Comedy in Portland

A couple nights ago, I got to see Kyle Kinane do an hour at Helium Comedy Club in Portland and it reminded me of how much I love that venue. It's a classic comedy club that feels intimate, with room for maybe 150-200 people. It's a comedy room for comedy nerds and the venue goes to great lengths to say upfront anyone who heckles will get kicked out, instantly.

Because of the policy, there are rarely bachelorette parties making noise in the back of the room. No one ever heckles. People are there to enjoy themselves respectfully and it tends to attract great comedy. I never understood heckling and think it's one of the dumbest parts of live comedy, so I'm happy to enjoy jokes in peace there.

They run clubs around the country, if any of them are near you, you should check them out.

Helium's evolution

I've been going to Helium several times a year for the last 10-15 years, and in the early days you got to see some pretty great headliners since famous comedians from out of town all wanted to try the place out.

When I look at their schedule now, in the next 10 shows there might be only 1 person I want to see, maybe 2-3 I've even heard of, with the rest being up and comers.

It's a natural evolution as big name comics can and should work bigger rooms. Since I know people in the events industry, the larger venues in Portland break down like so:

• Moda Center: where the Portland Trailblazers play is the biggest room possible and can bring in 20,000 people for someone at the household-name level, like a Jim Gaffigan or a Nate Bargatze.
• Arlene Schnitzer or Keller Auditorium: Big comics also book these rooms because they can hold around 3,000 people, and I've seen rising stars on their way to becoming household names book these too.
• Aladdin Theater or Revolution Hall: This is a sweet spot of 500-1,000 people and quite a few comics (some quite famous) work these rooms and a few have filmed their comedy special at Rev Hall. They're not so cavernous that you feel lost in them and I think comics like keeping a connection to the crowd.

What's wild is when you look at the economics of it. A sold out night at the Moda can gross $1M in a single night, but you have to be at the level of a Jerry Seinfeld to even get there. If you book the 3k people spots, you're grossing a couple hundred grand, and at Rev Hall you're talking a nightly gross in the tens of thousands.

I have no idea what Helium pays comics to work their room, but I imagine even sold-out shows only bring in a couple grand for the comic, but they can do 6-8 shows over a four day span.

When you see a popular comedian who you've seen specials for, who has been on TV shows, and is someone you love, and they're coming to Helium, these days they're mostly workshopping new material. If they had a polished hour, they'd be booking the larger arenas since they have a following and a name that can fill the seats.

The sweet spot at Helium these days is people who I've heard as guest stars on comedy podcasts, who aren't yet super famous, but I know are quite funny.

Workshopping

Like I said, I've seen a bunch of famous comedians do a set at Helium and they were pretty free-flowing, developing sets that were largely hit and miss. That's no dig against the comics, it's what working small rooms and developing a new hour each year requires them to do. When everything is solid, you book larger rooms and get ready to tape your special. Until then, you test out new bits and there's no better place than a church for comedy nerds in Portland.

What's wild is I've seen a few old school comedians do large venue shows around Oregon, as they'll frequently start nationwide tours in smaller towns like a Eugene, Oregon before heading to LA and NYC, and sometimes those early tour shows are still rough. A year or two ago I saw Gabriel Iglesias do a set in a giant stadium but it was his first or second show out of 60 that spanned the next six months. About half the jokes didn't land. He went on a long screed about how guns are great and how he loves his Glock. It was a weird night.

Kyle!

I fully expected going to see a big-time pro who I've been a fan of for 15 years to do a new set of developing material. Kyle puts out a new hour about once a year now, and his last one, Dirt Nap, just dropped this past Fall.

The openers were pretty good but when Kyle took the stage he commanded the audience and started cracking us up relentlessly. It was an entirely new hour, about living in Portland and the things he's experienced and he told stories and landed every punchline.

What was most impressive was while his openers were good, they mostly told a story for a couple minutes that had a mild laugh at the end. Then another story for a couple minutes with a laugh. But Kyle told long, involved stories, but somehow dropped a great joke at every pause. And when the room was coming down from a hearty laugh, much like a beachball at a baseball game, he would have a small joke in between to keep everyone buoyant and bouncing.

The whole night was great, and honestly, Kyle Kinane could have sold out Rev Hall and killed with his developing set as-is. I just felt lucky to experience it in a small club.