jus« o u t T n o v M ib tr 2 1 , 1 0 0 7 ▼ 31
T he R iches
,
of
R a g sd a l e
New suede shoes a Dalmatian and a girlfriend with a house in Portland: How could one comic get so lucky?
by Will O’Bryan
Well, I did a little independent film called
ew residents w ho’ve come to Port
Never Met Picasso, which is opening in Boston,
land via L.A. som etim es give them
L. A., New York and a couple of other places over
selves aw ay with their sunglasses.
Thanksgiving weekend. While working on
On a gloom y, overcast Portland
the film I really fell in love
morning, G eorgia Ragsdale is no ex
in d e-
ception. Looking just a bit too chic for a w
M ith
onday
morning on Hawthorne, she joined Just Out for
a quick chat and a bow l o f oatm eal at Bread and
Ink.
As the sunglasses hinted o f H ollyw ood,
N
omedy
I definitely like the mix— and 1 find it really
comical— the mix of like, you see people here
who are literally 10 or 15 years behind the times
“I think it’s going to be really
fun. For me it’s going to be
like a ‘Welcome to Portland ’
show. This is going to be my
home team, and I ’m really
excited about it.
”
just living their daily lives in, like, 1980.
And a mix o f sophisticated urbanites.
Ragsdale’s fondness for sugar, both white and
brown, hinted of Houston and Ragsdale’s South
ern roots.
Ragsdale has made a name for herself as a
comic and found a com ic niche as a gay woman.
Among her favorite audiences are the captive
revelers she’s entertained repeatedly on RSVP
cruises. A nother favorite audience for Ragsdale
was, presumably, the millions of television view
ers who caught her cam eo on Ellen in October.
Audiences w ho’ve seen Ragsdale appreciate
her re-enactment of a lesbian’s first trip to a gay
bar (and successive evolution to old pro), her
impersonation of Jackie Onassis, and her tale of
an irritable cat on a road trip. And for those
who ’ ve seen Ragsdale’s take on club music, Chaka
K han’s “ I’m Every W om an” will never sound the
same again.
Why are you in Portland now?
I am now in Portland because my wonderful
girlfriend owns a house here and I could not resist.
Her, or the house?
The house, the girl. And I have a dog...
What kind of dog?
A Dalmatian.
I’d asked you before about television and
ABC. Could you just recap?
I got to L.A. and had the most wonderful
Cinderella story. I had been w orking as a comic
for about five years, getting only slightly up the
ladder.... I get to L.A., I had a show— which was
the middle of the w eek— and by Monday I had a
six-figure deal at ABC. It was amazing.
I don’t see you on the Friday night lineup...
The thing about d e als... that deal was good for
a year. That expired. Then I had another deal with
Norman Lear. That deal expired. Basically I ’m a
free agent.
You’re interested in television, you’re in
terested in film...where do your priorities lie?
What’s more endearing?
pen-
d e n t
f i 1 m -
making.
Just the
id ea o f
what you
can p u ll
to g e th e r
w ith
a
scrip t and
superhuman
e f f o r t.... I
hope that my
future lies in
that arena.
I ’m m uch better
when I have my own
point of view and I
d o n ’t have to fit it
in to ...I d on’t want to
say “sterile com m er
cial product,” because
that would imply that
there’s nothing good
on TV. TV very much
is what will appeal to
the common denom i
nator of humankind.
At least [with] inde
p e n d e n t film ...y o u
still want a universal
a p p ea l, bu t th e re ’s
room for the unusual,
the different. It’s more
direct marketing.
Are there any
Portland idiosyncra
sies you think you’ll Oeorgia Ragsdale
be able to start working into your material?
What’s your impression of us?
ALBINA COMMUNITY BANK
( 503 ) 287-7537
POSSIBILITIES...NOT LIMITATIONS!
LOW RATES!
LOW FEES!
FAST APPROVALS!
We specialize in self-employed borrowers
This lender makes loans without regard to race, color, religion, gender, or national origin.
m em ber fdic
Equal Housing Lender
I just think the two cultures clash
ing to g e th e r lik e th a t is v ery
Shakespearean in a way. It’s the edge
of tom orrow in some w ays and
people still driving little Toyota
trucks and wearing Birkenstocks
and old teal raincoats.
I’m guessing you haven’t
lived through a Portland win
ter, but you’ve lived through a
Seattle winter. Does
that affect your com
edy at all?
I love the North
west.
You’re not left
crying by February
with a bottle of wine
in your hand?
Probably I will be,
but I really love the
cool. I ’m from Texas,
so every day it’s cool
is like a day with free
air c o n d itio n in g . I
can ’t get over the fact
that you don’t have to
pay hundreds o f dol
lars for air condition
ing. I love it. Every
day I wake up and it’s
> cool, I’m so thankful.
§ I hate the heat.
1
1
Lots of comics are
»the brooding type.
2 Does that apply to
i you?
I think probably.
Not necessarily brood
ing, but I’m definitely more quiet and more—
w hat’s the opposite of revealed?
Introverted?
Introverted, yeah. I’m much more introverted
and shielded in my personal life, whereas the time
that I’m on stage I’m very open. I ’m just raw and
hanging it all out.
Do you ever see tapes of yourself on stage
and think, “Oh my god, I can’t believe I said
that?”
Yeah, all the time. Or, you know, I’ll talk about
ex-girlfriends or whatever or my real life and then
I’rn like, “Oh shit, they’re going to be in the
audience! What am I going to do? I can’t do that
bit,” or “Oh, there’s a friend of Ellen’s in the
audience. I can ’t do that joke about Ellen.”
Do you have a stage persona that just takes
over?
Yes, totally. I really do. To me, that’s the thing
that’s made it easier and easier over the years is the
more that persona...I feel like I’m more secure,
more comfortable to just let that go. And a lot of
times my best jokes have come while I was onstage
and I didn’t even know what I was going to say
next.
Is living in Portland going to have any affect
on your career? Does the airport, and how fast
you can get out of here, affect it?
The airport sucks! That definitely affects my
career. I think I ’ll definitely have to keep going
down to L.A. several times a year and spend
chunks o f time there to keep working. But hope
fully I have all the contacts and all the support I
need from the industry down there to continue my
career and doing what I do, which should be doing
my own projects.
Will Portland affect your footwear?
[Ragsdale raises her shoe to tabletop height, dis
playing a very chunky, brown suede number.)
Oh, my.
I’ve discovered you can w ear suede shoes here
if you have high platforms. My advice: w ear high
platform s if you want to stay away from little
duckboots.
Is there anything you’d like to add about
your Dec. 5 show at the Clinton Street The
atre?
I think it’s going to be really fun. For me it’s
going to be like a “ W elcome to Portland” show.
This is going to be my home team, and I’m really
excited about it. Now if only I could get tickets to
that Power g am e...
Georgia Ragsdale will appear at the Clinton
Street Theatre, 2522 SE Clinton St., at 8 pm on
Friday, Dec. 5. Tickets are $10 in advance at
In Other Words bookstore, 3734 SE Hawthorne
Blvd., and $12 at the door.