s really funny and it’s the same quality as ‘Victor’ was,” she said. “I’m really just having a blast.”

Obviously, the comedians are older than they were in the “Victor” days, Averill said, but he believes the group has grown up with its audience.

“Everybody has kind of grown up, so it’s a little different show for a little different time,” he said.

The show begins at 9 p.m. Saturday at Maceli’s, 1031 New Hampshire St. Tickets are about $8 and can be purchased on the Maceli’s website.

Here’s what else you can go, see and do in the next week:

“The Middle Tell” puppet show

photo by: Ann Dean

Johanna Winters, a Minnesota printmaking artist currently serving a residency at Lawrence Arts Center, performs her shadow puppet show “The Middle Tell” during the 2018 Free State Festival in September.

It is apparently a great weekend for those interested in puppet shows.

Johanna Winters, a Minnesota printmaking artist currently doing a residency at the Lawrence Arts Center, will perform “The Middle Tell,” a shadow puppet show telling the story of three aging women who are reluctantly accepting their “deteriorating condition,” according to the Facebook event listing.

The female experience of aging is an “unheard account,” Winters wrote on her website.

“My work is both a dispatch of the anxieties I share with women about the shame, vanity, restraint, disappointment, and pleasure of aging, and a confrontation of the social conditioning that perpetuates the repression of female sexuality, empowerment, and agency,” she wrote.

Additionally, singer-songwriter Calvin Arsenia will provide a musical performance.

The show begins at 6 p.m. Friday at Replay Lounge, 946 Massachusetts St. Admission is $3.

Nerd Nite 78: “Bus Stop in the Name of Love”

photo by: Contributed photo

Nerd Nite 78 features stories of love and transportation. The informal lecture series begins 7 p.m. Jan. 9, 2019, at Maceli’s, 1031 New Hampshire St.

Nerd Nite returns this month with tales of love … and public transportation.

In this installment of the monthly lecture series, presenters will be discussing how public transit services are run, sharing fascinating and lesser-known information about sex and intimacy and diving into what makes a love song meaningful or misunderstood.

The event takes place at Maceli’s, 1031 New Hampshire St., on Wednesday. Doors open at 7 p.m. and presentations begin at 8 p.m. Admission is $1.

If you have an event you think I or the Lawrence community should know about, please send the information to me at dlysen@ljworld.com. To follow my event coverage and experiences, follow me on Twitter @DylanLysen.