Sick of sausage-party stand-up lineups and bro-centric Comedy Central fare? Get excited for this week’s All Jane Comedy Fest, which is practically a Portland tradition at this point, the one time a year comedy’s serious gender imbalance is temporarily righted, and a living rebuttal to anyone who’s somehow walking around in 2016 clinging to the notion that ladies can’t joke good. This year’s festival boasts big-name headliners, some of our favorite local comedians, and under-the-radar comics that you’ll want to know before they hit it big. Here are the Mercury’s picks for one of the funnest weekends of the year.
Maria Bamford
On her surreal Netflix series, Lady Dynamite, Maria Bamford covers everything from the allure of a Target-like corporation’s fake good vibes (“Sounds good, feels right!”) and the sadness of pet death to rare lady troubles (“A Vaginismus Miracle”) and the tyranny of showbiz (“Cradle the balls and work the shaft!”), all the while pulling from Bamford’s real-life experiences with bipolar disorder. It’s a tangent-taking, unapologetically strange depiction of mental illness, and also one of the best, most honest portrayals of depression and anxiety I’ve ever seen in pop culture. In person, Bamford’s even funnier and more charming. I can’t think of a headliner I’d rather see at this—or any—comedy fest. MB
Jackie Kashian
Remember how I just said I couldn’t think of a better headliner? Jokes! Get double excited, because the dry, delightful Jackie Kashian is co-headlining with Bamford. Amid a scourge of comedy podcasts currently clogging up iTunes, Kashian stands out with The Dork Forest—the live show where she invites likeminded nerds to join her as they discuss “whatever dorky thing” they’d like. But don’t be fooled by Kashian’s made-for-podcasting voice: She’s extremely funny onstage, and her jokes have premises that make you laugh while also embedding themselves in your brain, as when she calls the grocery store frozen-food aisle “a trophy case to American imperialism.” MB
