Jason Traeger
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Anyone who knows me knows I've never been one to revel in the past. I'm the last one to cast a misty-eyed glance back at the "good old days". In my experience the people who take this angle are usually the ones who weren't there. Whatever mistakes, false starts and missed opportunities I've had the pleasure of having, I was wherever I was for better or worse.

This blog is not meant to romanticize any choices I made or any particular era. It's simply a place where I share stories and take stock of where I've been as a way to figure out where I might want to go next. I'll celebrate some people along the way, some of them you'll know or know of, others will be new to you. I'm glad to have known every one of them.

The posts are in no thematic or chronological order. The date at the end of the post's title refers to how the content of the post relates to me personally. I make no claim about the accuracy of my recollections I only promise that I'll be as honest and accurate as I can be. If you were there and you remember things differently than I do, or you find evidence that contradicts my memory (I wouldn't be surprised or upset) feel free to let me know.

Rather than editing the posts for historical accuracy, I'll put ( * ) next to any parts that have been challenged or updated for that reason.


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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 
June 13, 2012
SAFEWAY CLUB CARD PHOTOBOOTH PHOTOS   OLYMPIA 1990’S I am a card carrying member of the club are you? If you’re not hip to the scene, just go down to your local Safeway and sign up, it feels good to be a part of something bigger than yourself and the it feels great to save money every time you shop! This is my first Safeway Club Card. I’ll never forget the day I got it…actually I have no idea when I got it. In fact all I remember about the card is that I resisted getting it through a few purchases at Safeway because it felt ridiculous and demeaning. I felt like I was being coerced to jump through a silly hoop by a huge corporation dangling the Pavlovian promise of “savings” in front of my face. Savings I could only get if I got the harmless little card. I could almost hear the genial spokesvoice over the P.A.: “Dear valued shopper, you don’t have to get the card or anything. No one is forcing you to get the card. If you really don’t want the card for some reason (we can’t imagine why) all you have to do is pay a little more for the things you’re buying today or go shop somewhere else, but why would you want to do that when you could simply join the club and get a nice new attractive card for your wallet? Won’t you join the club and be a part of our family of savings?” Okay, okay. Lemme have the card. I don’t know what the card does. I don’t know what it’s for. I don’t know how it is that stores could survive for centuries without the card, but WTF, I’m here now, buying this salsa and I want to save a dollar so I’ll take the card.  Fast forward 15 years… I shopped at Safeway yesterday, as I do occasionally, and I used my current Club Card to save $3.33 which was 12% of the cost of my total purchase. Imagine how much I’ve saved since getting my first Club Card back in the 1990’s! I’ve probably saved enough to buy a plane ticket to an exotic vacation destination. All because I took the leap and joined the club. Thank you Safeway! Speaking of clubs, there once was a club in Olympia called the North Shore Surf Club where bands used to play. I saw a couple shows there when it was the NSSC but its heyday was before my time in Olympia. I saw more shows in the room when it was called Thekla.  I won’t go on too much about the venue because I’m not especially qualified to, I’ll just say it hosted tons of great bands over the years. Bands like Black Flag(*), Nirvana, The White Stripes, Beat Happening, Bikini Kill, Bad Brains, on and on. My most vivid memories of the place are not of shows at all but rather they’re of the ordinary weeknights when the place was just a bar where different friends of mine and I would hang out and have a good time. Thekla was home to a really fun Karaoke night. Jared Warren of KARP, The Whip, Big Business, The Melvins fame was sometimes the KJ for those nights. Was Kathleen Hanna a KJ there too? My memories are a little foggy. Who worked there? Did Brian Boswell? Vern Rumsey comes to mind (*). Why am I asking you? The Karaoke scene was a blast. I remember Chris Smith from KARP doing his spot-on Brian Johnson on “You Shook Me All Night Long”, then there was that one guy who always did “Friends in Low Places” by Garth Brooks, I myself pretty much always did, and still do, Journey or GnR. I remember one time when Ad-Rock was in town, he got up and did “U Can’t Touch This” by M.C. Hammer. As he stumbled through the track I was standing next to a hippie fella who turned his open-mouthed gaze from the stage to a friend standing beside him and said “That dude sounds like the guy from the Beastie Boys” It was true, in fact he sounded exactly like him.  