Bridgetown Comedy Festival

Holy LOL! Why can’t every weekend be Bridgetown Comedy Festival?
If you’re a comedy fan, get a weekend pass! There are no ifs ands of buts about this statement. A big show will run about $ 20 and if you want to see of few of those, you’re pretty much there. Sure you might only be recognize a handful of people on the bill but it’s half the fun finding new comics.
I spent my Bridgetown bouncing around to from stage to stage catching performances. The great part about the wrist band is you can just catch shows willy-​nilly and find some really great acts you weren’t expecting. Did I see any truly bad performances. Yes, but it was the minority. Most everything I saw was wonderful. For the bigger shows, come early to make sure you get in. I waited in a few hefty lines but managed to get into everything I wanted.
Logistically, Bridgetown can be a tad on the disorganized side. My understanding is that the event is put together mostly by volunteers. Due to this things can get sticky in lines and with ticketing. For example, they posted on Facebook when wristbands would be available at a certain time/place.and they weren’t. To that I have but one thing to say — no big deal. Relax. You’re going to see a fun show, all the hic-​ups I saw were resolved and went on to go smoothly.
If Bridgetown were going on every single weekend I would go. I had an amazing time and they brought in some truly great talent. Can’t wait till next year!

This is a great event put on by a great bunch of people! It’s like a comedy parade held along the Hawthorne strip at 5 – 6 venues. My fav is the Tanker because you never know whose gonna pop in for a intimate laugh fest as they have a continuous open mic though the weekend. Bridgetown Comedy Festival is a must for anyone who likes comedy. I hope it stays and becomes one of Portland’s fixtures.

I made it through day 1 of the Bridgetown Comedy Festival 2009, and my only regret so far is that I didn’t, do any ab crunches in advance to get properly trained for the event. 5 hours of somewhat continuous laughter can put a hurtin’ on some un-​trained (yet rock-​solid washboard) abs. ;)
Now in it’s second year, and double in size from last year, the BCF is happening this weekend all over SE Hawthorne from the evening hours until late night. The venues include the Baghdad, Hawthorne Theater, BOG, Tanker, FOE Lodge, and Mt. Tabor Legacy. From end-​to-​end, that could be a bit of a haul on foot, but with the Hawthorne Theatre stop in the middle, it’s not too bad.
The shows are staggered throughout the evenings with groups of comedians performing in hour to hour-​and-​a-​half long chunks. I got me an all-​festival pass, making it easier to just drop in on shows I want to see… and there are a lot. Funny, funny folks that regularly perform all over the country and have appeared in movies/​on tv are gracing Portland’s SE Hawth theaters all weekend — and making people laugh their asses off.
I posted up at the Hawthorne Theatre last night from open until close, and saw tons of great locally and nationally known comics doing their thing… in an intimate setting… that’s NOT HARVEY’s. Here, it’s all about the comedy, and stand-​up is happening in every direction you turn.
I’ll be hitting this up all weekend, but day 1 was a blast. Highlight of the night? Watching Janeane Garofalo put the smack down on some camera crew that decided to film her act without asking. That was almost funnier than her actual routine.
Other great acts I witnessed: Brent Weinbach, Matt Peters, Chris Hardwick, Natasha Leggero, Matt Braunger and Will Franken. All had me doubled over. Too funny.