the eastside scene, june 26, 2015

Arts and Entertainment | July 2015

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PLUS: 5th Avenue’s Grease | Andrew Rivers | Microsoft bets on Oculus Rift

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Arts and Entertainment | July 2015Arts and Entertainment | July 2015

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Our cheat sheet to the Eastside’s summer festivalsPg. 8

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the eastside scene 3

PublisherWilliam Shaw

Editor/LayoutDaniel Nash

Production DesignerDiana Nelson

Contributing WritersMegan Campbell

Allison DeAngelisCarol Dearth

Brian MillerON THE COVER: Photo by Matt Brashears, editing by Daniel Nash

scenetheEASTSIDE

2700 Richards Rd, Suite 201, Bellevue 98005 | TheEastsideScene.comFor Advertising, call Jim Gatens 425.440.0437

The Don’t-Miss ListJULY <<LAUGH | Nick ThuneGet ready to laugh until it hurts. � is month, the Parlor Live Comedy Club in Bel-levue presents Seattle-born Nick � une. � e 35-year-old’s stand-up, a deadpan wit combined with the soothing lull of his guitar, has been featured on television shows like � e Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Conan. As an actor, he’s starred as himself on Garfunkel and Oates, a musically suitor on Burning Love and Cam Gigandet’s anthropomorphized mem-ber in Bad Johnson.When: July 23-25Where: Third fl oor of Lincoln Square, 700 Bellevue Way NE. Ste 300, Bellevue

WATCH | Fourth of July � reworks� ere are several � rework shows around the Eastside — but some are really a star-spangled treat. Make your way to Kirkland for a show over Lake Washington. � e � reworks display, blasting

from a barge in the lake o� shore from Marina Park, will begin at 10:15 p.m. People will be able to see the show from many Kirkland locations. � e boat launch area will open a� er the parade, around 1:30 p.m. and will remain open until midnight. As a reminder, personal � reworks may be illegal, like in Kirkland, in various Eastside cities.When: July 4Where: Marina Park, 25 Lakeshore Plaza Drive, Kirkland

DO | Red, white and wine tastingTake advantage of the wineries nestled in the beautiful Sammamish River Valley, just 30 min-

utes northeast of Seattle. Take the weekend to enjoy the more than 100 wineries located in the Woodinville Wine Country. Most of the Woodinville wineries grow their own grapes in Eastern Washington’s Columbia Valley.When: Throughout July. Full schedule: woodinvillewinecountry.com/winery-eventsWhere: Various locations in Woodinville. See full schedule.

LISTEN | Concerts at MarymoorGrab your blanket, mosey down to Marymoor Park and enjoy another month listening to A-list

musicians, as part of King County’s summer concert series.Featuring Canadian rock and American rock bands, with a hint of indie folk rock, soul and

pop, the July line up includes David Gray, Amos Lee, � e Decemberists, Needtobreathe, � ird Eye Blind, Dashboard Confessional, Ex Cops and Barenaked Ladies.

Concerts in the park continue through September.When: Various dates July 13-Sept. 19. Full schedule: marymoorconcerts.comWhere: Marymoor Park, 6046 West Lake Sammamish Pkwy N.E., Redmond

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Grease — it’s the word, a staple in musical theaters, and the 5th Avenue � eatre’s latest production. It is in what Musical Director RJ Tancioco calls the

royal family of musical theater, and has been performed by innumerable Broadway casts, international touring productions, high school drama clubs and live television.

With so many productions and such memorable songs, audiences more likely than not already know all of the songs, jokes and plot points. � e show itself can seem almost as dated as the leather jackets and poodle skirts ubiquitous during the era.

Add in Tancioco, a Puget Sound-area theater veter-an whose resume has become a list of the newest edgy musicals in theater. He just wrapped up production on the rock musical Jasper in Deadland, and has worked as the musical director for Carrie the Musical, Next to Normal and In the Heights at the 5th Avenue � eatre, the ACT, the Village � eatre and other venues.

“To me, that is the challenge — how do I put a fresh take on a traditional show?” he said. “I really did go into this thinking ‘How does someone who does a lot of fresh, edgier shows transition to something like Grease?’”