Thekla was home to another import from Japan as well: one of those new-fangled digital photobooths with the silly caption and border options. This is the place in the story where the the Safeway Club and local night club meet because I used my Club Card as a wallet gallery of my friend’s sticker portraits. Looking at the card today I see a nice little snapshot of the time as I knew it. This snapshot has a particular poignance because Scott Jernigan (top center) isn’t here to read this post and make a funny comment about his funny face. To say Scott was one of the most talented (really talented as in world class, drum-hero drummer), sweetest, and funniest people I’ve known still feels like I’m selling the guy short somehow. I guess it’s the past tense phrasing that gets me: he’s gone but on the other hand, he isn’t really gone at all. Maybe it’s the Facebook effect, where everyone we’ve ever known seems to be out there somewhere doing their thing or maybe it’s just that his energy is too near and vital to the many people who love him, myself included. It just doesn’t feel appropriate to use the past tense when talking about him so I won’t. It’s not a cliche, it’s a fact that Scott lives on in all the people who love him and hold his memory and his music dear. I’ll leave it to you to figure out who else is who on the card (consult the tags for the answer key). I’ll close by saying that that happy looking, attractive couple in the bottom right hand corner, Casey Lynn McKee and Noah Herlocker, are now married and have two of the coolest, funniest kids ever. Those kids are almost as funny as Scott Jernigan! I don’t mean to sound glib about it, it’s just that as you get older and you say goodbye to more members of your family it is very heartening to meet fresh new additions to the human family that have a spark that makes you believe there is hope for us all in this crazy crap-shoot. Hakuna matata, that beat up old circle of life bounces along. *Sarah Utter says: “Jared was the KJ at the ‘new thekla’ and Kathleen was the KJ at the original. good times. employees were Brian Boswell, Vern Rumsey, Mike Elvin, Jennifer Hukee, myself (new thekla) and countless other weirdo punks. Joe Preston checked id’s for a while!” *Tobi Vail says: “Before it was the North Shore Surf Club it was just The Surf Club a teen disco for 80’s new wave kids. Their 80’s night was weird because they often played the same songs as they did in the 80’s to the same audience who were in their 30’s. Black Flag played The Tropicana not Surf Club! A very surreal moment for me was watching Alec Mackaye dance to Styx Mr Roboto at Thekla’s 80’s night in 1996 after Berzerk covered Minor Threat opening for the Warmers in the building where the Trop used to be….which is called Jake’s now…I can’t’ remember what it used to be called though?” R.I.P. and hilarity Scott Jernigan. (Safeway Club Card from my personal archives)

SAFEWAY CLUB CARD PHOTOBOOTH PHOTOS   OLYMPIA 1990’S

I am a card carrying member of the club are you? If you’re not hip to the scene, just go down to your local Safeway and sign up, it feels good to be a part of something bigger than yourself and the it feels great to save money every time you shop!

This is my first Safeway Club Card. I’ll never forget the day I got it…actually I have no idea when I got it. In fact all I remember about the card is that I resisted getting it through a few purchases at Safeway because it felt ridiculous and demeaning. I felt like I was being coerced to jump through a silly hoop by a huge corporation dangling the Pavlovian promise of “savings” in front of my face. Savings I could only get if I got the harmless little card.

I could almost hear the genial spokesvoice over the P.A.:

“Dear valued shopper, you don’t have to get the card or anything. No one is forcing you to get the card. If you really don’t want the card for some reason (we can’t imagine why) all you have to do is pay a little more for the things you’re buying today or go shop somewhere else, but why would you want to do that when you could simply join the club and get a nice new attractive card for your wallet? Won’t you join the club and be a part of our family of savings?”

