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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 2, 2011)
arts & entertainment 11 Things You Don’t know About @YagirlRiss B orn and raised in Portland, Oregon, Rissa Riss is a professional comedi- an based in Los Vegas. Her career has taken her all across the Northwest as well as to LA, Austin, Houston and Dallas. She doesn’t know where her career will take her next. But she does know she’s going to enjoy the trip. “I love traveling and being constantly on the 1. move,” Rissa says. “And I love meeting people. The awesome thing about comedy is that you meet people all the time.” You might be backstage with Chris Rock and of course you’re waiting for him to say ‘Hey I’m going on a tour and I want you to come and host.’ But it takes a few years. I’m grit- ting and grinding.” Her first gig was an open mic at Roscoe’s on Southeast Stark St. off 82nd Avenue in Portland. Shout-out to the Montavilla neighborhood! Riss had a bad day, she says, so she started blowing off steam. “I just kind of ripped on my day; it was a tragic, tragic day and that crowd just laughed. I could hardly believe they were 2. laughing like that.” Rissa’s comedy mentor is Andre Paradise. Introduced to Paradise by inventor Georgio Johnson of Nyxio, Riss credits Paradise for her professional foun- dation. Paradise brought Rissa into the com- edy touring circuit and challenged her to 3. See riSSA riSS on page 7 t HE S kaNNEr N EwS 26tH aNNUaL M artIN L UtHEr k INg , J r . B r E a k fa S t Monday January 16, 2012 8:30-10:30 a.m. the Oregon Convention Center, 777 NE Martin Luther king, Jr. Blvd., Portland R Reserve a table: MLKBreakfast@theskanner.com R Call 503-285-5555 for more information A limited amount of non-profit tickets are available, first come first served Page 6 The Portland Skanner