Tancioco and director Eric Ankrim have taken a magnifying glass to the show’s songs and lyrics, ap-proaching the script and the original songbook as if they were brand new to bring greater emphasis to the characters and emotions.

“� e thing that excites me is that, when the show was written, it was subversive and celebrated the kind of rebellion that is embodied in rock ‘n’ roll,” Ankrim said. “Over the years since the � lm came out, the mu-sical has come to represent something a little di� erent, a little more wholesome. For me, it’s really amazing to rediscover Grease as it was originally intended — it’s a little grittier, a little dirtier, and a little more dysfunc-tional than people imagine it to be.”

In some cases, the musical changes meant having the actors shi� the focus on certain phrases and verses. In others, they have changed the placement of songs to better � esh out plot points or the characters’ motives.

Sandy’s forlorn solo ‘Hopelessly Devoted To You,’ which many remember Olivia Newton John singing during the � lm’s slumber party scene, will instead be sung a� er Sandy is abandoned by Danny at the school for Cha Cha. Later in the show, a rebellious (and possibly pregnant) Rizzo, played by Kirsten deLohr Helland, springs into ‘� ere Are Worse � ings I Could Do’ a� er being pitied by Sandy at a party in Jan’s basement.

“Rizzo kind of turns around and has a ‘wait a minute, you don’t know me’ moment during the song,” Tancioco said. “It becomes a stronger song, and actu-ally pushes Sandy to think, leading to the reprise of ‘Sandra Dee’ and her whole transformation.”

Local rockabilly band � e Dusty 45s will also join Tancioco and a doo-wop ensemble onstage to bring a more authentic, full-bodied 1950s rock sound. “� ey really capture the spirit of the ‘50s. � ey have a musi-cal sensibility that upgrades the score so that it feels authentic, but feels new,” Tancioco said.

Dusty 45s lead singer and trumpet player Billy Joe Huels will also act as bandleader for the production, setting the music and his trumpet on � re — the latter literally.

“A lot of the stu� is based on early rock ‘n’ roll roots. We like the music, for sure, and it’s such a fun thing for us to play a di� erent role as a musician,” said Huels.

� e youthful cast of the 5th Avenue production, which features Bryan Gula as Danny, Solea Pfei� er as Sandy, Saxton Jay as Kenickie, deLohr Helland as Rizzo, and Sarah Rose Davis as Frenchie, has em-braced the challenge and changes, said Tancioco.

A fresh take on Grease

“At the end of the day, it is still Grease, you’ll still feel like you’re seeing a production of Grease,” Tancioco said. “But we hope the audience will watch it and see another view of Grease.”

Grease runs from July 9 to Aug. 2 at the 5th Avenue � eatre. Tickets are now available online.

Saxton Jay as Kenicke and Kirsten deLohr Helland as

Rizzo in 5th Avenue Theatre’s production of Grease.

“We hope the audience will watch it and see another view of Grease,” Musical

Director RJ Tancioco said. Photo credit: Mark Kitaoka

by Allison DeAngelis

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Swing into Spring...and let love bloom

Bubbling laughter, rosy faces, warm smiles. No, you are not at a theme park or a party—you are in a face-to-face interview with the wonderful people at Seattle Singles.

The interview is the second step in the program’s simple pro-cess. Seattle Singles acts more as a life coach and best friend than what the name entails. Greeted by the blushing, friendly, outgoing character Lindsay, Seattle Singles Director, you will immediately feel at ease—no nervousness and no awkward conversations. Lindsay and her team make you feel like you are having a conversation with an old friend. She remembers your name, your likes, dislikes and has one specific, helpful per-sonality trait in particular: the ability to read people and match them with their soul mates. Companionship—such a result is worth the meeting. Seattle Singles is different than online dating sites. Having been in business for more than 25 years, Seattle Singles knows what they are doing. They conduct thorough background checks and personal screenings, ensuring the utmost protection for their members. “Singles enjoy being a member of our service for our industry leading screening process, including a nationwide criminal background check, which not only protects them from

potential threats, but their families as well. Our clients also appreciate the personal and professional attention our staff provides which is all geared toward not only finding that special some-one, but also to improve the overall quality of their lives with services that extend beyond the typical online

dating site or matchmaking service,” said Lindsay. Seattle Singles has learned over the years that many singles are not only crunched financially, but also crunched for time. That is why Seattle Singles offers the Singles VIP Con-cierge Service. “The Singles VIP Concierge Service is especially popu-lar with our single parent clients,” said Lindsay. Whether it is to locate and contact a certified child care service to babysit the night of the special date, or for the single dad who needs help planning the date and making restaurant reservations, the concierge service can do it all. The Singles VIP Concierge Ser-

vice is also able to secure event tickets or help plan that person-ally dreamed up unique romantic get-away.

