Bridgetown Comedy Festival

The Bridgetown Comedy Festival is a stand-up comedy festival located in the Hawthorne district of Portland, Oregon 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 and filmmaker Kimberly Brady.

Bridgetown Comedy Festival
GenreStand-up comedy, Sketch comedy, Improvisation, Podcast
Location(s)Portland, OR, U.S.
Inaugurated2008
Websitewww.bridgetowncomedy.com

Reception

In 2010, Ben Bateman of Willamette Week newspaper called Bridgetown "the fastest-growing comedy extravaganza in America."[1] 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."[2] In late 2009, the Portland Mercury reviewed the festival, stating that, "Bridgetown (or should we say, Andy Wood) is changing Portland comedy"[3] and the following year, the Portland Monthly stated that Wood "deserves several rounds of applause for making the fest happen . . . ."[4] 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.[5] Part of Wood's approach in creating 'draw' to a weak comedy market was to couple art with philanthropy.[6] In 2014, Kristi Turnquist of The Oregonian 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."[7]

Short history of the Bridgetown Comedy Festival

2008

The 2008 Festival garnered some sixty performers, headlined by actor/comedian Patton Oswalt. Other performers included Tig Notaro (comedian, The Sarah Silverman Program); Matt Braunger (founder and Portland native); Morgan Murphy (writer, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon); Natasha Leggero (comedian, Reno 911!); Dax Jordan and Chris Fairbanks (comedian, Fuel TV).[8]

2009

The 2009 Bridgetown Comedy Festival was headlined by Janeane Garofalo (Saturday Night Live and The Larry Sanders Show alumnus), and featured Andy Kaufman Award-winners Reggie Watts and Brent Weinbach. It added long-form improv and podcasts to the schedule.[9]

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, Matt Besser, Matt Walsh, Matt Braunger, Danny Pudi, Steve Agee, T.J. Miller, and Hannibal Buress.[10][11][12][13][14]

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.[15]

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.[16]

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.[17]

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
  1. Ben Bateman, "News and Culture: Bridgetown Comedy Diaries: Night 1," Willamette Week (Apr. 23, 2010)(a primary source reporting on the 2010 Festival)(last viewed 7/6/2010).
  2. Aparna Nancherla, "Bridgetown Comedy Festival 3: The Return of the Zing," The Apiary (last viewed 7/6/2010).
  3. Andrew R. Tonry, The Year in Comedy: Examining Portland's Burgeoning Comedy Scene, The Portland Mercury (Dec. 31, 2009)
  4. John Chandler, "A Comic Invasion," Portland Monthly (Apr. 20, 2010)(last viewed 7/6/2010)(a primary source with respect to the comic performances, but as a review, a secondary source with respect to organization).
  5. Randy Gragg, Laughs on Hawthorne: Bridgetown Comedy Festival returns, Portland Monthly (Apr. 2009) ("Give it time. The Bridgetown Comedy Festival, which is in only its second year, has grown from a field of forty comedians to an invasion of 115 rib-ticklers from the Northwest and around the country. And while the festival might not yet have bred a one-off catch-phrase ("Take my compost pile—please!?"), it has already bred success.").
  6. Kristi Turnquist, Laugh riot ! Big names, local favorites kick off the Bridgetown Comedy Festival, The Oregonian (Apr. 16, 2009) ("The eclectic list of performers in this year's Bridgetown Comedy Festival may share some of those traits. One thing is for certain -- they're not showing up at the April 23–26 event looking for a big paycheck. If anything unites Bridgetown's roster of out-of-town stars like Janeane Garofalo and up-and-coming local hopefuls, it's comedy for comedy's sake . . . . Wood, the Bridgetown fest co-founder, has a theory about why some Portlanders aren't willing to take a chance on seeing nonfamous comics: 'Maybe it's because it's so earnest here,' he says.") ; Douglas Perry, Coming Up: Bridgetown Comedy Festival, The Oregonian (Feb. 28, 2008) ("Time will tell if next week's first Bridgetown Comedy Festival will take its place in the pantheon of Portland performance buffets. But founders Andy Wood and Matt Braunger have something in common with Waterfront Blues Festival booker Peter Dammann: They're working performers . . . . The fest features comedians from the Northwest and nationwide, working to raise funds for the Oregon Red Cross.").
  7. Kristi Turnquist (May 4, 2014). The Oregonian http://www.oregonlive.com/movies/2014/05/bridgetown_comedy_festival_201.html. Retrieved February 18, 2015. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. Ethan Smith, "No Joke," Willamette Weekly Online (March 5, 2008 Archived 2008-10-21 at the Wayback Machine)(last viewed June 29, 2010).
  9. "Ladies Are Funny Says Portland's Bridgetown Comedy Festival", by Ashley Brittner, Bitch Magazine, April 24, 2009 at collected 7/1/2010 Archived 2010-08-19 at the Wayback Machine
  10. "Matt Walsh, Bamford, Pardo, more to perform at Bridgetown Comedy Festival" Punchline Magazine, March 16, 2010 collected 7/1/2010 at "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-03. Retrieved 2010-07-01.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. "A Comic Invasion: Bridgetown Comedy Fest brings the funny", Portland Monthly Magazine, April 20, 2010 at http://www.portlandmonthlymag.com/blogs/bar-pilot/bridgetowncomedy-bp-042010/, collected 7/1/2010
  12. Ben Bateman, "By Comics, For Comics: How the fastest-growing comedy festival in the country snuck into Portland," Willamette Week (Apr. 21, 2010)(as a review, this constitutes secondary source material, even though it was published in a newspaper)(last viewed 7/1/2010) Archived 2010-06-27 at the Wayback Machine.
  13. "Bridgetown Comedy Festival", Portland Mercury (newspaper), March 6, 2010 at http://www.portlandmercury.com/theater/bridgetown-comedy-festival/Content?oid=717743 collected 7/1/2010
  14. "Risky Business : Trust in the Bridgetown Comedy Fest" by Andrew R Tonry, Portland Mercury (newspaper), April 22, 2010 at http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/risky-business/Content?oid=2462432 collected 7/1/2010
  15. Kristi Turnquist (April 20, 2011). "Local and national comics perform at 2011 Bridgetown Comedy Festival". The Oregonian. Retrieved February 18, 2015.
  16. "The Bridgetown Comedy Fest Announces 2012's Initial Lineup". Portland Mercury. February 21, 2012. Retrieved February 18, 2015.
  17. "2013 Bridgetown Comedy Festival Lineup Announced". Portland Mercury. March 13, 2013. Retrieved February 18, 2015.
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