Andy Wood | |
|---|---|
 Andrew "Andy" Wood | |
| Occupation | Stand-Up Comedian/Producer of Bridgetown Comedy Festival |
| Years active | 2005 - Present |
Andrew "Andy" Wood (born 1977) is an American comedian and a founder/producer of Portland's Bridgetown Comedy Festival. He is a native of Ann Arbor, Michigan currently residing in Los Angeles, California.
Wood has performed at the Bumbershoot Arts Festival, the Seattle International Comedy Competition, the Portland Amateur Comedy Competition, SF Sketchfest [1] and the Bentzen Ball. [2] He has performed with comedy acts such as Patton Oswalt, Todd Glass, Doug Benson and Janeane Garofalo. [3] He graduated from Huron High School (Ann Arbor, Michigan) in 1995 and took his degree in Electrical Engineering at Cornell University in 1999. Before he became a comedian, Wood was an engineer at Pixelworks. [4]
Wood is one of the hosts of the popular podcast Probably Science [5] where he and other comedians talk about science news stories. While Wood does have a background in science, the podcast is meant for humor and entertainment and is not intended to provide accurate scientific information. He affectionately refers to the show as "Your week in half-assed science."
As tri-founder of the Festival, Wood is responsible in part for "the fastest-growing comedy extravaganza in America." [6] Successively larger and better-planned comedy festivals prompted one reviewer to comment, ". . . as usual, organizer Andy Wood and his royal army of geniuses outdid themselves. How can you make something already great even better? I'm not sure, but it happened." [7] In late 2009, the Portland Mercury reviewed the festival, stating that, "Bridgetown (or should we say, Andy Wood) is changing Portland comedy" [8] and the following year, the Portland Monthly stated that Wood "deserves several rounds of applause for making the fest happen . . . ." [9] In his work as a comedy promoter, Wood created a venue where the comedy market was struggling, and has promoted the venue to as a regional and national event. [10] Part of Wood's approach in creating 'draw' to a weak comedy market was to couple art with philanthropy. [11]
In October 2007, comedians Andy Wood and Matt Braunger and comedy fan Kim Brady created a comedy festival based in Portland, Oregon with Patton Oswalt as the first headliner. Bridgetown hospitality coordinator Jen Lane joined the effort, suggesting Portland's Hawthorne district as the site. In addition to Oswalt, the 2008 Festival featured Tig Notaro (comedian, The Sarah Silverman Program); Matt Braunger (founder and Portland native); Morgan Murphy (writer, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon); Natasha Leggero (comedian, Reno 911!); and Chris Fairbanks (comedian, Fuel TV). The 2008 Festival garnered some sixty performers. [12]
The 2009 Bridgetown Comedy Festival was headlined by Janeane Garofalo (Saturday Night Live and The Larry Sanders Show alumnus), and featured Andy Kaufman Award-winners Reggie Watts and Brent Weinbach. It added long-form improv and podcasts to the schedule. [13]
The 2010 Festival featured 170 performers at nine venues and featured long-form improv, podcasts by comedian Marc Maron (and stand-up performance) and Jimmy Pardo, and comics including: Maria Bamford, Tim Meadows, Scott Adsit, Tig Notaro, Greg Behrendt, Christian Finnegan, Matt Besser, Matt Walsh, Matt Braunger, Danny Pudi, Steve Agee, T.J. Miller, and Hannibal Buress. [14] [15] [16] [17] [18]
Wood joined the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity at Cornell University, and through that organization, the Irving Literary Society. [19]
Alternative comedy is a term coined in the 1980s for a style of comedy that makes a conscious break with the mainstream comedic style of an era. The phrase has had different connotations in different contexts: in the UK, it was used to describe content that was an "alternative" to the mainstream stand-up of the day which took place in working men's clubs, and was characterised by unoriginal gags often containing elements of sexism and racism. In other contexts, it is the nature of the form that is "alternative", avoiding reliance on a standardised structure of a sequence of jokes with punch lines. Patton Oswalt has defined it as "comedy where the audience has no pre-set expectations about the crowd, and vice versa. In comedy clubs, there tends to be a certain vibe—alternative comedy explores different types of material."
The Majority Report with Sam Seder is a left wing, progressive internet talk radio program and podcast hosted by Sam Seder. The program focuses on the discussion of current events and political affairs from a social democratic, democratic socialist and progressive standpoint; to this end, comedy and satire are used from time to time to make key points. Originally airing on the Air America radio network, from March 2004 until July 2006 the show was hosted by Janeane Garofalo; Garofalo was reportedly originally asked by Air America to host the program and suggested Seder as a co-host.
Eugene Boris Mirman is a Russian-American actor, comedian, and writer, known for playing Yvgeny Mirminsky on Delocated and Gene Belcher on the animated comedy Bob's Burgers.
