Bridgetown Comedy Festival

Thanks to everyone who submitted to perform at Bridgetown 2013! We're reviewing applications and will alert those who've been accepted by the end of February.

We're looking forward to celebrating our sixth year of bringing the best comedy from around the world to the Pacific Northwest!

2013 is looking to be the best year yet for Bridgetown, with tons of new talent alongside audience favorites!

The Bridgetown Comedy Festival arose from a love of boundary-pushing comedy shared by a fan, a budding comedian and an emerging talent who met one night at a Portland comedy show. In October of 2007, after a performance at Portland's Towne Lounge, comedians Matt Braunger and Andy Wood were joined for a drink by comedy fan Kim Brady. Over the course of the conversation, the three realized how similar their taste in comedy was. They agreed that while the national standup scene was in the midst of a golden age, as was the Pacific Northwest's, Portland's exposure to it was somewhat limited.

When Kim suggested the idea of producing a festival in Portland, they all thought that an event of that kind was long overdue. As the three began to make a wishlist of names, They found that Matt knew many of their favorite comics from his time in Chicago and Los Angeles, and that a large number of them had expressed an interest in coming to Portland to perform. As the lineup for the first year of the festival began to coalesce, eventual 2008 headliner Patton Oswalt learned about the plans for Bridgetown. He liked the idea of a Portland festival so much that he contacted the founders about helping get the fledgling event off the ground, and his performance at Bridgetown helped ensure that year one of the festival would be a success.

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