Arts & Entertainment
The Hardest Working Street Musician in Portland has Died
A
daily fixture playing trumpet and doing clown tricks
on the West end of the Hawthorne Bridge for years,
Working Kirk Reeves has died.
A memorial service is Sunday, Nov. 18 at Kirk’s spot on
the bridge. There will be a small performance, then at dark
candles will be lit to honor the best-known street musician
in Portland.
A native of Massachusetts, Working Kirk was an artist
who struggled to find his place in the entertainment indus-
try, said his friend Wanda Broadous.
“This was a guy who was very humble. Very loving, very
caring,” Broadous said. “He could not make it as far as his
dream of playing the trumpet as an entertainer.”
Broadous, a promoter through her company Broadous
Entertainment, says that he worked for her in many street
gigs.
Typically Kirk wore a white tuxedo – with a hoodie under
it during the winter months — and sat in his place playing
trumpet songs, juggling and his signature magic trick that
involved a round balloon.
He also performed in Downtown Portland outside the
Meier and Frank store, and had a comedy show on Portland
Cable Access named for his own company — Low Come-
dy Productions. He was a regular guest at OryiCon from
2004-2009, according to his LinkedIn page.
That page also listed his groups and associations as Black
engineers of MIT, MIT Model Railroad Society, and MIT
science fiction society.
Broadous says passersby were sometimes abusive to
Kirk, throwing objects at him as he performed.
The Oregon State Medical Examiner reported that Kirk
died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at Bybee Lake in
north Portland.
“Help is available for community members struggling
from a mental health crisis and/or suicidal thoughts,” the
state office said. “Suicide is preventable.”
“I think we need to take this opportunity to educate peo-
ple about supporting these artists,” she said. “Kirk was a
wonderful, wonderful man, and we will miss him.”
RESOURCES ARE AVAILABLE
Are you feeling depressed or suicidal? Cascadia Behav-
ioral Healthcare has a free of charge urgent walk-in
clinic, open from 7 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., seven days a
week.
If you or someone you know needs help with suicidal
thoughts or is otherwise in an immediate mental health
crisis, please visit Cascadia or call 503-963-2575.
Lines for Life is available 24 hours a day at 503-972-
3456.
‘Working Kirk’ Reeves
Movies
continued from page 6
a promotion. With Annie Parisse, Edward Herrmann and
Cheyenne Jackson.
Who Bombed Judi Bari? (Unrated) Freedom of Infor-
mation documentary seeking the truth about the FBI
frame-up of cancer-stricken Judi Bari, an environmental
activist who was arrested on trumped-up charges back in
1990 while trying to save California’s Redwood forests
from the lumber industry buzz saw.
November 14, 2012
The Portland Skanner Page 7