Silly accents, celebrity impressions and witty comebacks will fly back and forth between two clubs this evening in an improv comedy battle.

The showdown, called Bragging Rights, is a competition between Improv Club and Shakespeare Club that will take place Jan. 13 at 7 p.m. in the WAUD. Senior Ian Berry, the Improv Club president, came up with the idea after club members expressed interest in having a performance to showcase their talents.

“I didn’t want to throw them into their own performance immediately, plus I thought this would be more fun,” Berry said. “There’s never been anything like this before.”

The competition will include improvisation games both Shakespeare Club and Improv Club have experience with. Each club will have a chance on stage to play the games, and after every round, judges will score each performance out of 30 points. At the end of the night, the club with the most points will claim its “bragging rights.”

One round of the competition will be a game called “Film Noir,” in which a chosen actor must solve mysteries, interact with different characters and come up with speeches as if they are in an old detective movie.

Other games will include “Scenes From a Hat,” “Hollywood Director” and “Props,” which fans of the show “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” will recognize.

Sophomore Phoebe Christofides, a Shakespeare Club member, said she thinks her club has a chance at winning the battle.

“Shakespeare actors are known for being totally by the book, but we do a lot of improvisation during our shows and in rehearsals,” Christofides said. “We’re also very confident with our acting since we just finished a performance last month.”

Both groups are preparing for the battle by playing different improv games and learning about the basic rules and standards of improvisation.

Audience participation, like volunteering ideas for certain games, will also factor into the competition, Berry said, and he hopes many people attend the competition to support the actors from both groups and to have a fun time.

“Hopefully, we can continue Bragging Rights as an annual event and compete with other clubs and groups around the school,” Berry said. “I’d like to make it something big and established at Whitman, but first we need people to show up.”

Bragging Rights is today, Jan. 13, from 7 to 10 p.m. in the WAUD. Tickets are $5. Please bring canned food donations.