The Seattle Singles staff

is dedicated to creating an environment in which they each know their members on a personal level. They dedicate their quality time thinking about the betterment of their members and especially enjoy brainstorming for fun future events. There is always something for everyone. Whether you are too busy to date, are tired of the bar scene, don’t feel comfortable placing your personal information online or can’t seem to find the type of person you are look-ing for, Seattle Singles will guide you through the process of finding your “other half,” as well as introducing you to a new, exciting social circle. In the words of success story couple Ruth and David, “Just give it a shot. What do you have to lose?”

Call Us Today! 425-577-9680RealSeattleSingles.com

“�anks to your site I have found my sweetheart! We have been seeing each other ever since august and we seem to be a good �t. She is beautiful, talented, loyal, industrious, kind, employed and … did I say beautiful?”-Ken, Seattle Singles Member

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Eating Well

Grilled Mussels with Spicy Rosemary Butter*

Citrus SalmonGrilled Peaches

*Spicy Rosemary Butter

What you’ll need: • 2 pounds mussels,

scrubbed and cleaned, debearded if necessary

• lemon juice• freshly minced

parsley• Garlic toast

What you’ll need: • 2-3 pound salmon fi llet, skinned• 1 large navel orange, thinly sliced• 1 lemon, thinly sliced• 4 tablespoons butter• 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar• salt & pepper to taste• large sheet pan or heavy-duty aluminum foil

What you’ll need: • 2 teaspoons sugar• 2 sprigs fresh thyme, just the

leaves please• dash of cayenne pepper• 8 fresh ripe peaches, peeled,

halved, stones removed• 3 tablespoons butter, melted• 2 slices crisp bacon, broken into

chunks• 8 ounces burratta cheese or 8

scoops vanilla ice cream• 3 tablespoons honey• sea salt

What you’ll need: • 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter• 2 cloves garlic, minced

Preparation:Preheat grill to high heat (450°F to 475°F). Arrange mussels on a grill tray, place over heat. Cover and grill 3 to 5 minutes, until shells open, about 6-8 minutes. Discard any unopened shells. Squeeze lemon over, sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately with spicy rosemary butter and garlic toast.Serves 8 as appetizer portion or 4 as main course.

Preparation:Heat grill to 425°F to 450°F. Add smoking chips if desired. Prepare a shallow sided pan of two thicknesses of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Lay salmon on prepared foil pan, skin side down. Lay alternating orange and lemon slices over salmon. Dot with butter; sprinkle with brown sugar, salt and pepper. Slide pan onto hot grill, cook 12-20 minutes, basting with pan juices regularly. Salmon is done when internal temperature reaches 150°F. Cut into serving size portions and serve, garnished with orange and lemon. Serves 8.

Preparation:Combine sugar, thyme and cayenne; set aside. Brush peach halves on both sides with the melted butter. Arrange stone side down on a vegetable or fi sh grid on a medium/hot grill (375°F to 400°F). Grill 3 minutes. Turn and grill on the other side for 2 to 3 minutes longer. Remove from grill and slice peaches into a large bowl. Sprinkle with the sugar mixture and toss with bacon. Spoon peaches on serving plates along with burratta or ice cream. Drizzle with honey; sprinkle with sea salt. Makes 8 servings.

Preparation:Melt butter; add remaining ingredients. Serve hot in a small ramekin or shallow bowl.

Summer GrillIt’s too hot to cook indoors! Let’s move to the patio and enjoy some great Northwest favorites, fl avorful and fast.

