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Comedian Andie Main left Portland six years ago for Denver, and then New York, in search of a fresh start and less-sensitive comedy audiences. She returned home in November and, safe to say, a lot has changed. Many of her pre-2019 friends might not even recognize her. She has gone from—in her words—“a punk-rock coke dealer, to an alcoholic standup comic, to a now sober and disabled yoga teacher.”
Main charts this transformation in a new solo show called Cocaine Yogi, running Thursday, May 15, at Full Bodied Yoga in Southeast Portland. The one-hour darkly comedic show goes over how Main got sober, lost 100 pounds, and confronted her diagnosis of the rare disease ankylosing spondylitis, which has resulted in a partially fused spine.
“I found out at the ripe old age of 43 that yoga is the only thing I can do that will prevent further decay of my spine that I can afford,” Main says in the show.
Cocaine Yogi opens with a brief introduction to the ancient Indian practice, though the audience is not asked to do any yoga other than a few optional deep breaths. Main also quotes the late spiritual guru Ram Dass, naturally, and organizes the content of the show by the seven chakras—the throat chakra section, for example, is about how she found her voice.
That covers the yoga part. The cocaine part is a wild ride that includes references to former rock venue Satyricon, $250 Portland rent, and a boyfriend she refers to as Punk Rock Paul.
“I didn’t go to college. I didn’t make babies. But I did sell drugs to famous musicians,” she says. “I did as much as I sold, and that was quite a lot.”
For folks who can’t make it to the May 15 yoga studio show, there will be plenty more chances to catch Cocaine Yogi in the future. Main plans for the show to pop up in black-box theaters around Portland about six times a year, in addition to a West Coast tour at the end of the summer. Plus, Main is already busy organizing and hosting shows in town, including “Sunday Scaries” at White Eagle Saloon (participants tell a ghost story before their standup set) and “Bad Habit Comedy Brunch,” a three-course brunch at Bad Habit Room next appearing May 18, the speakeasy space next door to Saraveza on North Michigan Avenue.
Meanwhile, Main is rediscovering her hometown as a sober person. It turns out there’s a lot of great hiking here, a hobby that she picked up in Colorado but never did in the Pacific Northwest during her drug days.
“Everyone talks about how much Portland has changed,” Main says. “I’m a daughter of Portland and I’ve changed a lot, too. In a weird way, we’ve kind of found each other again.”
SEE IT: Cocaine Yogi by Andie Main at Full Bodied Yoga, 1120 SE Main St., Suite 101 (entrance on Southeast 11th Avenue), fullbodiedyoga.union.site/performances/ftu2b4y3. 7 pm Thursday, May 15. Tickets by donation.