In 1997, Four Day Weekend was a little-known improvisational comedy troupe attracting a handful of curious onlookers while scrambling for stage time after evening performances of Forever Plaid at the now-defunct Casa on the Square. Their initial run was scheduled for six weeks.

Six years later, the troupe has created a cottage comedy empire, expanding to four shows a week, offering a training center for would-be improv comics, creating a corporate communications division for private shows, branching into film and television projects, and touring nationally -- all while continuing to perform to sold-out houses.

And sitting calmly in the eye of this hurricane of activity is David Wilk, one of the troupe's founding members (along with David Ahearn and Frank Ford). Onstage he's the rock, the guy you can always depend on to make you look good even if a sketch is going nowhere. Offstage, he's the consummate business man, keeping one eye on the bottom line and the other on the horizon -- exploring new opportunities while making sure the ship stays on course.

"When we first started, we couldn't wait to get up there and perform," he says. "But this thing has grown. This thing is a monster, and the monster constantly says, 'Feed me.' Now the show is only about 10-15 percent of what we do. But going out there and becoming someone else, I still live for that."

Some of the faces have changed -- the lineup has shuffled (Oliver Tull now rounds out the cast), and the show is on its third musical director, the nimble-fingered, aptly named Ray Sharp. The digs have improved -- the Weekenders upgraded to the former Caravan of Dreams' 212-seat theater, redubbing it the Four Day Weekend Theater. A few weeks ago, they opened the Encore Lounge, transforming a musty former ballet rehearsal room into a hip, atmospheric hangout to chill with a beverage before the show.

But the constant remains the audiences, and the group's loyal fan base is something Wilk says has been crucial in keeping Four Day Weekend firmly planted in Cowtown -- no small feat, considering most of the members pursue acting roles in commercials and independent features and they all live in Dallas.

With the opportunity to pull up stakes and make for either of the more actor-friendly coasts, Wilk says that once they realized they would struggle to reach the same success they've achieved here, the choice was clear. "Our ceiling is lower -- we're not going to be discovered tomorrow in Fort Worth. But our floor is higher -- none of us are going to be evicted tomorrow, either."

Saturday's shows will offer a smorgasbord of material old and new as each will be filmed for a TV pilot scheduled to premiere on Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban's HDNet, a high-definition channel on DirectTV and Charter Communications. With cameras both in front of and behind the curtain, it also offers a rare look at the antics involved in creating a live, multi-media, off-the-cuff performance.