Out of Bounds Pick: 88improv

“Clean comedy.” Kind of sends shivers down your spine, huh? Calls to mind visions of bad church retreat entertainment, or maybe ready-for-primetime yucksters mugging their way through bits sanitized of all laughter? While Omaha, Nebraska’s 88improv flies under the flag of “Smart. Clean. Comedy!,” the group proves that clean comedy doesn’t have to equal lame comedy.

In five years of performing, 88improv has developed a wide repertoire that includes short-form games, unscripted musicals, short films, and even corporate presentations featuring troupe co-founder Nate Schoenfeld as Les B. Starkley, a blow-hard, know-nothing consultant with a gambling problem. Hey, if crippling addictions aren’t off-limits, perhaps there’s hope yet for this clean comedy business.

88improv performs with Unexpected Company, this Friday at 8 p.m. on the Salvage Vanguard "Apples" Stage.