Before you begin, a few rules to follow:1. Be sure your grill is CLEAN;2. Preheat the grill to the required temperature;3. Bring food to room temperature before grilling;4. Cook with the lid CLOSED, unless otherwise specifi ed;5. Transfer grilled food to clean platters to prevent cross-contamination.

About the author Carol Dearth is the owner of Sizzle-works cooking school in Bellevue.A Le Cordon Bleu graduate, Dearth is a Certifi ed Culinary Professional designat-

ed by the International Association of Culinary Professionals. She is the author of Cooking Class and the co-host of KCTS Cooks on KCTS-9 Seattle. Dearth off ers free recipes and tips at TheSizzleWorks.com/blog.

• 1 teaspoon lemon zest• 1 tsp fresh rosemary, coarsely chopped

red pepper fl akes, to taste• 2 teaspoons Frank’s Red Hot Sauce• fi nishing salt, to taste

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Bainbridge Island Museum of ArtAppeal:

BIMA is the new kid on the culture block, with a hand-some design by Matthew Coates that debuted in 2013. Smaller, eclectic shows often feature island artists like Caroline Cooley Browne and Horst Gottschalk.

Extra incentive to visit:The ferry ride itself.

White River Valley MuseumAppeal:

This is a folksy establishment, mostly dedicated to the farming and civic history of Auburn, like MOHAI but on a smaller, rural scale. But rotating through are some oddball exhibitions like Service Ink: Veterans’ Tattoos and Their Stories (opening June 24).

Extra incentive to visit:Strawberries, fruit stands, and nearby casino gam-

bling for those inclined. (Don’t blame us if you wake up the next morning with a fresh tattoo).

Pilchuck Glass SchoolAppeal:

Although basically a school for glass artists, the annual open house (July 12, $20–$35) is a great reason to drive north, tour the grounds, watch demos, meet the artists, and enjoy live music and food. Without the 1971 institution (founded by Chihuly and the Haubergs), we wouldn’t have all the glassmaking up and down Puget Sound.

Extra incentive to visit:It makes a great art-loop itinerary stop between Ever-

ett and Bellingham.

Whatcom Museum (Bellingham)Appeal:

Regional focus, currently including owl and wood-pecker photos by Seattle’s Paul Bannick; � gurative art and landscapes by Bellingham’s Tom Sherwood; and a group show juried by Scott Lawrimore of the Jacob Lawrence Gallery.

Extra incentive to visit:Bellingham (especially Fairhaven) has some real

charm—including the museum’s historic old 1892 city hall building—and an emerging gastropub scene.

Maryhill Museum of ArtAppeal:

The bizarre history of the place (a failed Quaker commu-nity and concrete mansion built by Sam Hill), the remote setting, and some exhibits you won’t � nd elsewhere—cur-rently including Indian art from Oklahoma’s National Cow-boy & Western Heritage Museum; glass from local Native American artist Raven Skyriver; and historical photos of the original Native inhabitants of The Dalles.

Extra incentive to visit:The spectacular view into the Columbia River Gorge,

nearby windsur� ng, plus all the wineries. And the June 27 “What in the Sam Hill?” Maryhill gala party, with plenty more food and wine.

Schack Art Center (Everett)Appeal:

A very practical and Northwest orientation, cur-rently including photos by James Arrabito, sculpture by Verena Schwippert, an exhibit of garden art, and a busy schedule of hands-on demos and activities (particularly in the hot shop).

Extra incentive to visit:It’s a relatively new (2011) and bustling space, part of

the e� ort to revitalize Everett’s old downtown core.

Tacoma Art MuseumAppeal:

A fresh addition to the building by Tom Kundig, which includes the new Haub wing of Old West art; and the forthcoming (June 20) show by Seattle native Roger Shi-momura, always a favorite. TAM’s small Andy Warhol’s Flowers for Tacoma show in 2012 also sparked the real possibility that the Tacoma Dome roof will be soon be festooned with a giant yellow daisy!

Extra incentive to visit:The Chihuly-� lled Museum of Glass, the Washington

State History Museum, and the LeMay-America’s Car Museum. Tacoma actually has an arts district more con-centrated and convenient than Seattle’s.

