Street roots
Dec. 6, 2013
Local laughs and
Letterman’s couch
Bridgetown Comedy Festival co-founder and
comedian M att Braunger talks about the good times,
bad times and the Portland he remembers
BY SUE ZALOKAR
S T A F F W R IT E R
hough now a successful comedian,
actor and writer living in Los Angeles,
Matt Braunger hangs onto his
Northeast Portland roots. He grew up here
and his parents still live in the City of Roses.
Braunger left Portland when he was 17,
almost two decades ago. He’ll tell you that,
corny as it sounds, life is a journey — not a
destination. He should know. Braunger has
spent years in the Chicago and Los Angeles
comedy scenes and he’s lived on the road
doing stand-up comedy. That journey took
him from open mies in Chicago to
Letterman’s couch, and landed him a gig
playing the role of Gene Martin on NBC’s
“Up All Night” where he played opposite
Christina Applegate and Will Arnett.
Braunger is also a co-founder of the
Bridgetown Comedy Festival, an annual
event in Portland since 2008. The festival
puts Portland “on the map” in the comedy
world - and in light of Portland’s most
recent über-cool status, lots of comedians
want to do the festival. The event includes
hundreds of comedians - many of whom are
unknown, incredibly funny people, right
here in Portland.
Matt Braunger will be in town for the
holidays and is hosting the first official,
“Coldest and Darkest Time of the Year
Comedy Spectacular” with Ron Funches and
Ian Karmel on Dec. 27 at the Mission
Theater.
T
Sue Zalokar: It seem s like you have been
on the path to performing since the beginning.
When did you realize you were a stand-up
comedian?
Matt Braunger: MADtv might have
been the thing that made it real. Sitting on
Letterman’s couch was definitely a peak. It’s
getting people to trust you and kind of
believe in you. And then they give you their
money.
One of the best compliments I ever got
was when I was in high school or college. I
was doing plays and somebody told me they
were glad to be on stage with me because I
feel like you’ll handle it no matter what’s
going to happen. If somebody drops a line,
I’ve always been such a goof that I was
never afraid to be in the moment.
S.Z.: You said sitting on Letterman’s couch
was a pinnacle moment.
M.B.: That was huge. I was the last guest
of that year, for the season. He had Tracy
Morgan on before me and Tracy was being
really nuts. I could tell that David was not
into his shenanigans. It was really fun to sit
there with him and make (Letterman) laugh.
The thing is, when they say “cut,” you’re
not allowed to move. No one gets to move or
talk to Letterman, so you just sit there. And
then he goes up the stairs and shuts the
door and they’re like, “OK, everybody.” And
then you can get up.
When I was sitting there, they called
“That’s cut” everything went dark and I
heard him get up and walk behind me and
he put his hand out and he said, “You’re
very funny.” I shook his hand. I said,
“Thanks.”
I didn’t even turn around. He was over my
left shoulder and my right arm went back to
where he was, like, “I’m not allowed to look
at you.”
S.Z.: You just did “Just for Laughs” (a
Montreal comedy festival) in November. You
opened for Dave Chappelle. That must have
been amazing.
M.B.: Yes. We hung out that night a little
bit. He is very private. Audiences in
Montreal are just incredible. It’s actually a
lot like Portland where audiences really like
to have fun, but they’re also really smart.
They’ll let you experiment and fool around.
There are certain towns where you play and
people expect you to talk about how much
your wife and kids annoy you.
S.Z.: I watched a YouTube video where you
recently rapped Big Daddy Kane’s “Aint No
Half Steppin’” in its entirety. That was at Just
for Laughs as well
M.B.: Yes. My manager pulled aside
Robbie Praw - one of the guys who run Just
for Laughs — and asked to get me into the
Hip Hop Karaoke. My manager told him I
was in a rap group in college. And Robbie
looked at her and said, “Get the fuck outta
here.” People don’t look at me and go, “Oh
yeah, that guy raps.”
I’ve always been a huge fan of hip hop. I
used to go to 2nd Avenue Records (in it’s
old location, two doors down - right by the
Morrison Bridge) when I was a kid. I would
literally walk in and all of the vinyl to the
right was all hip hop. And I would just buy
PHO TO BY ROBYN VO N
Comedian Matt Braunger returns to his roots in Portland to host the inaugural Coldest and
Darkest Time of the Year Comedy Spectacular, Dec. 27 at Mission Theater.
whatever they put out. That’s how I
discovered Big Daddy Kane, NWA, Eazy E,
Public Enemy, you name it - all the greats.
That night at hip hop karaoke, I was so
nervous. The room was “8 Mile-ish.” There
was no teleprompter. You had to know the
whole song. It ended up being the most fun
night ever. People did everything from
Biggie to Macklemore and everyone was
really good.
S.Z.: You’ll be at the Mission Theater in
December for the First annual Darkest, Coldest
Time of the Year Comedy Spectacular.
M.B.: I figure, I come home for
Christmas every year anyway, so why not
have an event every year? Last year I played
the Hollywood Theater with Ian Karmel and
Ron Funches — who both have a Portland
connection — and this year we wanted to do
it again.
S.Z.: You hold claim to Portland still,
though you have lived in New York, Chicago
and Los Angeles for the past couple of decades.
What was Portland like when you were
growing up here?
M.B.: Now, it’s a thing. For instance,
wherever I go people are like, “Oh! You’re
from Portland. It’s so cool. Why did you
leave?” I always think, It wasn’t that cool
when I was a kid. That’s not to say it wasn’t
great — it really was fantastic. It was a great
place to grow up. Chuck Palahniuk wrote a
book about how Portland is basically a place
for refugees. People who don’t fit in other
places end up here. And in a sense, it’s
really like that.
You can make your own thing in Portland,
and that’s always been true. My parents are
see BRAUNGER, page 4
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