Stumptown Magazine

We at SM love precious few things in life. We love comedy. We love sexy stuff. And we appreciate getting things for some combination of cheap/free. That’s about it. Well this week, you have the chance to not only hear folks who will deliver the funny in heaps, but also maybe have the chance to win FREE SEXY ITEMS. This Thursday, B. Frayn Masters and the good folks at Back Fence PDX will bring bags full of sexy comedy cupcakes and dump them right in your lap at the latest installment of the storytelling series Entertainment for People. But what are these possibly free sexy items? And what kind of dirty stories will Frayn be reading? Interview after the jump, dudes!

Stumptown Magazine: Hi Frayn! You ready to get started?

Frayn Masters: You are like a German Train…on time. Wow. That could’ve sounded bad.

SM: We run a tight ship here at SM. And no, that is actually one of my nicknames. “German Train.” Long story.

FM: Sounds like a good one.

SM : It’s a little weird because I’m Jewish, but whatever.

FM: I took three years of German in HS, so I know a word, or two. Jew-ish

SM: I imagine that’s come in handy…??

FM: Unbelievably so.

SM: OK, so, before we get into the show itself, what’s with this porn video stuff you’re threatening to bring (hint: the company’s initials are GGW)? Is this going to be, like, thongs and trucker hats and whatnot?

FM: I have videos with titles such as: Hot Naked Cheerleaders and Best Breasts on Campus. Which makes me imagine some breasts just walking around taking classes.

SM: Dang. Sexytime. Are these going to be door prizes? A raffle-type situation?

FM: Not sure how they’ll be distributed. Maybe, I’ll ask little trivia questions at the ends of each segment where I read.

SM: That’s perfect. Make people take notes!

FM: I mean I really think people should have to use their brains to get this glorious smut.

SM: So, catch us up on how the Entertainment for People series has been going. Your first show was in September, yes? How has it progressed from there?

FM: Well, it’s progressed to this show — our second! It is more of a two or three times a year show. We are hoping to get more and more varied acts, people, pets involved as time goes on.

SM: From what I understand, the premise behind the show was to have comedy writers and storytellers interact more with the audience, rather than just stand on stage and talk. Is that accurate? And if so, how did this pan out the first time around?

FM: It panned out nicely. Largely, the performers talked to the audience in the moment, both Beth Lisick and Dan Kennedy responded to stuff some audience members said while they were on stage. Not heckling, just genuine interest questions from the audience. Beatbox Mastermind Fogatron had some totally hilarious and spontaneous reactions and observations about the show before each of his sets. Very good times were had.

SM: What should people expect from the show this Thursday – from the speakers, from the hosts, the music, etc.?

FM: People should expect to laugh their asses off and be truly entertained from all kinds of performance. True stories, with flaws exposed for your enjoyment from Nathaniel Boggess; the behind the scenes story of how Arthur Bradford ended up getting How’s Your News? on MTV (complete with clips etc.); some hilarious gems from sketch comedy duo Jean Louis; Julie Sabatier doing a live demo with Alyssa from Scrap; the pop-tastic music stylings of Fourever Young, and, er, me reading some dirty stuff I wrote under the name Cherry Daniels…all hosted by the charming Melissa Lion. That is a ton of quality entertainment. Free cupcake from Saint Cupcake included. We get you in, we entertain you and we get you out.

SM: Ha ha, “Cherry Daniels.” I imagine you didn’t write this for Highlights?

FM: Ha! No. But, Dirty Goofus would be funny.

SM: I hear this was for a, uh, “national young gentleman’s magazine.” Care to give us a hint?

FM: Well, if you are a fan of Arrested Development, they mockingly called the franchise “Girls With Low Self-Esteem.” The magazine won an award for one of the best new magazine’s of 2008.

SM: From Adult Video News, I imagine?

FM: Actually, all genre of magazines were included in this award. True.

SM: Ah, I see…a classier operation that I originally imagined, obviously.

FM: Perhaps these will be trivia questions to win some shwag…just saying. Schwag. sha-wag. How do you spell that?

SM: Schwag.

FM: Klassy.

SM: I think. Who knows.

FM: Free shit.

SM: You hear that, people? FREE SHIT. There is a recession on, you know. Ok, last thing:

FM: Hit me.

SM: This kind of thing – public readings, performance, etc. – must be fairly natural to you at this point, what with your comedy troop, etc. But what has it been like preparing others who might not be so stage-savvy (people who only write, for example) to do this kind of show?

FM: Mostly we are working with people who are telling their own true story for the Back Fence PDX storytelling series. So, paradoxically what is most important is that they not perform the story…but, rather simply tell the story as though the audience were a very large group of friends. We help them establish where to begin, some bullet points along the way and the end — I think this knowledge helps the storyteller find their groove on stage.

When we have storytellers who have experience on stage, we really try to reiterate this non-performance point. If they over-perform or play it for laughs, the crowd goes silent, because they immediately sense the disingenuous moment. It’s pretty fascinating from where I sit, we are always learning more and more how to coach and curate. Full disclosure: I had to look up how to spell “disingenuous.”

SM: Now, the most important thing: CAN PEOPLE STILL GET TICKETS?

FM: Yessssss. Go to backfencepdx.com — there is linkage there to brown paper tickets and people can..BUY, BUY, BUY.

Thanks, Ron! Bitte Herr German Train!

Danke!

Tschuss!

Bis spater!

SM: Your German is, um, bueno! Thanks Frayn!

_______________

Samplers of Back Fence PDX co-founder B. Frayn Masters’ writing can be found in MonkeyBicycle, Hobart, and Mountain Man Dance Moves: The McSweeney’s Book of Lists. Masters is one half of the ridiculous and brainy sketch comedy duo Eastland Academy, and is a member of rapid-fire performance group Haiku Inferno. She is a freelance writer, director and improv teacher. Nothing is better than revealing the dirty details of true stories. She can’t wait to hear yours.

Entertainment for People will be held this Thursday, February 25th, at The Woods. For details about, and to buy tickets for, Entertainment for People, go here.