Washington art safari

When people complain to me that museumgoing is wrong for summer, I always respond

with the same argument: air condition-ing. Which BAM has, true. But sum-mer is also the time for road trips, and there are several arts destinations worth visiting during your statewide travels. Here’s a primer:

by Brian Miller

A version of this story originally appeared in Seattle Weekly’s Summer Guide 2015.

Alexander Phimister Proctor’s 1915 bronze statue Buckaroo, on display in Tacoma Art Museum’s new Haub Family Collection. Photo credit: Daniel Nash


The Strawberry FestivalThe origins of the Eastside Heritage Center’s Strawberry Festival date all the way back to 1925, as a celebration of bountiful harvests funded on a whopping $40.Today, the revived festival brings in 40,000 celebrants from around King County to enjoy carnival entertainment, an auto show and mountains of strawberry shortcake.

Where: Crossroads Park, Bellevue

When: 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. June 27, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. June 28

Summer CelebrationThe city of Mercer Island likes to pull out all the stops for its an-nual Summer Celebration. The festival kicks o� with a kids’ bike ride and Grand Parade, plus � reworks, boat rides and more music than you can shake a tuning fork at.This year, the pirates from Summer Celebration 2007 return to commandeer the Grand Parade, � re cannons and broker hourly sword � ghts (for when civilized parley breaks down).

Where: Mercerdale Park, various other Mercer Island locations (Full schedule at mercergov.org)

When: 9 a.m. - 10:30 p.m. July 11, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. July 12

Concerts on the Green

Starting in July and running through the rest of the summer,

Issaquah Parks and Rec will bring fun, family friendly cover bands

to Olde Town for weekly outdoor concerts. Who knows who you’ll see? Last year, Sasquatch made

an appearance to � lm a tourism spot for ICTV 21.

Where: Issaquah Community Center on Rainier Boulevard South.

When: 7 p.m. Tuesdays in July and August

Fallinto

SummerLet’s face facts: Summer’s short. And you only

have a few scant months to squeeze out every last drop of fun you can.So without further ado, here’s our cheat sheet to the major community festivals on the Eastside.

by Daniel Nash

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During a special June event announc-ing the Q1 2016 release date for

a consumer version of the Oculus Ri� virtual reality headset (repeated later at E3), Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe was joined by Xbox czar Phil Spencer to announce that the Kickstarter start-up turned multi-billion-dollar Facebook acquisition will partner with Redmond tech colossus Microso� on the release.

A full rundown of the partnership can be found at Xbox.com’s news page but, in short, Microso� will be integrating Oculus Ri� into its Xbox and Windows 10 gaming platforms. Each headset will come with an Xbox One controller out-of-the-box, will feature the Xbox’s streaming functionality (a feature that currently only works with Windows 10 computers and tablets) and be fully integrated with Windows 10.

“We’re thrilled to be working closely with the team at Oculus,” Spencer said. “� eir groundbreaking work in virtual reality is inspiring, and the Oculus Ri� delivers a truly next-generation VR experi-ence. We at Xbox are passionate about giv-ing gamers the opportunity to play when and where they want. I can’t wait to see the incredible games created for the Ri� , and we are proud to be part of the experience.”

Oculus, as a company, has come a long way in a short time: It’s development kit prototype was funded by a 2012 Kickstarter campaign that took o� like wild� re. Since then, it’s technology has gained huge buzz thanks to the (shockingly inexpensive) de-velopment kits that have allowed developers to create everything from VR-oriented � rst-person games, to virtual tours to, ahem, “interactive adult experiences.”

� e company seduced game technology legend John Carmack away from id So� -

ware to become CTO in August 2013 and Facebook acquired Oculus for $2 billion in cash and stock seven months later.

A few interesting wrinkles here: First, though Oculus is playing up the

news about Xbox One integration (in fact, Oculus’ website now refers to the One con-troller as “one of the best controllers in the world”) the company has also introduced its own controller, the Oculus Touch. � e Touch is actually a pair of controllers, one for each hand, that appear to respond to free hand movement.