Harry Doupe is a Canadian stand-up comedian, producer, and writer from Fort Langley, British Columbia. He has performed shows at clubs, theatres, and arenas across North America. He was the first comedian to perform three times at Toronto's Air Canada Centre, MC-ing shows for The Tragically Hip on their New Year's Eve 1999 and New Year's Day 2000 shows, as well as opening for "Weird Al" Yankovic on his "Running With Scissors" Tour.
Adam Cayton-Holland is an American stand-up comedian from Denver, Colorado best known for his work with the comedy trio The Grawlix and their sitcom television series Those Who Can't. Cayton-Holland is also a writer who has been published in numerous regional and national publications; his first book, Tragedy Plus Time: A Tragi-Comic Memoir, received the 2019 Colorado Book Award for Creative Non-Fiction. He is the founder and executive director of High Plains Comedy Festival. As a comic, he is a regular headliner at clubs and colleges throughout the United States and abroad.
The Aspen RooftopComedy Festival was a stand-up comedy festival that was held annually in Aspen, Colorado on or around the Memorial Day Weekend since 2008. The festival is the concept of Roxane Davis and the City of Aspen. Davis, a consultant and producer, created the partnership between rooftopcomedy.com and Aspen's Wheeler Opera House, a historic theater located in downtown Aspen.
Matthew Braunger is an American actor, writer, and stand-up comedian. His most recent special Finally Live In Portland was launched by Comedy Dynamics in 2019. Outside of performing stand-up, Braunger is noted for being a cast member on MADtv during its final season in 2008–2009, numerous guest star roles, and numerous voice over roles.
Janeane Garofalo is an American comedian, actress, and former co-host on Air America Radio's The Majority Report.
Comedy Bang! Bang! is a weekly comedy audio podcast, which originally began airing as a radio show on May 1, 2009. Popularly known as Humanity and the Animal Kingdom's Podcast, it is hosted by writer and comedian Scott Aukerman, best known for his work on the 1990s HBO sketch comedy program Mr. Show with Bob and David, creating and hosting the Comedy Bang! Bang! TV series, and co-founding the weekly Comedy Death-Ray stage show at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Hollywood.
Brendon Michael Walsh is an American stand-up comedian and podcaster originally from Philadelphia.
Chunklet is a Georgia-based American humor and music magazine founded by Henry H. Owings in 1993.
Ken Reid is an American standup comedian based in Boston.
Cole Stratton is an American actor, comedian, podcaster, writer and producer, best known as one of the Co-Founders of SF Sketchfest, the San Francisco Comedy Festival and the co-host of the Pop My Culture Podcast.
RISK! is a weekly podcast and live storytelling show created and hosted by writer, actor, and storyteller Kevin Allison. The show's official website describes RISK! as a place "where people tell true stories they never thought they'd dare to share in public". RISK! started as a weekly live storytelling series in August 2009. Chris Castiglione and Jeff Barr joined in 2010 as part of the founding team. JC Cassis joined the production team in 2011.
FYF Fest was an annual three-day music festival held at the Los Angeles Exposition Park in Los Angeles, California. It was founded by Sean Carlson in 2004 and later solely produced by Goldenvoice, a subsidiary of AEG Live. The event showcased many genres of music, including rock, pop, indie, electronic and hip hop as well as art installations and sculptures. The festival also had its own night market where people could buy food while watching the concerts. Throughout the whole park, four stages hosted live music. There was the Main Stage, the Lawn, the Arena, and the newest installment of the Woods.
April Richardson is an American stand-up comedian. She was a round table regular on the television show Chelsea Lately and a frequent contestant on @midnight. She is from Atlanta, Georgia.
The Bridgetown Comedy Festival was a stand-up comedy festival located in the Hawthorne district of Portland, Oregon that took place every spring from 2008 to 2017, featuring standup comedy showcases, live podcasts, panel discussions and improv comedy. It was created in October 2007 by comedians Andy Wood and Matt Braunger and filmmaker Kimberly Brady.
Karinda Dobbins is an American comedian. She co-produces the monthly comedy show The Resistance! alongside Dhaya Lakshminarayanan, has regularly opened for W. Kamau Bell, and additionally opened for Trevor Noah, Gina Yashere, Michelle Wolf, and Dave Chappelle. She has performed at festivals such as the Desi Comedy Fest, the Portland Queer Comedy Festival, Bridgetown Comedy Festival, and Comedy Central's Colossal Clusterfest. In 2019, SFist named her one of their 13 San Francisco Standup Comedians to Go See Now.
Tony Sam is an American stand-up comedian, writer, actor, and Emmy-winning television producer from Chicago, now living in Los Angeles. In 2015, LA Weekly named him one of 10 Comedy Acts To Watch.
Rebecca O'Neal is an American comedian and writer. She gained prominence performing stand-up comedy in her hometown of Chicago. O'Neal was featured on an episode of Comedy Central Stand-Up Featuring, 2 Dope Queens, and Easy.
