The Bridgetown Comedy Festival is a

stand-up comedy Stand-up comedy is a comedy, comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of One-line joke ...

festival located in the Hawthorne district of

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

that took place every spring from 2008 to 2017, featuring standup comedy showcases, live podcasts, panel discussions and improv comedy. It was created in October 2007 by comedians Andy Wood and

Matt Braunger Matthew Braunger (born August 1, 1974) is an American actor, writer, and stand-up comedian. His most recent special ''Finally Live In Portland'' was launched by Comedy Dynamics in 2019. Outside of performing stand-up, Braunger is noted for bein ...

and filmmaker Kimberly Brady.

Reception

In 2010, Ben Bateman of

Willamette Week ''Willamette Week'' (''WW'') is an alternative weekly newspaper and a website published in Portland, Oregon, United States, since 1974. It features reports on local news, politics, sports, business, and culture. History Early history ''Willame ...

newspaper called Bridgetown "the fastest-growing comedy extravaganza in America." Successively larger and better-planned comedy festivals prompted one reviewer to comment, ". . . as usual, organizer Andy Wood and his royal army of geniuses outdid themselves. How can you make something already great even better? I'm not sure, but it happened." In late 2009, the ''Portland Mercury'' reviewed the festival, stating that, "Bridgetown (or should we say, Andy Wood) is changing Portland comedy" and the following year, the ''Portland Monthly'' stated that Wood "deserves several rounds of applause for making the fest happen . . . ." In his work as a comedy promoter, Andy Wood created a venue where the comedy market was struggling, and has promoted the venue to as a regional and national event. Part of Wood's approach in creating 'draw' to a weak comedy market was to couple art with philanthropy. In 2014, Kristi Turnquist of

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 185 ...

wrote that "The annual event brings comedians from around the country together with some of the Northwest's top acts, for four jam-packed days of hilarity."

Short history of the Bridgetown Comedy Festival

2008

The 2008 Festival garnered some sixty performers, headlined by actor/comedian

Patton Oswalt Patton Peter Oswalt (born January 27, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer. He is known as Spence Olchin in the sitcom ''The King of Queens'' (1998–2007) and for narrating the sitcom '' The Goldbergs'' (2013–present) as ...

. Other performers included

Tig Notaro Mathilde O'Callaghan "Tig" Notaro (born March 24, 1971) is an American stand-up comedian, writer, radio contributor, and actress. She is known for her deadpan comedy. Her acclaimed album ''Live'' was nominated in 2014 for the Grammy Award for Be ...

(comedian,

The Sarah Silverman Program ''The Sarah Silverman Program'' is an American television sitcom, which ran from February 1, 2007, to April 15, 2010, on Comedy Central starring comedian and actress Sarah Silverman, who created the series with Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab. ''The Sa ...

);

(founder and Portland native); Morgan Murphy (writer,

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by comedian Jimmy Fallon. About pag ...

);

Natasha Leggero Natasha Leggero () (born March 26, 1974) is an American comedian, actress and writer. She rose to fame after appearing as the host of the MTV reality television series '' The 70s House'' in 2005, and as a regular roundtable panelist on Chelsea Ha ...

(comedian,

Reno 911! ''Reno 911!'' is an American comedy television series airing on Comedy Central. It is a mockumentary-style parody of law enforcement documentary shows, specifically '' Cops'', with comic actors playing the police officers. Thomas Lennon, Rober ...

);

Dax Jordan Dax Jordan is an American actor and standup comedian. He was born and lives in Los Angeles, California and was raised in Sandy, Oregon. Standup comedy Jordan has performed as a stand up comedian since 2005, appearing several times at the Brid ...

and Chris Fairbanks (comedian,

Fuel TV Fox Sports 2 (FS2) is an American sports-oriented pay television channel owned by the Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. The channel is based at the Fox Sports division's headquarters on the Fox Studio Lot in the Century Ci ...

2009

The 2009 Bridgetown Comedy Festival was headlined by

Janeane Garofalo Janeane Marie Garofalo ( ; born September 28, 1964) is an American comedian, actress, and former co-host on the now-defunct Air America Radio's ''The Majority Report''. Garofalo began her career as a stand-up comedian and became a cast member on ...

(

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

and

The Larry Sanders Show ''The Larry Sanders Show'' is an American television sitcom set in the office and studio of a fictional late-night talk show. The series was created by Garry Shandling and Dennis Klein and aired from August 15, 1992, to May 31, 1998, on the HBO ...

alumnus), and featured

Andy Kaufman Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman ( ; January 17, 1949 – May 16, 1984) was an American entertainer and performance artist. While often called a "comedian", Kaufman preferred to describe himself instead as a "song and dance man". He has sometimes b ...

Award-winners

Reggie Watts Reginald Lucien Frank Roger Watts (born March 23, 1972) is an American comedian, actor, beatboxer, and musician. His improvised musical sets are created using only his voice, a keyboard, and a looping machine. Watts refers to himself as a "disinf ...

and Brent Weinbach. It added long-form improv and podcasts to the schedule.

2010

The 2010 Festival featured 175 performers at nine venues and featured long-form improv, podcasts by Marc Maron and Jimmy Pardo, and comics including Maria Bamford, Tim Meadows, Scott Adsit, Tig Notaro, Greg Behrendt, Marc Maron,

Christian Finnegan Fletcher Christian Finnegan (born April 1, 1973), better known as Christian Finnegan, is an American stand-up comedian, writer and actor based in New York City. Early life Finnegan was born in Albany, New York. He grew up in Acton, Massachusett ...

, Matt Besser, Matt Walsh, Matt Braunger, Danny Pudi, Steve Agee, T.J. Miller, and Hannibal Buress.

2011

192 performers included Margaret Cho, Fred Armisen, Kristen Schaal, Andy Dick, Simon Helberg ("The Big Bang Theory"), Oscar Nunez ("The Office"), Aparna Nancherla and Doug Benson.

2012

Comics included Dave Holmes, Doug Benson, Eric Andre, Erin Jackson, Howard Kremer, James Adomian, Jimmy Dore, John Roy, Mary Lynn Rasjkub, Mary Mack, Matt Besser, Matt Braunger, Matt Kirshen, Pete Holmes, Ron Funches, Sean Patton, Steve Agee, Tim Meadows, and Todd Glass.

2013

Performers included Dana Gould, Reggie Watts, Todd Glass, Moshe Kasher, Greg Behrendt, Kurt Braunohler, Robert Popper, Peter Serafinowicz, Myq Kaplan, Baron Vaughn, Kurt Braunohler, Moshe Kasher, Howard Kremer, Nato Green, Matt Braunger and Baron Vaughn. In 2013 Filmmakers Adam Smith and Shannan Hunt started shooting a documentary about the festival which is still unreleased.

2014

Performers included Reggie Watts, Paul F. Tompkins, Emo Phillips, W. Kamau Bell, Paul Provenza, Carrie Brownstein, "Community" creator Dan Harmon, Aparna Nancherla, Ian Karmel, James Adomian, Nathan Fielder, festival co-founder Matt Braunger, Dwight Slade, and Nathan Brannon.

References

External links

Official Festival Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bridgetown Comedy Festival, The Festivals in Portland, Oregon Comedy festivals in the United States 2008 establishments in Oregon