Second, one of the early adopters of Ri� integration was Bellevue’s own Valve Corporation, creator of Half-Life and owner of online retail mega-giant Steam. Valve incorporated Oculus Ri� integration into a 2013 update of the Source engine’s So� ware Development Kit. However, Valve and HTC now have their own competing

headset, the HTC Vive a.k.a. SteamVR. Valve CEO Gabe Newell, an ex-Microso� employee, was also a virulent critic of Windows following the release of Windows 8 and promised to move PC gamers toward Linux platforms.

So the � ght for technology dominance in the emerging virtual reality market could prove to be a bloody tooth-and-nail battle.

But considering VR’s renewed poten-tial to revolutionize how we interact with our computers, we at � e Eastside Scene couldn’t be more excited about a future that more closely resembles Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One.

Oculus XFive years ago, Allison Mollner took her dog for a walk. It was the middle of a hot August night. � e dog took his time, sni� ng and scratching outside the Cougar Ridge area home.

� en he heard the rustle.He took o� like a bolt in the direction of

the animal. � e leash yanked Allison’s arm — hard — and she careened forward, strik-ing her head on a rock as she hit the ground.

“I don’t even know how many stitches they put in my head,” she says. “My husband told me it was something like 200. I don’t know, it just seems like so many.”

� e doctors at Harborview diagnosed her with a concussion. But headaches and cogni-tive di� culties that persisted long a� er the blow led to a new diagnosis 10 months later: traumatic brain injury.

Allison’s story isn’t unusual. Out of every 100,000 people, more than 500 will experi-ence a brain injury at some point, says Debo-rah Crawley, executive director of the Brain Injury Alliance of Washington.

“Most all of us will be impacted by a brain injury at some point, whether it hap-pens to ourselves or someone we know,” Crawley says.

But the e� ects of injury — physical,

emotional or social — aren’t widely under-stood. So for the past six summers, BIAWA has put on the Brain Injury Art Show as a venue for artists living with brain injuries to express themselves.

Before Allison went into nonpro� t work, she was an artist and her husband built a studio a� er the injury to encour-age her to pursue art again. But Allison’s headaches returned whenever she cracked open her art books, frustrating her at-tempts to relearn technique.

� en she participated in classes where she found that teaching technique allowed her to access her memories.

“Art is one of the things that is very peaceful to my mind,” she says. “It has a � ow and it’s one of the only things that’s actually soothing.”

Allison has three works of art on display in this year’s show, including Sunrise, a mixed media painting that combines several of her old standby forms, including print-making and watercolor. She says her natural inclination now is to work in several media at once.

“I had to stop being what I used to be ... and start embracing what I could do,” she says.

Hillary Ann Dean’s OMG TMI FML: The TBI Blues, a written collage entry in the Brain Injury Art Show. | Photo credit: Daniel Nash

Finding peace of mindThe Brain Injury Alliance of Washington’s annual Brain Injury Art Show

is a showcase of work done by artists with brain injuries. For some, like Allison Mollner, it was a road back to peace of mind. The show is held at the Mercer Island Community and Events Center through July 24.

San Francisco-based VR company Oculus has announced it is partnering with Microsoft to optimize the Oculus Rift headset for Windows 10 and Xbox.

Admit it: You’re a little disap-pointed this isn’t how you’ll control the Oculus Rift. Credit: The Lawnmower Man, Newline Cinema

by Daniel Nash

by Daniel Nash


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Andrew RiversConversations with Funny People

Interview by Daniel Nash

Hey Andrew, how’s Winston-Salem treating you?I haven’t le� the hotel room, to be honest.

I actually lived there for a few years as a kid.Oh yeah? What do you recommend doing here?

Oh, boy, I hope you like period-correct Moravian historical attractions.� at’s perfect then, because that’s exactly what I look

for whenever I travel. I haven’t been here before, but I’m performing at the Laughing Gas Comedy Club with Rich Vos. It’s a pretty new club, it just had its two year anniversary. But generally I don’t explore much when I’m on the road.

So how did this comedy thing start for you?I gave a speech at my brother’s wedding about six or

seven years ago and everyone thought it was funny. I had an interest in comedy but your high school guidance counselor doesn’t tell you that’s a job. Obviously, my dad (retired radio personality Bob Rivers -Ed.) was a huge in� uence. I grew up around other people who made fun of each other and themselves. � en I got laid o� from a marketing job so I was just sitting around complaining about my life for a few months. Economy crashed, and I couldn’t get another job and I didn’t know what to do with myself. It was my dad who brought it up. He said ‘You were funny at the wedding, why don’t you do an open mic night?’ His thing was just, get up and go do something. So soon a� er that I did my � rst open mic at Giggles… you know, before it became a strip club.

