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B R A U N GER , from page 3
For the
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A compilation of facts, large and
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small, about our community
S.Z.: We talked about your DUI. You’ve
written a screenplay about the time that you
were here in Portland working on the
deferment and living with your parents.
teachers. A series of laws were passed in
Chicago and then California that basically
cut the public school system wages to the
bone. They were young teachers at that
time, so they moved to Portland where it
was still a good place to be a teacher. That
was how we ended up in Northeast Portland
when I was 4 years old.
The average unemployment rate for
African Americans in Oregon: 18.4
percent
Percentage of Oregonians over age 25
with a 4-year-college degree: 29
Number of winter shelters and
emergency shelters in Portland and
Multnomah County: 36
Additional beds in winter shelters
available during the winter season: 342
Emergency shelter beds available year-
round: 636
Height of Douglas Fir being lit in Pioneer
Square: 75 feet
Number of tubas played in unison at the
23rd Annual Tuba Christmas Concert in
Pioneer Square: 250
Num ber of turkeys consum ed on
Thanksgiving and Christmas: 86 million
- Average number of pounds of turkey
consumed per person in 2012:16
In Multnomah County, average monthly
number of SNAP participants in 2012:
148,694
Amount of local economic activity
created by $1 of SNAP benefits: $1.79
Amount of dollars brought in by SNAP to
the state of Oregon per year: $1 billion
Sources: Portland Housing Bureau; Oregon Employment
Department; US. Census Bureau; University of Illinois
Extension.
either o f your parents teachers there when you
were there?
M.B.: No. I also went to Fernwood Middle
School, which I think is now Beverly Cleary.
My dad was what you call the “student
management specialist” - basically the
disciplinarian. He worked there, but he left
the year before I went there. My parents
and I had an unspoken agreement that I
would never go to a school they worked at.
I grew up knowing guys that didn’t do so
well in life who were in and out of
correctional facilities. They said, “You’re dad
was always cool.” My dad would sit them
down and ask them what was going on with
them. Anytime I tell my dad that, he gets
kind of sad, like he failed a kid.
The prison system dilemma - it’s so
plainly obvious what needs to happen and
people just don’t want to deal with it. They
don’t want to understand that there are
reasons for things. It’s like, just punish the
hell out of them. If a market for building
prisons that profit certain individuals
happens along the way, whatever.
I got a D U I10 years ago. I went through
the deferral program and I haven’t done that
since and it was a massive life lesson. I was
pulled over for driving too slow. I was
driving and I was like, oh man I’m wasted.
I went to AA as a part of the program —
the thing that stuck with me is that
’"generally spTaTTngTalcobolics d o n ’t s a y I ’m
n e v e r going to d rin k again b e c a u se th a t’s
way too much to even fathom. What you say
is, I’m not going to drink today.
Just think about all you have, which is
today.
S.Z.: I read that you do therapy every
Monday. What kind o f therapy?
M.B.: I have a therapist. We took this
week off, but I feel like we all have issues
and I’m lucky enough to have health care
through the Screen Actors Guild. If you
have access to help, you should take that
opportunity. People think of it as a weakness
sometimes, but I just think we all have
issues we don’t even realize we’re dealing
with. It’s better just to confront them head
on.
I’ll put it this way. It’s kind of like getting
on stage. There are times when it’s the last
thing I want to do. And I think, “I don’t want
to go to fucking therapy. I don’t want to talk
to this dude. I hate it.” But I always leave
feeling better.
Anytime I don’t want to do a show and I
think, “Uh, why did I say yes to this bullshit
show in this bar?” You always learn
something. It’s always worth it.
only thing we run into that is ironic is that
there are way too many white males doing
comedy. I come up against that all of the
time. We have to kind of have to Affirmative
Action that shit. So much comedy is just
white dude, white dude, white dude, white
dude.
The great thing about Bridgetown is we
do whatever we want. We don’t have
anybody’s agent breathing down our neck
saying, “Oh you’ve got to book this guy,” or
whatever. It’s just great. It’s just about
Portland and about the audience.
M.B.: I just finished the fifth draft and all
my reps think it’s good enough to take out,
so now I’m looking for financing to hopefully
come back to Portland and shoot it there.
