November 26, 2012
THE JASON TRAEGER SHOW  OLYMPIA 2000  My Stand-up comedy career can be divided into three periods. As a child I made a practice of memorizing routines and bits by Cheech and Chong, Steve Martin and George Carlin to perform for my friends and classmates. In fact my first performance in front of an audience was in 1977 when I did a medley of bits culled from Steve Martin’s classic albums of that era in front of my fourth grade class at Moorlands Elementary School in Bothell, Wa.  I was a big hit with the kids but my teacher was less approving. She was especially upset when I did the joke “…when a person asks me in a restaurant ‘mind if I smoke?’, I ask them ‘mind if I fart?’” Of course the joke that drew the most ire from my teacher got the biggest laugh of all from the kids. I was hooked! As a nine year old stand-up in the late 70’s I found it exceedingly difficult to make a career of it. This was, after all, a few years before the comedy explosion of the 80’s and at the time I wasn’t allowed to stay up past 9pm so it was tough. Once I’d exhausted all the audiences in my immediate surroundings I put my comedy dreams on the back burner to pursue the completion of my primary school education. It wasn’t until about 25 years later while living in Olympia, WA. that I got back into Stand-up. I don’t remember exactly what inspired me to start hitting open mics at that time. I do remember feeling inspired after seeing Mitch Hedberg and Marc Maron a few months apart at a club in Oly that briefly hosted comedy around that time. I think those shows helped push me to give it another go. The time was right. This second, middle-era of my Stand-up career started primarily at Seattle’s Comedy Underground and at Giggles out in the U District and then at Comedy Underground’s Tacoma location. I eventually moved back to California (I’d lived there in the 80’s and 90’s) spending sometime in SF performing at places like Brainwash, then in LA performing at various spots around town most frequently at the Lucy’s Laundromat on Sunset in Silverlake. This era culminated with a national tour I did doing Stand-up as an opener for musical acts Scout Niblett and Swearing at Motorists. I learned a lot on that tour. Among other things I learned that doing Stand-up in Baton Rouge, LA. at a biker/frat bar is not for the faint of heart. I also learned that while it seems like a bad idea to do a fistful of magic mushrooms before going onstage in front of hundreds in Dallas, TX., it’s not as bad an idea as you might think. When I got back to LA after that tour I didn’t know which way was up and I’d pretty much lost the trail completely in my life. I just didn’t have the center of gravity to do much of anything so I moved back to the Northwest, bounced around a little, went to art school, studied painting, blew through some money, played music, got jobs, left jobs, lost jobs, I was in a fantastic art collective called Oregon Painting Society that did comedy shows from time to time, did tons of shows with OPS, performed at the Tate Modern in London, quit drugs and alcohol, did a couple Stand-up shows in art-world settings, and all kinds of other stuff. About five months ago I started doing Stand-up again here in Portland. This begins the third chapter of my career. I don’t know why I started back up exactly. It’s true I was running out of patience with the vagaries of the art world, I couldn’t afford to throw every penny toward a painting career that got plenty of attention but almost no sales at all, I also was transitioning into being single again, and I was frankly a little bored with music. I wanted a form of expression that was compatible with working a lot and being strapped for cash. More than anything else though I just felt a calling to get back into it. In Portland I’ve found Stand-up comedy heaven. It’s a great scene with tons of open mics in a bunch of great rooms. There are a slew of talented young and not-so young comics, the scene is creative, fresh, friendly and I can’t imagine it’s not at the beginning of a comedy explosion of sorts. All the pieces are in place. I am more excited by and engaged in comedy than I’ve ever been and it feels great.  I’ve also been able to combine my love of visual art with my comedy career by sketching the ever changing faces and places of Portland comedy. I show my drawings on my Portland Stand-up Comedy Sketchbook Tumblr. The above flyer is from a show at the ABC house in Olympia that was a held as a fundraising benefit prior to my move to California. I’m a little unsure as to what year that would’ve been. 2000 maybe? The flyer was drawn by my dear friend and brilliant artist Tae Won Yu. The bill featured my friends Lindsay Arnold who was making the rounds as a Stand-up at the time and Jared Warren of KARP, The Whip, Big Business and Melvins fame. Jared was between bands and was another one of my Stand-up Comedy mates for my trips up to Seattle to The Comedy Underground. Both Jared and Lindsay were and still are hilarious. Lindsay is a lawyer now and Jared is a rockstar still.  Me? I’m a Stand-up comic! If you wanna see me do my thing go to almost any open mic in Portland. If I’m not on stage just look for the guy with the sketchbook. (The Jason Traeger Show flyer by Tae Won Yu from my personal archives.)