That’s right! Did that place become a comedy club again? Or is it on Jiggles, Part Two at this point?

It does seem like it’s gone back and forth, doesn’t it? � ere were a lot of bad issues on that stage even before it was a strip club, so it’s funny that it’s gone in-between.

So, my dad, I told him I was going to do my � rst open mic. His � rst words were, ‘You have plenty of time to suck.’ Which was very true advice, for comedy or for anything else.

Now you’re opening for guys like Vos, or Christopher Titus, or Mike Birbiglia. When did things start taking o� ?

Well I got a pretty fast start because I was laid o� and I didn’t have anything else to do. Comedy’s interesting. It’s, you know, the main ingredient is time. It’s something where you can’t really fake it. It’s just a skill that requires stage time, writing and performing, and because I didn’t have any other obligations I just did comedy for as many people as would let me. I did 300 shows my � rst year. A lot of those were open mics and Laughs was the � rst club to give me a weekend spot. I wound up moving up the road from Laughs and I told the owner I wanted to be on stage whenever he could � t me in. So he would call me and say, ‘I forgot to book anybody and I need a show.

Do you have plans? Call them to cancel and I’ll give you free ice cream.’ And that’s all it took to convince me. Free ice cream? I’m there!

Looking back, I was still terrible. I’m sure years from now I’ll look back and say I’m terrible now. Birbiglia talks about, that delusion that’s needed to keep things going when you have no business doing it.

But as far as becoming an opener for Titus goes, he was doing a radio interview with my dad and I had done, oh, two or three open mics at this point. I hap-pened to be at my dad’s show and the producers, during the break they said you should tell Titus one of your jokes. So I told them during the break and it got a laugh, and they asked me to tell it on the air. But when you tell a joke a second time they’re not really going to laugh at it, and they didn’t, so then Titus made fun of me for tell-ing a bad joke. But then he gave me a lot of good advice.

You have a recent article on the Connected Comedy blog that consisted of pages from a book you keep in which you ask comics to write down their advice to beginners. How did that start?

It was my � rst weekend hosting at Laughs Comedy Spot and I was being paid in ice cream and the headliner was Tom Simmons who lives in Greensboro, I think. So I talked with him a lot — just as a new comedian, bright-eyed guy new to things — and we had talks and advice about di� erent things and at the end of the weekend I thought, I should write this stu� down. � en I thought, they should write it down. � at was the start of it and then, every weekend when I would work with a new comic, I’d have them write their advice, then sign it. It became more than it could be since when I started it.

What’s the strangest gig you’ve booked?� ere’s a lot of strange gigs because when you make

your living from shows, you’ll take anything. When I’m back in Seattle, I’ll be performing at a retirement party for a service dog. � e dog knows 60 commands and I maybe know two. � at dog is objectively more produc-tive than me.

But the funniest gig, which actually wound up being canceled, was this one where I got booked at the prison in Walla-Walla, performing for prisoners. And it was this strange thing because at the time I’m still brand new and I don’t know how they’ll react. I just imagine getting heckled with shanks and shivs and I � nd myself wonder-ing, what if there’s a riot? And then I don’t know what kind of people I’m performing for. Are they being let out soon? Is that good or bad for me, if my set goes badly? I had no idea how that was supposed to happen, but I think the moral of that story is that for a few hundred dollars I’m willing to do just about anything.

Andrew Rivers, from North Bend, comes from a family of creatives as the son of a Seattle

radio � xture and the brother of a � lmmaker.As a member of the Northwest comedy scene,

Rivers is at a critical juncture in his career: Open-ing for popular headliners and making a living from any gig he can get, at home or on the road. He’ll headline Laughs Comedy Spot July 2 and 3.

Rivers called The Eastside Scene from a stop in North Carolina to chat about life as an up-and-comer and the advice he’s gotten along the way.

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