Being stoned tends to complicate even the simplest tasks. That truism underlies one of the Comedy Underground’s most popular showcases. Occurring roughly once a month, The Dope Show features a rotating group of comics who perform one set sober and another as stoned as possible.

“You really don’t want to be the center of attention when you’re super-stoned,” says comedian Tyler Smith. “It can be kind of disastrous.” Smith helped found the event and hosts each one stone-cold sober, a rarity for someone who happily describes himself as “the marijuana comic of Seattle.” He is the only constant from one show to the next—along with the copious amounts of weed smoked by performers and audiences alike between sets.

The sets are split in two, so everyone can use the intermission to get as high as a kite being flown from the top of the Columbia Center. The hazy intermission takes place at least 25 feet from the venue for legal purposes, where crowds mingle and light up with the comedians. This month’s show features local favorite Jim Stewart Allen, whom Smith likens to a “camp counselor” who almost never smokes.

Once the comedians retake the stage, there’s no telling how the lingering effects of paranoia or forgetfulness might alter the remainder of their sets. It may be disastrous, but it’s bound to be entertaining too. The Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., 628-0303, comedy underground.com. $12. 21 and over. 8 p.m. Thurs., March 24.