Whether it’s Quantrill’s Raid or a Jayhawks vs. Tigers basketball game, the clash between Kansas and Missouri is rarely a laughing matter.

Hopefully, that will change this Saturday when the border war is fought onstage by members of Improv-Abilities, a Kansas City-based comedy troupe that structures its shows around audience suggestions and/or volunteers.

“It’s real Kansas people versus real Missouri people,” says Improv-Abilities co-director Tim Marks. “I think we Kansas people might have the edge in terms of crowd support, but it will be fun either way. I think we will have to swear in the audience to be honest with their applause.”

Of the seven members participating, Marks is one of three who are former KU students. The other four hail from either the University of Missouri or University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Marks says the group hopes to take advantage of the energetic football atmosphere this weekend. The show will be performed at the somewhat unlikely venue of Vermont Street Barbecue, 728 Mass, at 10 p.m. Saturday. Admission is $8.

“I try to wait until afterward to eat so that I’m not slowed down,” says Marks, a 1994 KU journalism grad.

Improv-Abilities formed in 2000. Similar to the TV show “Whose Line Is It Anyway?,” the cast recruits its concepts for games or scenes directly from the audience. At Saturday’s show, one team will get a shot at a topic, then the other team will try to top that. Those in attendance judge the results.

Marks adds, “I think we’re better actors than a lot of troupes that just go out there and try to do the quick gimmicks and jokes they’ve done 10 times before.”