• One of the coolest perks of stand up comedy is that if you travel pretty much anywhere, you can perform in other cities and kind of weirdly ingratiate yourself in the scene wherever you go. This week, for me, I’ve been in Portland. It’s been great so far. Before I headed out, great dudes Alex Falcone, Mohanad Elshieky and Jamie Carbone gave me suggestions on what to do. So far, I’ve done one great show hosted by Jake Silberman and Shain Brenden (their banter was so strong up top that it was hard to even think of a riff which made my set weaker; kudos to them for being that funny). It was a weekly with a fantastic turnout and great lineup. I saw locals (Adam Pasi) rev up for the Portland’s Funniest competition going on this week, visiting Denver comics, LA comics and NYC pal Carmen Christopher on the show. It was a nice slice of comedy from all the best places to perform in the US. My biggest take away from the show though was when comics bark in Portland literally EVERY passerby is interested in said show. In fact, they’re excited by the idea of a comedy show. I’ve said this a bunch of times but every time I bark in New York, I feel like I could say, “I’ve got $1000.00, here it is” and people would walk past and say, “No, thank you.” This was a really cool change of pace.
• While out in PDX (the abbreviation for Portland for those not in the know), I’ve hit up two mics as well (can’t be grinding too hard at mics on vacation). The first one at the Haymaker (Mondays at 8) was a very supportive room hosted by Lee Cox where everyone seemed to do well. The mic also had a very cool strategy where they have one male comic followed by a female comic policy. Made for a good mix. Would definitely recommend it if you’re visiting. The second mic I hit was a hot room at a bar called High Dive and run by Ian Albanese. Saw some familiar faces from the previous mic and show already. Overall, I’m super impressed by the Portland scene. There’s a lot of cool stuff going on here and everyone has been extremely friendly. Throw it on the comedy bucket list (Get it? 'Cause it's a bucket) if you haven’t been out here yet.
• The flight from JFK to PDX is a little under six hours. I challenged myself to watch three feature films on the way. You better believe I pulled it off (Delta is honestly the gold standard for movies on flights). Started with the very funny genre-bending “Isn’t It Romantic.” Cool to see New York comedy pop their heads up in it too most notably my old UCB teacher James Dwyer. He has a nice moment early in the movie. Next, I watched “Lego Movie 2: THe Second Part” which is turning into one of the best ongoing franchises there is. They just churn out such high energy, fun, hilarious stuff. The highlight for me was The Lonely Island’s song over the credits. Maybe the best credits gag of all time. Finally, I finished up with the way underseen Stephen Merchant written and directed “Fighting With My Family.” It certainly has comedic moments but is mostly just a great, little sports movie. I’m sad to admit I’m proud that I pulled off the three movies. As for the rest of the week, I caught “Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood” like everyone else. Anna E. Paone and I went running into Frank Terranova, Matteo Angelo Pascale and Kevin Janaway there. It felt like a real event in the theater. Still processing how I feel about the movie as a whole since some of it was a bit TOO far even for QT but overall, I loved it. Leo has never been funnier. Brad has. But man is Leo great in this.
• Another great perk of doing comedy in New York is that there are so many of us we’re bound to run into each other everywhere. This happens to me almost every time I take the train, eat, go to the movies (see above), exist in public. It happened again this past Saturday at the JFK airport where I ran into Defne Gencler. We hung for a little bit and she told me about her webseries with Molly Kornfeld which I somehow had missed out on. Watched the whole thing almost immediately and really loved it. If you want to see it too, the link is in the comments. It’s short and great.
• I went to film school a long time ago (2009-11) and used to spend ALL my time on set. It’s decreased significantly after school but I still love helping out with movie projects. This week, I got to do sound on Matthew Tenenbaum and Alexander Payne’s show which was a great time. They pulled off some really cool shots (inspired by my boy Buster Keaton!) using an iPhone with a lens which looks better than most DSLRs and got great performances from Alex and Andrea Allan. Can’t wait to see the finished product. Side note: Tenenbaum is a genius and picks up his cast and crew (he literally was waiting for me outside of Chipotle) so they’re all on time as opposed to waiting for everyone. This is the most genius directorial move I’ve ever seen. Copy it, everyone (if you have a vehicle).
• Upcoming for me this week, I’m doing Alex and Mohanad’s show in Portland tomorrow at 8 PM PST and hosting Sam Zelitch’s mic next Tuesday at 7 PM EST in the world famous Pete’s Candy Store.
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