In 2021, in that weird netherspace between vaccination distribution and the widespread sense that being inside was cool again, Dylan Reiff, the Artistic Director of Kickstand Comedy was looking for a way to get Portland’s robust comedy scene back up and performing again.
“We knew that there were opportunities to do something outside that was safe, and fun and that was hopefully something the community needed,” remembers Reiff. “So we started to look around at a bunch of places and spaces, alternative venues that were outside. Parking lots, Drive-In Theaters. Thanks to the Portland Parks Department, we were able to start looking at starting a show in Laurelhurst Park.”
The first show had about seventy-five people: Respectable for a local comedy show, but not, like, obscene. Then, it grew. And grew and grew and grew to the point where, every Friday during the summer in Laurelhurst Park, there are routinely 4.000 people attending a local comedy show in a park in Southeast Portland.