Okay, okay. Lemme have the card. I don’t know what the card does. I don’t know what it’s for. I don’t know how it is that stores could survive for centuries without the card, but WTF, I’m here now, buying this salsa and I want to save a dollar so I’ll take the card. 

Fast forward 15 years…

I shopped at Safeway yesterday, as I do occasionally, and I used my current Club Card to save $3.33 which was 12% of the cost of my total purchase. Imagine how much I’ve saved since getting my first Club Card back in the 1990’s! I’ve probably saved enough to buy a plane ticket to an exotic vacation destination. All because I took the leap and joined the club. Thank you Safeway!

Speaking of clubs, there once was a club in Olympia called the North Shore Surf Club where bands used to play. I saw a couple shows there when it was the NSSC but its heyday was before my time in Olympia. I saw more shows in the room when it was called Thekla.  I won’t go on too much about the venue because I’m not especially qualified to, I’ll just say it hosted tons of great bands over the years. Bands like Black Flag(*), Nirvana, The White Stripes, Beat Happening, Bikini Kill, Bad Brains, on and on.

My most vivid memories of the place are not of shows at all but rather they’re of the ordinary weeknights when the place was just a bar where different friends of mine and I would hang out and have a good time. Thekla was home to a really fun Karaoke night. Jared Warren of KARP, The Whip, Big Business, The Melvins fame was sometimes the KJ for those nights. Was Kathleen Hanna a KJ there too? My memories are a little foggy. Who worked there? Did Brian Boswell? Vern Rumsey comes to mind (*). Why am I asking you?

The Karaoke scene was a blast. I remember Chris Smith from KARP doing his spot-on Brian Johnson on “You Shook Me All Night Long”, then there was that one guy who always did “Friends in Low Places” by Garth Brooks, I myself pretty much always did, and still do, Journey or GnR. I remember one time when Ad-Rock was in town, he got up and did “U Can’t Touch This” by M.C. Hammer. As he stumbled through the track I was standing next to a hippie fella who turned his open-mouthed gaze from the stage to a friend standing beside him and said “That dude sounds like the guy from the Beastie Boys” It was true, in fact he sounded exactly like him. 

Thekla was home to another import from Japan as well: one of those new-fangled digital photobooths with the silly caption and border options. This is the place in the story where the the Safeway Club and local night club meet because I used my Club Card as a wallet gallery of my friend’s sticker portraits.

Looking at the card today I see a nice little snapshot of the time as I knew it. This snapshot has a particular poignance because Scott Jernigan (top center) isn’t here to read this post and make a funny comment about his funny face. To say Scott was one of the most talented (really talented as in world class, drum-hero drummer), sweetest, and funniest people I’ve known still feels like I’m selling the guy short somehow. I guess it’s the past tense phrasing that gets me: he’s gone but on the other hand, he isn’t really gone at all.

Maybe it’s the Facebook effect, where everyone we’ve ever known seems to be out there somewhere doing their thing or maybe it’s just that his energy is too near and vital to the many people who love him, myself included. It just doesn’t feel appropriate to use the past tense when talking about him so I won’t. It’s not a cliche, it’s a fact that Scott lives on in all the people who love him and hold his memory and his music dear.

I’ll leave it to you to figure out who else is who on the card (consult the tags for the answer key). I’ll close by saying that that happy looking, attractive couple in the bottom right hand corner, Casey Lynn McKee and Noah Herlocker, are now married and have two of the coolest, funniest kids ever. Those kids are almost as funny as Scott Jernigan!

I don’t mean to sound glib about it, it’s just that as you get older and you say goodbye to more members of your family it is very heartening to meet fresh new additions to the human family that have a spark that makes you believe there is hope for us all in this crazy crap-shoot.

Hakuna matata, that beat up old circle of life bounces along.

