One of our neighbors here at the Mercury HQ is NW Documentary, which provides workshops in documentary filmmaking, and there's one such affiliated documentary that you should absolutely see if you follow the Portland comedy scene at all. Evan Johnson's Standing Up features local stand-ups Bri Pruett (who you know from these very pages!), Amy Miller, JoAnn Schinderle, and Ali Reingold, all discussing the sorry state of gender equality in comedy, and that one MRA dude who decided to protest last year's All Jane No Dick comedy fest (which is headed our way SO sorta SOON!).
"One thing that's been amazing about Portland is in the last two to three years, women have made it into leadership positions in the scene," says Pruett in one choice quote from the tiny documentary. "The thing that these women have done for the scene has completely transformed my personal experience of doing comedy in Portland. It's made it so much better and so much, just, easier and more fun, which is the whole point. I mean it's sort of like planting mushrooms on toxic waste sites. It just changes it. It makes it better."
You should really watch the whole video though, and make sure it plays straight to the end:
h/t: Amy Miller
