Resident comedy nerd, humor-ologist, Tottenham fanboy and veteran Bridgetown attendee, Aaron Abrams, brings you his picks of the Bridgetown Comedy Festival week:
THURSDAY
Thursday presents quite the dilemma. Two great shows are happening simultaneously at 10 p.m. — Come Laugh With Us at the Bagdad Theatre, and the Pandora Comedy Radio All Stars show at the Hawthorne Theatre.
The Come Laugh With Us Show at the Bagdad includes the mightily talented Moshe Kasher, as well as Eliza Skinner and Karen Kilgariff. The Bagdad is a large venue that lends itself to bigger crowds. The Pandora Comedy Radio All Stars show is in the (charmingly?) divey Hawthorne Theater. It features local Portland talent, Ian Karmel, as well as Portland’s official boy made good, Matt Braunger. It even includes Laura Kightlinger (!) in the bill.
We’re not sure which one to choose. This one might need to be a game time decision.
Also, on Thursday, is the intriguing All Jane, No Dick show. This show spotlights talented women in comedy. It starts at 8 p.m. at the Eagle’s Lodge (which is worth the visit just for the portraits of past Eagles’ presidents and first ladies).
Lance Bangs Presents: Come Laugh With Us
Howard Kremer
Moshe Kasher
Karen Kilgariff
Lance Bangs
Emily Heller
Eliza Skinner
Pandora Comedy Radio All Stars
Matt Braunger
Laura Kightlinger
Baron Vaughn
Matt Kirshen
Andy Woodhull
Ian Karmel
Jim Hamilton
Ken Reid
All Jane, No Dick
Alice Wetterlund
Rylee Newton
Candy Lawrence
Heather Thomson
Stacey Hallal
Paige Weldon
Rhea Butcher
FRIDAY
If you can squeeze in to the tiny Bar of the Gods patio at 9 pm, it would be worth it just to see the charming Cameron Esposito, host of the new sci fi/fantasy podcast Wham Bam Pow!
If you missed Ian Karmel and Matt Braunger on Thursday, you can catch them at our favorite venue of the festival, the Mt. Tabor Theater at 9 pm. They are part of Mike Burns‘ showcase – the man behind the hilarious and surprisingly touching @DadBoner Twitter persona, You Guys.
Later that night is a show we are HIGHLY anticipating. At 11 pm, a stellar lineup of comedy talent will be performing in a glorious competition to crown the king and/or queen of erotic fan fiction at the Competitive Erotic Fan Fiction show. Kurt Braunholer will be a sure highlight, as will Adam Cayton-Holland, Bryan Cook, and Derek Sheen from Denver’s fantastic The Grawlix show.
How can you turn down erotic Chewbacca slashfic? IT ISN’T POSSIBLE TO DENY YOUR URGES.
BOG Primetime
Cameron Esposito
Cory Michaelis
Candy Lawrence
Elicia Sanchez
Heather Thomson
Albert Kirchner
T.J. Chambers
Dad Boner and Friends You Guys
Matt Braunger
Todd Glass
Mike Burns
Mike Bridenstine
Ian Karmel
Competitive Erotic Fan Fiction
Dana Gould
Kurt Braunohler
Adam Cayton-Holland
Eliza Skinner
Cameron Esposito
Geoff Lott
Ian Karmel
Andrew Orvedahl
Ben Roy
Bryan Cook
Derek Sheen
SATURDAY
How’s your hangover? You should drag your ass out of bed because Matt Selman, the Executive Producer of the goddamn Simpsons will be at the Bagdad at 2 pm. He co-wrote the frickin’ Simpsons movie ferchrissake, and has been writing for The Simpsons since 1997.
When improv comedy works, it works like some kind of miracle. The Theme Park crew is just shockingly good and have been a highlight of past Bridgetown festivals. Theme Park at Bridgetown includes the immensely talented Oscar Nuñez from The Office as well as Natasha Leggero. It starts at 7 pm at the Hawthorne Theater.
The CHAD Chats show at the Eagle’s Lodge starts at 9:30. Co-Produced by Whitney Streed and Mykle Hansen. CHAD Chats is dedicated to blowing your mind. Kind of like a TED talk, but without all that dumb science nonsense. It does feature Powerpoint, but used like it should — for laughing at it.
Reggie Watts is not to be missed, and the Imaginary Radio Program is just the place to see him, alongside other comics with a musical bent, like Karen Kilgariff. Reggie Watts’ incredible blend of music, comedy, and space/time bending is a great way to have your mind blown. The show starts at 11 pm at the Hawthorne theater.
An Early Afternoon with the Simpsons
Dana Gould (Moderator)
Matt Selman
Brian Kelley
Theme Park
Oscar Nunez
Janet Varney
Michael Hitchcock
Natasha Leggero
Ian Brennan
Cole Stratton
CHAD Chats
Megan Amram
LanceLife
David Dineen-Porter
Bryan Cook
Dax Jordan
Whitney Streed
Virginia Jones
Imaginary Radio Program With Drennon Davis
Reggie Watts
Peter Serafinowicz
Karen Kilgariff
Chip Pope
Paul Gilmartin
Drennon Davis
Nick Stargu
SUNDAY
If you’re still alive, alert, and functioning at this point, congratulations! Also, screw you! What?! Do you think you’re better than us?! If you’re like many festival attendees (and most of the comics), you have fried yourself on tall boys and 4 am food cart tacos, and most likely, shot whiskey out your nose while laughing. You are hopefully alive, but the alert and functioning part is a challenge.
Either way, you should check out beloved Portland Comic Ron Funches at the Bagdad Closing Show at 8 pm. He was just added to the festival lineup, and is making the trip up from Los Angeles where he recently moved.
Bagdad Closing Show
Reggie Watts
Matt Braunger
Myq Kaplan
Baron Vaughn
Matt Kirshen
Ron Funches
Alice Wetterlund
David Dineen-Porter
Phoebe Robinson
