The Humorous Hari Kondabolu

In this week’s episode of What’s Happening, we catch up with Eugene Weekly arts freelancer Will Kennedy about his interview with Indian-American comedian Hari Kondabolu. Kondabolu talked about a documentary he created called “The Problem with Apu,” current events and politics as well as his upcoming show at the Hult Center. Read Kennedy’s full story on Kondabolu in our Thursday, Nov. 16, print issue of EW or read it online at EugeneWeekly.com.

Funny Girls

Local women’s comedy festival celebrates 10 years

Look around and you’ll find the seeds of a comedy scene germinating in Eugene. More and more, nationally touring comics are stopping to perform locally, and several venues — such as Luckey’s, The Green Room and Sam Bond’s — are hosting comedy nights. A cornerstone of Eugene comedy is the NW Women’s Comedy Festival, now entering its 10th year.  Festival founder Leigh Anne Jasheway says that in the early years the event was the only women’s comedy festival between Seattle and northern California.  Continue reading 

Laughter Is the Best Medicine

UO Standup Society hosts “Hilarity for Charity” to raise money for Alzheimer’s

Cailin Wolff of the UO Standup Society

It’s rare that college students watch a senate hearing on C-SPAN and then decide to try and change the world. After comedian Seth Rogen delivered a statement on Alzheimer’s Research in February 2014, however, it was hard not to sympathize with his cause. Rogen explained that more than five million Americans have Alzheimer’s (including his own mother-in-law) and that nearly 16 million Americans will have the disease in the next 35 years. Research also suggests that deaths caused by Alzheimer’s have increased almost 70 percent in the last 15 years. Continue reading 

Code Red

Comedian Carly Aquilino talks standup, Girl Code and MTV

Carly Aquilino

Carly Aquilino has been doing standup for less than three years and she’s already got a hit show — millennial favorite Girl Code, a comedy series where women in entertainment “weigh in on the sisterhood that all girls share” — and a cult following: In a recent episode, a fan gets Aquilino’s face tattooed on her thigh (another fan shaved her face into his back…). EW caught up with Aquilino over the phone from her New York apartment. She brings her act to Eugene for the first time Dec. 6 at McDonald Theatre.   Continue reading