Improv's Electoral Collage

Another election season, another near-archaeological dig for disgruntled former associates, business deals gone awry and long-forgotten hotel-room hanky-panky -- and at the end of it, for better or worse, another president of the United States.

Washington Improv Theater's second edition of "POTUS Among Us," opening tomorrow, mines the tragicomic qualities of presidential elections as it offers a sort of funhouse-mirror version of the campaign process. Each performance lasts about an hour, with a different result every time.

The show begins with five archetypal candidates (the maverick, the wide-eyed neophyte, the single-issue guy, etc.) throwing their hats into the ring and presenting platforms to launch their campaigns.

The catch: The audience decides what causes the candidates will champion. Some theatergoers will be canvassed as they enter and, based on their responses about the real issues, the actors will get their stump assignments just moments before the show. (Imagine, a District resident might actually be able to influence the outcome of a national election . . .)

Whether the issue is parking tickets or abolishing all stupid laws (easily read as: "the end of Big Government"), the candidates stick to their positions -- lest they be called flip-floppers -- in hopes of going all the way to the White House.

What you won't see are sendups of Sarah Palin or Barack Obama or anyone else actually running for office in 2008. Rather, the shows will stick to the recurring themes in politics -- you know, tabloid exposés, Sunday-morning roundtables dissecting candidates' every move, and, um, surprising vice-presidential selections.

The show, the main program of a slate of WIT politically inspired performances, opens tomorrow at Source. $15. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through Sept. 27. Source, 1835 14th St. NW. 202-315-1305 or 866-811-4111 or get tickets in advance through http://www.washingtonimprovtheater.com.

SAVE THE DATE

FOR KIDS Boo at the Zoo May the pandemonium begin: The Friends of the National Zoo's perennially sold-out event has been announced, and it's set for Oct. 23-26, which means Washington area parents have one additional day to take their little precious. Kids ages 2 to 12 (but really, it's better for the young ones) dress in their costumes and spend the evening at the zoo, which is decorated and hosts keeper talks and more than 40 snack stations boasting candy and other sugar-coma-inducing treats. Tickets just went on sale to the general public (don't wait to get them; this is one of the fall's hottest tickets). $25, which covers food, crafts and entertainment (kids younger than 2 are free and don't need tickets). 5:30-8:30 p.m. each day, Oct. 23-26. 3001 Connecticut Ave. NW. Get tickets through Ticketmaster, 202-397-7328, or save fees and get them in person at the zoo visitor center front desk from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Visit http://nationalzoo.si.edu/activitiesandevents/celebrations/boo/default.cfm.

CONCERT Common and N.E.R.D. It seems odd to pair Common, whose trajectory has been increasingly commercial, with the infinitely experimental rock-rap act of Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo and Shay Haley. But it makes plenty of sense when you consider Common has long been seen as the sage of rhyme, more poet than rapper (even Jay-Z famously rapped, "Truthfully, I wanna rhyme like Common Sense"); and N.E.R.D. is musically what Common is to the lyric: always on the fringe, but greatly respected. In addition to dates each will play separately, they are on a tour together that will bring them to Rams Head Live in Baltimore on Oct. 6. $37; $40 at the door. 20 Market Pl., Baltimore. Get tickets at http://tickets.ramsheadlive.com.

EXHIBIT "Richard Avedon: Portraits of Power" Avedon is iconic for his role as a fashion photographer for Harper's Bazaar, Vogue and plenty of advertising campaigns. But he also took on varied assignments, including a Rolling Stone series in the mid-1970s that had him capturing portraits of 69 people in the political system. And he died in 2004 in the midst of a project for the New Yorker in which he was shooting Americans (politicians as well as non) as the election approached; the work was published by the magazine under the heading "Democracy." The Corcoran Gallery of Art gathers about 250 photos -- some never published or exhibited, some from "Democracy" and the Rolling Stone project, called "The Family" -- for "Portraits of Power," a retrospective of Avedon's political and "power" portraiture that opens Sept. 13. $14; seniors and military, $12; students, $10. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays-Sundays; 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Thursdays. Sept. 13-Jan. 25. 500 17th St. NW. 202-639-1700.

THE DISTRICT