(Scroll down to read the reviews)

Non-biased. Non-partisan. Non-dumb.

WHAT: A presidential election in 90 minutes, where YOU vote for the President.

WHERE: 5510 University Way, Seattle (map)

WHEN: Thursdays and Fridays at 8pm. September 4-19 and October 2-24. There will also be a special Election Night show Tuesday, November 4th at 8pm.

IS THIS IMPROV, OR A PLAY? Yes! It is a fully UNscripted play.

HOW DO I GET TICKETS? Tickets are available at the door starting one half hour before showtime or you can purchase them online here. THURSDAYS ONLY: Show your Voter Registration Card at the box office and get $2 off of general admission or $1 off of student admission.

CAN MY KIDS COME TO THIS SHOW? Yes.

WHAT IF I WANT TO BRING A GROUP? Contact us at info@jetcityimprov.com.

Tired of lying politicians? Get revenge with Election Show 2008.

Election Show 2008 is a completely improvised election where the audience votes to choose the winner! Follow the candidates though a brutal primary, debates, attack ads and scandals all based on audience suggestions. The show features no real political issues (no war, taxes, etc.), candidates or parties. We use our own candidates, issues, political parties and candidate platforms, all chosen by the audience. If one candidate promises to shorten the workday from eight hours to four, while the other promises to create a new branch of the military comprised entirely of ninjas, the people’s will rules.

Election Show 2008 has been featured on Northwest Cable News, 710 KIRO, KONG TV, NPR and was a Seattle PI Fall Arts Guide Pick in 2004. The show has represented Seattle at comedy festivals in Chicago, San Francisco, Phoenix, Austin, Toronto and Minneapolis, and recently performed for The Seattle Rep’s Patriot Acts.

Election Show 2008 is created and directed by John Boyle and Douglas S. Willott, and features Jon Axell (Time Quest), John Boyle (Train of Thought), Mike Christensen (Twisted Flicks), Lori Lee Haener (Haener vs Haener), Sean Patella-Buckley (Breaking News), Ben Piper, Jen Rizor (Hogwash), Justin Sund (Cupcake) and Douglas S. Willott (Lease: Seattle's Own Rock Opera).

Election Show 2008 is brought to you by Wing-It Productions and sponsored in part by 4 Culture, Artsfund, Boeing, the Mayor's Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs and the Washington State Arts Commission.

Seattle Weekly:
Wing-It’s election show returns with a vengeance as incumbent President Jon Axell and his competitors, John Boyle, Jen Rizor, and Justin Sund, battle it out to determine who will best lead the country while trying (in vain) to sound more ridiculous than Rudy Giuliani. Rather than satirizing the current presidential candidates, Election Show 2008 aims to expose the folly of politics in general; the Democrats and the Republicans have been replaced by the Whig Party and the Bull Moose Party. Based on whimsical suggestions from the audience, the candidates discuss the issues near and dear to their hearts, such as giant squids. Meanwhile, mature political commentators Sean Patella-Buckley and Lori Lee Haener analyze the candidates’ every move while sticking their tongues out at each other. It’s a winning formula, due in no small part to Douglas Willott, the co-director as well as the nonpartisan, nonbiased moderator. He’s the perfect straight man, foregoing laughs in favor of setting them up for everyone else. (“Mr. President, on a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate the country’s progress?” “A+.”) BRENT ARONOWITZ

Seattle P-I (The BIG Blog):
Sick of politics? See the "Election Show"
    If you're tired of all the political ranting on TV in the run-up to the big November election, you might be interested in some comedy theater that's about to hit the Emerald City.
    It's called Election Show 2008. Though the show first made a run through Seattle back in 2004, it's still fresh because so little has changed in the world of politics, says John Boyle, co-creator and director with Douglas S. Willott.
     Instead of mocking the real candidates, the Election Show satirizes everything about the American election cycle. It's non-partisan improvisational theater where actors pretend to be batty candidates with strange positions.
    Every show is different because audience members can participate in debates and are allowed to pose the "candidates" questions.
     At the end, they get to vote for a winner.
    Since the Election Show got its start four years ago it has gone on a tour around the nation but now it's back in Seattle for a time. Then it will be retired until our next election cycle, Boyle says.
     "This is a show that everyone is going to relate to, Republican or Democrat," Boyle says. MOISES MENDOZA

The Seatle P-I:
To people on Mars, American presidential campaign politics must be hilarious. War, deaths, deficit, health care, jobs, abortion, gay rights, global warming and pollution -- what do they matter if you live 48.6 million miles from Washington, D.C.?
    But the posturing and sliming, the hypocrisy and lying of campaigning -- from a safe distance they could seem absolutely ludicrous. At the Historic University Theatre, a safe distance is simulated for about 90 minutes in "Election Show 2004." Eight improv comics zip through the antics of campaigns, conventions and debates without the odious intrusion of life-and-death issues.
     The show is sometimes hilarious and sometimes lame, which is usually the case with even the best of improv. A unique virtue, however, is that "Election Show 2004" provides non-partisan revenge on the trivialization of public life. It has all of the idiocy and none of the tragedy of our real-life election show 2004.
    Pollsters pass through the audience early on, feeling the pulse of the electorate. They probe concerns and unearth frustrations. They make it clear that only absurd concerns and frustrations are in order.
    This past Thursday night, the theater populace wanted its highest elected official to do something about the thunder that scares pets, the complications of the periodic table of the elements that make it hard to get good grades in chemistry classes, the difficulty of crossing streets and the curse of lethargy.
    The incumbent, played by a smooth yet cocky John Boyle, made lethargy the chief issue in his platform, promising to eradicate it with universally available Royal Crown Cola and other "sugary drinks."
    Vying for the out-of-office party's nomination were three hopefuls. Each took on one of the remaining pressing issues: bad weather, bad chemical elements and bad luck in crossing streets. Then came the sentimental meet-the-candidate ads. Then came the attack ads. The front-running challenger had to deal with a scandal concocted through audience suggestions. Then came the debates, with audience members and "representatives of the press" asking searching questions.
    Then came the elections, first the primaries, then the big finale. An ever-unctuous Douglas Willott moderates proceedings. An ever-fatuous Mike Christiansen provides pundit commentary.
    The cast members have conscientiously steeped themselves in the mannerisms and the mendacity of campaign culture. It really is refreshing to laugh at the politics of absurdity without being appalled by dismaying issues. Vote counts don't matter. Satire wins big. JOE ADCOCK