Arts and Entertainment

Portland’s vibrant comedy scene creating stars and offering high quality entertainment for cheap

Charlie Craft
December 19, 2012

For a city of only 593,820, it’s impressive that Portland has one of the largest and most dynamic comedy scenes of any city in the country outside of Los Angeles and New York City. Portland has it’s own comedy festival, two comedy clubs, two comedy theaters, a monthly showcase series and countless open mic nights, where anyone can try their hand at stand up. Because many of these shows are open to all ages, and most are very inexpensive, if not free, they are a great option for the bored West Linn High School student on break.

The two premiere all-ages comedy venues in Portland are the Curious Comedy Theater, located at 5225 NE Martin Luther King Boulevard, and the Brody Theater, located at 16 NW Broadway. These theaters both offer not only a plethora of live sketch, improv and standup comedy but also a wide variety of classes to learn these same disciplines.

With a few shows each week ranging from free to $10 for admission these two theaters are great options for the avid live comedy fan or someone just looking for something to do. For those looking for a higher caliber of show, the monthly showcase series “Funny Over Everything” at the Hollywood Theatre, located at 4122 Northeast Sandy Boulevard, has hosted some nationally recognized comedians and always features the best in home-grown comics.

The next show in this series, on Dec. 28, will feature Portland natives Matt Braunger and Ron Funches. Braunger, the best known still-active comedian from Portland, has released two stand up albums and his credits include MadTV, The Tonight Show with David Letterman, Conan, Up All Night and many more. Funches’s credits include Conan, Portlandia, and Esquire’s list of the best new comedians of 2012. Funches, truly a comedian of the Portland scene, moved to Los Angeles over the summer to launch the next level of his career. With a price of just $8 for students, this show is well worth a night of winter break.

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About the Contributor

Charlie Craft, Arts and Culture Editor

Hand-delivering a golden owl to one of your heroes may seem like an impossible dream, but for Charlie Craft, senior, this is a dream come true. Craft’s favorite band, My Morning Jacket, announced a tour before his recent trip to Japan in the summer of 2012. Knowing the band has an obsession with owls and bears, he made it his personal goal to find an item to give to the band. While scouring various markets in Tokyo, Kobe and Osaka, Japan, Craft found the perfect golden owl. Craft was luckily able to obtain sound-check tickets where he met the singer, Jim James. After briefly talking, he handed James the owl and in return, received an owl of his own. Star-struck, he could do nothing but say “thank you.”

“Owls are my favorite animal,” Craft said, “Because they look funny and are silent killers.”

For now, Craft has to worry about repaying his parents for his Japan trip. Craft works at Bellagio’s Pizza where he is a self-proclaimed “Pizza Insider.”

“A Pizza Insider does everything short of delivering pizzas,” Craft said.

Being stuck in a terrible job is Craft's greatest fear, which is not the current case. Craft plans to work at Bellagio’s until college. He hopes to attend the University of Oregon, ideally majoring in media studies but he admits it could change at any moment.

The college search process has been “weighing down on” him for a while and Craft is ready to finalize his future plans. Until then, he plans on protecting his coveted owl from his three cats and golden retriever and also “loving” his cat Curry.