In a recent interview I conducted with Central Comedy Show co-host Isaac Novak, he observed that most comedy bills in Seattle still consist of about 80-percent white males. One imagines that is also the case in Portland—or perhaps it’s even greater, seeing as the Rose City’s population has a higher Caucasian percentage than the Emerald City’s. With this statistic in mind, Portland-based stand-up comedy event Minority Retort offers a platform to redress this imbalance by championing comics of color. Minority Retort will zip up I-5 for a showcase at Central Cinema on Thursday, March 8, with performances by Monisa Brown, Ken Hamlett, Chris Mejia, Wilfred Padua, and El Sanchez.
Former Seattleite Jason Lamb (XRAYFM radio), Julia Ramos (All Jane Comedy Festival), and Neeraj Srinivasan (Out of Bounds Comedy Festival) have assumed the reins of Minority Retort after the original producer was expelled due to sexual-assault allegations. “Portland is a small town and the comedy scene is relatively tight-knit, so people closed ranks pretty quickly,” Lamb says in an e-mail interview.
Minority Retort was closely associated with that producer, but Lamb—who is not a comedian, but rather a behind-the-scenes impresario—didn’t want the strong foundation the ousted organizer had established to vanish because of one person’s actions. So he enlisted Ramos and Srinivasan as co-hosts because, he says, “not only are they very funny, but also I felt like the multiple-host dynamic is obviously more collaborative and would allow me to slip into more of what I do on the Minority Retort radio show, which is have conversations with people of color. For the show opening, we pick a topic like ‘when was the last time someone used a racial epithet to your face’ or ‘what advice do you have for white people who want to wear blackface for Halloween,’ and we chop it up.”
Lamb says that Minority Retort’s goals always have been to “give comedians of color a platform to speak their minds and to try to create a space where audiences of all races and backgrounds can share a common experience, which seems more and more difficult to do” now.
Asked if he perceives any commonalities among Portland comics of color that distinguish them from those in other cities, Lamb says, “I think what’s more interesting is how different they all are, for the most part. POC Portland (and Northwest) comics have some very distinctive voices, which is something I’ve always appreciated, because it demonstrates that black and brown people aren’t monolithic in thought.”
Reached by e-mail, Ramos adds, “I think Portland comics of color are very aware of the PC nature in this city. I feel like I hear audiences being reminded that they are there to laugh whenever the topic of color comes up. Some comics have taken an approach of not letting the muffled reactions of the audience stop them from saying what they’re there to say. It’s inspiring to watch and is a great reminder that this isn’t the case in all cities.”
As for the qualities—besides the ability to provoke laughter every 10 seconds, obviously—that Lamb and company seek in people who get booked for Minority Retort, Ramos says she chooses comedians “who express their humor and truth across the board. I like to watch comics with dark material, a general appeal, and a very light-hearted attitude. My favorite thing to watch on stage is truth and vulnerability. If I feel I’m getting a true glimpse inside the life and mind of the comic, I’m on board no matter where their material goes.”
But what we really want to know is, what is the heckling situation like at Minority Retort? Happily (or disappointingly, depending on your demeanor), there hasn’t been much of one. “The only time there’s been any real heckling was a few years ago when a white woman was trying to interrupt the show by repeatedly asking a comic what race he was,” Lamb recalls. “She ended up getting into an argument about it with her black boyfriend. I think they broke up during the show.”
What challenges do people of color still face in the comedy world in this allegedly more “woke” era? Have Minority Retort’s producers seen any progress for these comics to garner more and better opportunities to showcase their craft?
“People of color still face challenges in the comedy world,” Ramos says. “Until there is true equality in the workplace and all people of color are getting equal pay and opportunities, there are going to remain challenges. In a lot of ways there have been strides that show us there has been progress; however, in this climate the division is magnified on a daily basis.”
“We supposedly live in an era where representation matters,” Lamb says. “Yet we hear on social media or in the comments when an article is written about the show or the NW Black Comedy Festival that we’ve been lucky to be a part of, ‘Well, if I wanted to start an all-white comedy show, I’d get called a racist… blah, blah, blah.’ Even though you can see that show anytime. So, we still have a way to go.”
