ANIMATION—Your average collection of animated shorts might be a little hit and miss, but the NW Animation Festival is a very well curated look at the innovative magic making happening across the region. (For serious.) And there’s a full week of it, too, with panels and after-parties, so pencil that biz in. MSHollywood Theatre, 4122 […]
Alison Hallett
Alison Hallett served nobly as the Mercury's arts editor from 2008-2014. Her proud legacy lives on.
Posted inBooks
George Saunders on Think Out Loud
I have not had time to listen to this yet, but writer George Saunders was on Think Out Loud yesterday, for the whole hour! He was in town last night to give a speech at PSU, which I didn’t know was even happening until yesterday and I’m really, really sorry I didn’t tell you guys […]
Posted inBlogs
Sketching Bridgetown: Shannon Wheeler Draws Reggie Watts
We’ve written lots and lots of words about the Bridgetown Comedy festival this year—this one’s for the visual learners out there. Cartoonist Shannon Wheeler is the creator of Too Much Coffee Man; his comics have graced the pages of the New Yorker, and last year he published a collection of rejected New Yorker cartoons, I […]
Posted inEvents
It’s Happening Tonight!
FASHION—We’ve thrown the best fashion shows in town for nine years now, and for year 10, we have three shows for Open Season, spread out over three venues for three different happy hours. It kicks off tonight with designs from Alexa Stark and Crazy Wind at the Doug Fir, so grab yourself a cocktail and […]
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Bridgetown Day Three: A Love Letter to Emo Philips
Pat Moran Emo Philips. Emo Philips. Guys. Emo Philips. I spent a lot of time with Paul Provenza yesterday. No complaints here—dude looks like Al Swearengen, sounds sounds George Carlin, and played host to my favorite moments of Bridgetown so far. I’d planned to hit the Harmontown podcast taping yesterday, but failed to get in […]
Posted inBlogs
Bridgetown Day Two: Eagles Lodgin’
Pat Moran RICHARD BAIN Not pictured: Richard Bain’s butthole. Oh, the Eagles Lodge. Next year, could Bridgetown organizers please put out a bulletin reminding performers to “BE NICE TO MARTIN”? Every year there’s a moment of awkward interaction between a comedian and the Eagles Lodge’s aging greeter/president (?) and every year it makes me want […]
Posted inEvents
What Are You Doing this Weekend?
Alison Hallett: “Bridgetown Comedy Fest! I’m drinking too much and seeing as much comedy as possible. Also, getting allll kinds of good-daughter points: Taking my dad to see Portland Opera’s Pirates of Penzance and making some sort of brunch-thing on Sunday for Mother’s Day. (Call your mother.)” Wm. Steven Humphrey: “Yes… yes… Bridgetown, of course. […]
Posted inBlogs
Community Is Cancelled (Related: The Harmontown Podcast at Bridgetown Just Got More Interesting)
“Fuck everything, I give up. Fuck it. Everything is terrible.”-Mercury Senior Editor Erik Henriksen Oh, it’s hard to be a Community fan: News broke today that the beloved NBC series, recently revitalized by the return of series creator Dan Harmon, has been cancelled after five seasons. Harmon is in town this weekend, recording an episode […]
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Bridgetown Day One: Talking Shop on Late Night Action
First off, if you didn’t get a weekend pass to Bridgetown and are feeling broke/cheap about spending money on individual show tickets, here’s a free show for you tonight, headlined by the absolutely excellent LA comedian Sean O’Connor, plus a lot of great local comics. You won’t be mad you went—I saw O’Connor open for […]
Posted inBlogs
“Scott and Andie’s Brunchtime Friendship Bridgetown Blog”
Okay, this is pretty adorable: Local comic Andie Main and Seattle comic Scott Losse are covering the Bridgetown Comedy Festival over on Andie’s Tumblr—they’re formatting it as a series of notes passed between the two of them, hand written on notebook paper. It’s got some jokes, some recap of last night’s pre-Bridgetown show at the […]
Posted inEvents
It’s Happening Tonight!
COMEDY—The Bridgetown Comedy Festival is hands-down one of the greatest things on the Portland arts calendar. Buy a weekend pass and pretend you’re on vacation: PBR in hand, scope out head-liners (Reggie Watts! Paul F Tompkins!), once-local favorites (Matt Braunger! Ian Karmel), and discover your new favorite comic from the lineup of hilarious people you […]
Posted inBlogs
Bridgetown Comedy Fest Picks: By Day
Dylan Meconis Okay, the Bridgetown Comedy Festival can be overwhelming, and I maintain that half the fun is simply buying a pass and going where your little heart leads you. To aid in that process, we put together a giant list of the comedians we’re most excited to see—that’s over here. But I know some […]