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Bryan Bixby wants Portland to know that he isn’t shuffling off this mortal coil—he’s just moving to Chicago.
“I will definitely be back in Portland at some point,” the acclaimed comic, who headlines a farewell show at the Mission Theater on Jan. 26, tells WW. “Unless I die, it won’t be my last show here forever.”
Since moving to Portland in 2015, Bixby has been a fixture of Portland’s standup scene, hosting a monthly roast battle at the Funhouse Lounge, placing first in WW’s 2022 Funniest Five poll, and appearing at the clothing-optional showcase Comic Strip, where he exposed his balls while telling a joke about manspreading.
“There’s some judgment that gets put on Portland, like, oh, I bet you can’t say this or that there,” Bixby says. “Well, you can, as long as it’s funny.”
Bixby does admit he’s eager to establish himself in what he sees as Chicago’s more permissive comedy community. But right now, he’s busy preparing for his final Portland show, which will feature wisecracking colleagues Adam Pasi, Dylan Jenkins, Tory Ward, Cam Strong and Jono Gindhart.
In the weeks leading up to his departure, Bixby spoke to WW about Windy City ambitions, Portland highs and lows, and how stripping down jump-started his career.
WW: Do you have a sense of what the vibe of the Chicago comedy scene is compared to Portland’s?
Bryan Bixby: I think that people may be a little bit more willing to take a risk on jokes that people in Portland might find offensive. Here, people might shut down and get upset, and it makes it harder to try that. Whereas there, from what I’ve heard, it’s more about, was it funny? I’m definitely not trying to go somewhere where I can just say horrible things without repercussions, but I want to be able to try a joke that might almost sound horrible.
Is a generosity of spirit necessary to cross the line comedically? You’re not afraid to punch down at yourself.
And that’s been a part of my own journey in comedy, figuring out how to give off that unspoken vibe that makes people OK with some of my material that’s riskier, that maybe would come out worse or sound worse coming from someone else, developing the character that allows me to do that.
What’s the most helpful criticism that someone gave you?
It was probably that I couldn’t really build a full act—like a headliner act—with the sort of narrow stuff that I was doing with the self-deprecation and the nerdy sex jokes. You can’t build 30 minutes or an hour off that. That was a criticism that I heard early on, which is that it wasn’t sustainable to be doing that one type of joke.
By itself, having your balls out onstage isn’t funny. Having them out while you’re making a joke about manspreading, on the other hand…
That’s still one of my favorite memories from doing comedy here in Portland. That was one of the first shows that people really started to look at me differently—like, OK, yeah, this dude is fun. Maybe this stuff that he’s doing isn’t just another dirty hack that’s trying to be shocking or filthy for the sake of it.
When people are reminiscing about your performances in Portland down the road, what do you want them to remember?
What I really love is when people come up and tell me a joke that I loved that I don’t even do any more, that I’d forgotten about—when they’re like, oh, you did this joke about anal beads and it was really funny. The jokes that I’ve been able to make that have both shocked and made audiences laugh really hard, that’s all I want to be remembered for. “Be remembered,” like I’m dying [scoffs].
Does your final show in Portland have to be even more funny/meaningful than usual to close out your time as a comedian in this city?
The closing joke—I want to leave on a banger. To leave the audience in tears of laughter would be the ultimate coup for me.
I assume you’re not going to strip down for this one.
Not unless the audience really begs for it.
SEE IT: Bryan Bixby’s Last Portland Show takes place at the Mission Theater, 1624 NW Glisan St., 503-223-4527, mcmenamins.com/mission-theater. 8 pm Friday, Jan. 26. $20-$25. 21+.