This is flying without a net. Or at least with just a small net. When comedian Paula Poundstone does a live show, she usually improvises a third of it.

She'll start chatting with someone in the audience - maybe a basic "What do you do for a living?" kind of question - and then will spin off into uncharted humor territory.

Poundstone recently told the Los Angeles Daily News, "Improvise always sounds like such a highfalutin word," but that's exactly what she does and does so well. It's why NPR loves having her on "Wait ... Wait ... Don't Tell Me" and why talk show hosts like Craig Ferguson bring her back again and again.

Poundstone has developed her inimitable comic style for more than three decades, and she'll be returning to the Garde Arts Center for a show Friday. You never know what she'll riff on - kids? cats? junk food? - but you can count on her staying after the show to meet her fans.

- KRISTINA DORSEY

Paula Poundstone, 8 p.m. Friday, Garde Arts Center, 325 State St., New London; $25-$40; (860) 444-7373, gardearts.org.