THE JASON TRAEGER SHOW  OLYMPIA 2000 

My Stand-up comedy career can be divided into three periods.

As a child I made a practice of memorizing routines and bits by Cheech and Chong, Steve Martin and George Carlin to perform for my friends and classmates. In fact my first performance in front of an audience was in 1977 when I did a medley of bits culled from Steve Martin’s classic albums of that era in front of my fourth grade class at Moorlands Elementary School in Bothell, Wa. 

I was a big hit with the kids but my teacher was less approving. She was especially upset when I did the joke “…when a person asks me in a restaurant ‘mind if I smoke?’, I ask them ‘mind if I fart?’” Of course the joke that drew the most ire from my teacher got the biggest laugh of all from the kids. I was hooked!

As a nine year old stand-up in the late 70’s I found it exceedingly difficult to make a career of it. This was, after all, a few years before the comedy explosion of the 80’s and at the time I wasn’t allowed to stay up past 9pm so it was tough. Once I’d exhausted all the audiences in my immediate surroundings I put my comedy dreams on the back burner to pursue the completion of my primary school education.

It wasn’t until about 25 years later while living in Olympia, WA. that I got back into Stand-up. I don’t remember exactly what inspired me to start hitting open mics at that time. I do remember feeling inspired after seeing Mitch Hedberg and Marc Maron a few months apart at a club in Oly that briefly hosted comedy around that time. I think those shows helped push me to give it another go. The time was right.

This second, middle-era of my Stand-up career started primarily at Seattle’s Comedy Underground and at Giggles out in the U District and then at Comedy Underground’s Tacoma location. I eventually moved back to California (I’d lived there in the 80’s and 90’s) spending sometime in SF performing at places like Brainwash, then in LA performing at various spots around town most frequently at the Lucy’s Laundromat on Sunset in Silverlake. This era culminated with a national tour I did doing Stand-up as an opener for musical acts Scout Niblett and Swearing at Motorists. I learned a lot on that tour. Among other things I learned that doing Stand-up in Baton Rouge, LA. at a biker/frat bar is not for the faint of heart. I also learned that while it seems like a bad idea to do a fistful of magic mushrooms before going onstage in front of hundreds in Dallas, TX., it’s not as bad an idea as you might think.

When I got back to LA after that tour I didn’t know which way was up and I’d pretty much lost the trail completely in my life. I just didn’t have the center of gravity to do much of anything so I moved back to the Northwest, bounced around a little, went to art school, studied painting, blew through some money, played music, got jobs, left jobs, lost jobs, I was in a fantastic art collective called Oregon Painting Society that did comedy shows from time to time, did tons of shows with OPS, performed at the Tate Modern in London, quit drugs and alcohol, did a couple Stand-up shows in art-world settings, and all kinds of other stuff.

About five months ago I started doing Stand-up again here in Portland. This begins the third chapter of my career. I don’t know why I started back up exactly. It’s true I was running out of patience with the vagaries of the art world, I couldn’t afford to throw every penny toward a painting career that got plenty of attention but almost no sales at all, I also was transitioning into being single again, and I was frankly a little bored with music. I wanted a form of expression that was compatible with working a lot and being strapped for cash. More than anything else though I just felt a calling to get back into it.

In Portland I’ve found Stand-up comedy heaven. It’s a great scene with tons of open mics in a bunch of great rooms. There are a slew of talented young and not-so young comics, the scene is creative, fresh, friendly and I can’t imagine it’s not at the beginning of a comedy explosion of sorts. All the pieces are in place. I am more excited by and engaged in comedy than I’ve ever been and it feels great. 

I’ve also been able to combine my love of visual art with my comedy career by sketching the ever changing faces and places of Portland comedy. I show my drawings on my Portland Stand-up Comedy Sketchbook Tumblr.

The above flyer is from a show at the ABC house in Olympia that was a held as a fundraising benefit prior to my move to California. I’m a little unsure as to what year that would’ve been. 2000 maybe? The flyer was drawn by my dear friend and brilliant artist Tae Won Yu. The bill featured my friends Lindsay Arnold who was making the rounds as a Stand-up at the time and Jared Warren of KARP, The Whip, Big Business and Melvins fame. Jared was between bands and was another one of my Stand-up Comedy mates for my trips up to Seattle to The Comedy Underground. Both Jared and Lindsay were and still are hilarious. Lindsay is a lawyer now and Jared is a rockstar still. 