It’s about the deferment. The thing is, I
thought it was like the worst thing that
could ever happen to me. I left Chicago and
went home for two weeks and was off to
L.A. to seek my fortune and then did a
boneheaded thing like drive drunk.
S.Z.: Have you any connection to
I was basically stuck there (in Portland); I
was sentenced by the courts to live with my
homelessness?
parents for four months as an adult. I left
home when I was 17 or so. It was a massive
M.B.: I grew up always knowing that
blow to my ego. I felt like such an idiot. But
homelessness exists. It wasn’t that idea of a
I got to know my parents in a way that I
cartoon hobo idea that most people think of.
never did when I was a kid. That’s the heart
My parents are very active in social issues
of it. Obviously there is nothing funny about
and they actually
drunk driving and I
operate a food bank
don’t make that funny.
out of the church I
But afterward, for
The cool th in g about
grew up in. Now that
instance, I was left in
Bridgetown is we get the
they’re retired, that is
a holding cell by
kind of like their
famous people who want a
myself, still cuffed
behind my back and I
vocation.
free trip to Portland and
tried to snake the
want to be In Portland. We
cuffs over my feet. I,
S.Z.: Which church
false
them
on
fie
ld
trip
s
to
of course, got as far as
do they work out of?
my knees and I was
various Portland things» But
stuck. (Laughter) The we also get people, who no
M.B.: St. Andrews
cop came and opened
in Northeast
one's heard of, that are so
the cell and said,
Portland. It’s a pretty
fumayl"
“Well, what happened
‘MATT BRAÜfMCNER sweet church. It’s the
here?”
most progressive
Catholic church I’ve
S.Z.: You cofounded
certainly ever heard
the Bridgetown Comedy
of. The church was actually burned down in
Festival. Tell me about how that came about.
the 1930s because they welcomed black
M.B.: Andy Wood and Kimberly Brady
parishioners. It was rebuilt, of course.
S.Z.: You went to Grant High School. Were
According to the most recent census
figures, the average unemployment rate
for whites in Oregon: 8.7 percent
Dec. 6, 2013
'
cam e a fte r a show and said, H ey w e’re
th in k in g of sta rtin g a co m ed y festival an d I
was all the way in. I like coming to Portland
and doing shows and being with my folks. I
had a friend who used to book rock
clubs. The bands didn’t start until ten, so I
would ask to have the club from eight until
ten. My job with the festival for the first
couple of years - I’m way more involved
now - but my job for the longest time was
just to ask my famous friends to do it.
It ju st d o e s n ’t g e t any w o rse th a n being
homeless. It’s one of those things that
people really should think about, especially
in this economic climate. To me, it’s
immoral. If any property is costing upwards
of a few million dollars, that’s just gross.
I think people think homelessness is
something that, like when you get a sickness
like a cancer, you always think it’s not going
to happen to you. And you just never know,
you know.
S.Z.: I dare say that you and your
co-conspirators have marked Portland as a spot
on the comedy map. What is it like to foster
that in your hometown?
it?
M.B.: It’s kind of a no-brainer. Just for
Laughs is the SXSW of comedy. It’s so
industry heavy.
The cool thing about Bridgetown is we
get the famous people who want a free trip
to Portland and want to be in Portland. We
take them on field trips to various Portland
things. But we also get people, who no
one’s heard of, that are so funny!
We watch a lot of online content. We book
them because they’re funny not because
they are going to be a big draw come pilot
season. It’s just really funny people. The
M.B.: It lets us theme out. My job is to
make people not concentrate so much on
their troubles. It’s almost like when you
have a headache and you pinch a nerve in
your hand and you feel pain in your hand
and your headache goes away.
Comedy is a break. Anytime you laugh,
you are letting go of stress and you are
getting closer to where you should be which
is a state of well-being and a state of
enjoyment and love.
Everybody likes to laugh. It feels good
and it’s a natural human response.
S.Z.: What is the value o f comedy as you see
The new Chinook Book is here!
Kristina Wright | Real Estate Agent
B e llm o o r e R e a lty
5 03 /4 79 .5 76 4
Kristina@PortlandHome6al.com
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Featuring poetry from our Art Partner, Street Roots