WHAT: A show about your cherished holiday memories, from the point of view of our own Uncle Mike.

WHERE: 5510 University Way, Seattle (map)

WHEN: Saturdays at midnight:30 Nov 17 - December 22

IS THIS IMPROV, OR A PLAY? Yes! It is an unscripted, hour-long theatrical production.

HOW DO I GET TICKETS? Tickets are available at the door starting one half hour before showtime.

CAN MY KIDS COME TO THIS SHOW? We do not turn away anyone, but keep in mind the show will contain adult material.

WHAT IF I WANT TO BRING A GROUP? Contact us here.

Uncle Mike Ruins Christmas begins as a typically cheery and annoying holiday show. The performers solicit favorite holiday anecdotes from the audience and begin to retell the stories.

And then Uncle Mike shows up and ruins everything.

The cast features Suaves Douglas Willott and Ian Schempp, as well as several other Jet City Improv company members. Uncle Mike is played by the irreverent Mike Murphy - a large, bearded, brash new addition to the Wing-It family.

"Mike Murphy is one of the most unintentionally and intentionally funny performers I've ever met," says director Douglas Willott. "When he sets out to ruin Christmas, he succeeds with off-the-wall hysterical (and depraved) results."

Uncle Mike Ruins Christmas is another in a string of uber-hit late-night production from Wing-It. Performances are Saturdays at Midnight:30, November 17th - December 22nd. All shows are at the Historic University Theater (HUT) located at 5510 University Way NE. Tickets are $8 and only available at the HUT box office.

Wing-It Productions is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to enlightening, educating and entertaining audiences of all ages by producing theatrical events which explore theater by utilizing its improvisational roots.

"Christmas is holy, a time for beloved families and friends to gather in front of the yule log and reminisce about holidays past as they sip eggnog and - stop! When you get through choking on that nog, why don't you take that crackling log and shove it where the sun don't shine, because Christmas is nothing if not a Norman Rockwell treacle-fest ready to be defiled and violated. Or so say the young comedians of Jet City Improv, whose current midnight show, Uncle Mike Ruins Christmas, takes all that's warm and fuzzy about the season and turns it into a foul, perverted, and often funny satire of family dysfunction not for those who hold the holidays overly sacred. Imagine the suburban skewerings of John Waters and the taboo transgressions of Lenny Bruce crossed with the spontaneous shtick of Second City Improv, and you begin to get an idea of what Jet City's up to. The skits are hit or miss, but the troupe's spirit and energy are undeniable, making this midnight show a good diversion for Scrooges and Grinches alike.

"As audience members enter the theater, they're asked to scrawl their favorite holiday memories on scraps of paper. An emcee reads them out loud, and the cast (Keli Carender, Nick Edwards, Mike Murphy, Geoff Nunn, Ian Schempp, and Stephani Thompson) re-creates the reminiscences on the spot. At some point during the sketch, the titular Uncle Mike, played by the hirsute, lumberjack-resembling Murphy, intrudes like a bad dream, not only ruining Christmas but savaging everything in sight. Typically, Uncle Mike's shenanigans involve lots of drinking and yelling and the assertion of deeply disturbing and dark-tinged sexuality.

"The real pleasure of this show, directed by Douglas Willott, is in seeing exactly how Murphy will wreak havoc on this delicate nostalgia; he's quick on his feet, with a wicked glint in his eye and a mischievous smile that draws you in despite his character's broad and destructive vulgarity. Even those of strong constitution may find the show's overload of bad faith a little hard to take, though at just an hour it's all over rather quickly. As an antidote to the prefab Hallmark sentiments omnipresent this time of year, Uncle Mike Ruins Christmas provides the necessary short, sharp shock, with a few guilty laughs thrown in for good measure. 'Tis the season." -- Richard Morin