Like its stand-up and improv scenes, Portland’s sketch comedy community is on the rise. So it’s only fitting to see our city take on its very own first annual Portland Sketch Comedy Festival, produced by Bad Reputation Productions and the Siren Theater. Shelley McLendon of the Siren gave me the rundown on what to expect over the course of this three-day run. One of its major selling points is its inclusion of both big-name, established groups and emerging players, as well as out-of-town performers and local mainstays. Here’s who you can see and why shouldn’t miss them.
Day Job, SMAT, and Brunch
Day Job, SMAT, and Brunch are three of the newer troupes on the docket, from Seattle, Seattle, and Vancouver, BC, respectively. Day Job is a sketch troupe after my own heart. They’re three ladies—Caitie Auld, Kara O’Connor, and Molly Tellers—who appear in Rosie the Riveter garb in their promotional materials, choreograph jaunty dance moves to Dolly Parton, and have a “goofy bio” that actually works: “When they’re not eating copious amounts of cheese, dancing to ’90s girl pop and watching Meryl Streep classics, they like to write comedy while drinking boxed wine and eating more cheese,” reads their festival copy. SOLD! Meanwhile, SMAT (AKA Sarah McKinley and Matt Olson) promise “dadaist” subversions of “every sketch comedy convention they’ve been told about” and Brunch is another duo: Kerri Donaldson and Allie Entwistle, who arrive with improv and writing chops—they’re founding members of the improv troupe National Anthem, and have written for the likes of Blind Tiger Sketch House and Reductress.