“Best of the Best Sketch Fest” Hits Portland

This Friday and Saturday, Portland's string of comedy festivals this year continues. "The 6th Annual Best of the Best Sketch Fest," organized by Blue Door Productions, has invited eight sketch comedy troupes from around the country to take the stage at Artists Repertory Theater and make Portlanders crack up with their piss-your-pants hilarity.

This year's lineup includes: Dirty Jeans & Thunderchief (New York), The Apple Sisters (New York), Becky & Noelle (New York and Seattle), The Freebird (Everywhere), Pangea 3000 (New York), Troop! (Los Angeles), Meat (New York), and The 3rd Floor (Portland). Each troupe will perform a 45-minute set.


Pangea 3000 (performing Saturday at 8 pm) is one of the festival's top acts. The five members of the New York City-based troupe are contributors and writers for The Onion. Pangea 3000 will be adopting a sixth member, Portlander Zack Poitras, into their group for the festival. A video of their spelling bee sketch is below.

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Dirty Jeans & Thunderchief (peforming Friday at 8 pm) are also quite good. The duo (Biz Ellis and Olivia Scott) is from New York and have appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Comedy Central, and CNN. The opening credits of their show, also titled Dirty Jeans & Thunderchief, is below.

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Acts start every hour on the hour from 8 pm to 11 pm Friday, Aug. 8 and Saturday, Aug. 9. Tickets are $10 for single shows, $32 for an entire night of shows, or $56 for a full-festival pass. Tickets are available at the door, by cash or check only (no credit cards). Seating is first come, first served. The festival will take place at Artists Repertory Theater, Lower Stage (1516 SW Alder St.)