*Sarah Utter says: “Jared was the KJ at the ‘new thekla’ and Kathleen was the KJ at the original. good times. employees were Brian Boswell, Vern Rumsey, Mike Elvin, Jennifer Hukee, myself (new thekla) and countless other weirdo punks. Joe Preston checked id’s for a while!”

*Tobi Vail says: “Before it was the North Shore Surf Club it was just The Surf Club a teen disco for 80’s new wave kids. Their 80’s night was weird because they often played the same songs as they did in the 80’s to the same audience who were in their 30’s. Black Flag played The Tropicana not Surf Club!

A very surreal moment for me was watching Alec Mackaye dance to Styx Mr Roboto at Thekla’s 80’s night in 1996 after Berzerk covered Minor Threat opening for the Warmers in the building where the Trop used to be….which is called Jake’s now…I can’t’ remember what it used to be called though?”

R.I.P. and hilarity Scott Jernigan.

(Safeway Club Card from my personal archives)

11:33am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Zl8DhvNKADug
(Notes: 10)
  
Filed under: ad rock beastie boys brian boswell carrie brownstein casey mckee chris smith corin tucker digital photobooth enemymine jenny rose karp kathleen hanna laura and gretchen melvins nirvana noah herlocker northshore surf club olympia pete chramiec photobooth ryan baldoz safeway sara lund sarah utter scott jernigan sleater kinney thekla unwound ursala verbal assault 
March 21, 2012
BLACK FLAG SUBHUMANS SACCHARINE TRUST NORWAY CENTER SEATTLE 1982 Thisis a flyer for the Black Flag show I was talking about in my post about Alex from Green River. I remember this show for a few reasons: 1) I was a 14 year old kid seeing five-piece Black Flag in 1982 for christ’s sake! 2) Ron Reyes (BF’s old singer) did a song with them. I had recently watched The Decline and was way stoked about this. 3) Nig Heist nearly started a riot. I’d never seen that kind of mayhem. 4) Vancouver Subhumans were also one of my fave regional bands and were awesome. 5) I met Henry, Dez and Ron Reyes at the show. They were actually nice to me. I’ve since heard that also attending this particular show were: Buzz Osbourne, Dale Crover, Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic, Bessie Oakley, Jone Stebbins, Calvin Johnson, Mark Arm, Lois Maffeo, Bruce Pavitt, Tom Niemeyer, Duff MacKagan and as I mentioned Alex Shumway and many more. There were probably only a couple hundred kids there. I hope I still have a copy of this flyer somewhere. I got the image seen here off the web.

BLACK FLAG SUBHUMANS SACCHARINE TRUST NORWAY CENTER SEATTLE 1982

Thisis a flyer for the Black Flag show I was talking about in my post about Alex from Green River. I remember this show for a few reasons:

1) I was a 14 year old kid seeing five-piece Black Flag in 1982 for christ’s sake!

2) Ron Reyes (BF’s old singer) did a song with them. I had recently watched The Decline and was way stoked about this.

3) Nig Heist nearly started a riot. I’d never seen that kind of mayhem.

4) Vancouver Subhumans were also one of my fave regional bands and were awesome.

5) I met Henry, Dez and Ron Reyes at the show. They were actually nice to me.

I’ve since heard that also attending this particular show were: Buzz Osbourne, Dale Crover, Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic, Bessie Oakley, Jone Stebbins, Calvin Johnson, Mark Arm, Lois Maffeo, Bruce Pavitt, Tom Niemeyer, Duff MacKagan and as I mentioned Alex Shumway and many more. There were probably only a couple hundred kids there. I hope I still have a copy of this flyer somewhere. I got the image seen here off the web.

4:29pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Zl8DhvIMMulS
(Notes: 1)
  
Filed under: black flag melvins nirvana saccharine trust sllly killers subhumans seattle kurt cobain duff macKagan Calvin Johnson Imperial teen mudhoney grunge lois maffeo accused 
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