The comedy boat is about to drop anchor in Hammond, specifically the port known as Towle Theater.

Deckhands include Reneé "Kamikaze" Reyburn, Eric "Beard" Talbot and Steven "Angel Hair" Saltsman.

Every ship needs a captain, so ahoy to Kyle "Sweet Speak" DeJute, whose main job is said to be "Pirate-to-English" translation.

They're the Ship of Fools -- docked in Lafayette as Purdue University's official improvisational comedy student organization.

The eight-to-12 member performing troupe, made up of members of all majors, from freshmen to graduate students, makes its second annual appearance at the Towle tomorrow night, bringing with it a brand of improv comedy "based solely on audience suggestions."

"Expect the unexpected, expect to interact," Reyburn said.

"We thrive on an energetic crowd."

The Ship's shows are different each and every time, Reyburn said, and they typically play short-form improvisation games similar to those featured on the TV shows "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" and "Thank God You're Here."

Reyburn, a senior double-majoring in psychology and philosophy, remembers the troupe's inaugural visit to the Towle last winter when a last-minute snowstorm made a cancellation look imminent.

Not so.

"We made it, and it turned out to be an awesome show," Reyburn said.

"The residents of Hammond and the surrounding areas don't let a little bit of winter weather stop them from having a good time."

Hammond is the hometown of "Fool" alumnus Alex Semchuck, who during his tenure as the Ship's communications officer, sent the Towle an e-mail letting them know they were available for a road show. Towle sent the troupe an immediate and favorable response.

"After the show it was joked that this should be an annual thing, and sure enough, late last year we received a return invitation," Reyburn said.

In addition to Towle, the troupe has road-tripped to as far as Oxford, Ohio, but most of the time they can be found doing shows on the Purdue campus and the surrounding Lafayette area.

When troupe members graduate, they are "forever immortalized in the Ship's memory.

"Tales are spun, truths stretched, talents remembered," Reyburn said.

"Men become myths in a tangled, but glorious web of honor."

Alumni often come back to visit, either on Friday nights or to shows, occasionally rejoining the troupe on stage for performances (Semchuck rejoins the Ship at Towle).

"Some have gone on to other states, but we tend to keep in contact and always live in hope they will one day return," Reyburn said.

So, would the campus of Purdue become less funny without the Ship? Most definitely, according to Reyburn.

"If the troupe were not in existence I imagine that individually we'd all be cutting up somewhere, but by our powers combined, we can emit more funny," she said.

"I believe that the sum is greater than its parts in this case."