Me? I’m a Stand-up comic! If you wanna see me do my thing go to almost any open mic in Portland. If I’m not on stage just look for the guy with the sketchbook.

(The Jason Traeger Show flyer by Tae Won Yu from my personal archives.)

4:10pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Zl8DhvY73cX5
(Notes: 8)
  
Filed under: Jared Warren abc house karp karp lives melvins metal olympia polar bears punk tae won yu tight bros from way back when stand up comedy open mic portland san francisco lucy's laundry mart mitch hedberg marc maron 
April 13, 2012

SOUTH CAPITOL PLAYERS  X-MAS: THE MUSICAL  OLYMPIA 1990’s

Today I was listening to an interview with Carrie Brownstein on Marc Maron’s wonderful WTF Podcast. When Maron asked her about her experiences in acting and comedy prior to her work on Portlandia she mentioned a few high school classes and summer camp productions she was a part of before picking up the guitar but she failed to mention her first  (very) semi-professional comedic acting experience after she started rocking. That would be her time as a member of The South Capitol Players in Olympia in the 90’s.

WTF indeed!

Her time with the SCP’s may have simply slipped her mind or it could be that she was hoping to forget the image of herself dressed as the quintessential suburban holiday housewife the night the troupe staged X-Mas:The Musical at the Midnight Sun in downtown Olympia. I personally thought she looked amazing and hilarious with her bob haircut, stirrup pants, patent leather shoes and applique Christmas sweatshirt. A comedic star was born!

The South Capitol Players troupe was the brainchild of Lois Maffeo, Star Seifert, Calvin Johnson , Carrie, and myself. We’d have additional actors from the community join us to round out the cast here and there. On this particular production we were joined by our friends Steve Dore, Brian Boswell, Pete Chramiec, Sarah Dougher, and Pat Castaldo. 

I can’t recall exactly how the troupe came to be or even how many shows we did as the SCP’s. I wouldn’t be surprised if Lois was the ringleader of the whole thing as she always had a special ability to wrangle together the elements that needed wrangling in order to make good things happen in town at that time.

It’s worth noting that these kinds of D.I.Y comedy, musicals, and performance art events were not an uncommon part of the scene back then. Though that era in Olympia is defined in many people’s minds by the music it produced and exported to the world, I think the thing that made that place and time so vital was that it was such a well-rounded creative community that produced and nurtured all sorts of creative modes and producers.

It was not unusual in that era to see a performance art experience by Miranda July one week, a Riot Grrrl-centric show with bands, political ranters, and poetry readings the next, followed by a film festival, a punk-rock triple bill, or a sketch comedy show by The South Capitol Players! Looking back I feel like these sorts of community made events might have reached an apex with the ultra-realized, futuristic, gender f-cked, out-queer, heavy-metal punk-rock musical blow-out The Transfused written by Nomy Lamm, starring The Need and a cast far too big to name. When The Transfused hit the stage at The Capitol Theater in front of a packed house everyone knew they were seeing something really special produced by a scene that was really special. It was mind-blowing!

(Where’s the Wikipedia for The Transfused? Maybe it’ll be my first foray into writing one!?)

We may not have been the apex of anything, but oh well… back to The South Capitol Players…

Judging by the program I’d say we did at least three productions, maybe more. I do recall putting on a sketch show one time upstairs at the Capitol Theater that was quite amusing. At that show I did a heavy metal clinic as guitar god Lazer St. Germain where I taught the audience the “funda-metals” of playing histrionic solos while Sean Kelly made my guitar sounds with mouth noises into a mic from offstage.

I remember that among the thirty or so people there that night was Ad-Rock from The Beasties who was in town visiting his then girlfriend, now wife Kathleen Hanna. I probably only remember that detail because, well…he’s Ad-Rock from The Beasties for f’s sake…

…and because he was cracking up hard at the South Capitol Players.

South Capitol Players Present X-Mas: The Musical Program from my personal archives.


(Source: jasonotraeger)

8:49pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Zl8DhvJdanRX
(Notes: 15)
  
Filed under: south capitol players carrie brownstein lois maffeo calvin johnson buy olympia sean kelly ad-rock the transfused nomy lamm the need miranda july olympia marc maron portlandia star seifert steve dore riot grrl kathleen hanna