Joanie Quinn
Producer...
'Spilt Milk' comedy show brings laughter to Multnomah
BY Corey Buchanan
Friday, September 01, 2017
'Spilt Milk - you'll laugh 'til you cry' is back for another season of stand-up comedy at O'Connor's Vault
Spilt Milk founders Betsy Kauffman and Joanie Quinn believe comedic collaboration invokes the most novel jokes and fully realized routines.
During Portland's 2016 "snowpocalypse," for example, Kauffman thought of a timely witticism. She said Portland can't just have rain or snow. Instead, the freezing rain that glitters in the sky and coats streets is "artisanal weather."
And Quinn then added the kicker: "Yeah, it's like they take the gluten out the snow."
There, a joke was formed.
"We call it PG-13. It's not squeaky clean, but it's clean compared to some of the comedy that is out there. So the comics that come have to have that kind of material that is not in the gutter and is smart comedy," Quinn says. "It's really fun at the end to see everyone laughing for an hour and being affected by it," she adds. "You get comments like, 'I needed that. I needed to laugh.'"
The duo have had an affinity for comedy for practically their entire lives. Quinn moved to Hollywood after graduating from college and worked as a script coordinator for shows such as "My Two Dads" and "Dinosaurs." There, she spent ample time in writers' rooms listening to funny people — such as "Two and A Half Men" creator Chuck Lorre — bounce jokes and plot inversions off one another in rapid succession. She also performed stand-up on the side and received her first stand-up class from "The Comedy Bible" writer Judy Carter. Though she left Los Angeles for Portland without achieving her comedy-writer dream and subsequently started a family, the comedic itch persisted.
Quinn says Spilt Milk's passionate and attentive audience attracted a wide-array of comedians who were interested in performing. For instance, Portland's Funniest contest winners, as well as Willamette Week's "The Funniest Five" members, have taken the O'Connor's Vault stage. "The audience helped us out with our street cred in the Portland comedy scene. Even though they think we're just old people, they love coming and performing at the shows," Quinn says. The lineup features a mix between comics who do it as a hobby and some who want to tell jokes professionally. Other than her sets at O'Connor's, Quinn has performed at festivals such as the Idaho Laugh Fest and the Burbank Comedy Festival.
BY Corey Buchanan
Friday, September 01, 2017
'Spilt Milk - you'll laugh 'til you cry' is back for another season of stand-up comedy at O'Connor's Vault
Spilt Milk founders Betsy Kauffman and Joanie Quinn believe comedic collaboration invokes the most novel jokes and fully realized routines.
During Portland's 2016 "snowpocalypse," for example, Kauffman thought of a timely witticism. She said Portland can't just have rain or snow. Instead, the freezing rain that glitters in the sky and coats streets is "artisanal weather."
And Quinn then added the kicker: "Yeah, it's like they take the gluten out the snow."
There, a joke was formed.
"We call it PG-13. It's not squeaky clean, but it's clean compared to some of the comedy that is out there. So the comics that come have to have that kind of material that is not in the gutter and is smart comedy," Quinn says. "It's really fun at the end to see everyone laughing for an hour and being affected by it," she adds. "You get comments like, 'I needed that. I needed to laugh.'"
The duo have had an affinity for comedy for practically their entire lives. Quinn moved to Hollywood after graduating from college and worked as a script coordinator for shows such as "My Two Dads" and "Dinosaurs." There, she spent ample time in writers' rooms listening to funny people — such as "Two and A Half Men" creator Chuck Lorre — bounce jokes and plot inversions off one another in rapid succession. She also performed stand-up on the side and received her first stand-up class from "The Comedy Bible" writer Judy Carter. Though she left Los Angeles for Portland without achieving her comedy-writer dream and subsequently started a family, the comedic itch persisted.
Quinn says Spilt Milk's passionate and attentive audience attracted a wide-array of comedians who were interested in performing. For instance, Portland's Funniest contest winners, as well as Willamette Week's "The Funniest Five" members, have taken the O'Connor's Vault stage. "The audience helped us out with our street cred in the Portland comedy scene. Even though they think we're just old people, they love coming and performing at the shows," Quinn says. The lineup features a mix between comics who do it as a hobby and some who want to tell jokes professionally. Other than her sets at O'Connor's, Quinn has performed at festivals such as the Idaho Laugh Fest and the Burbank Comedy Festival.
Excerpt from
In Southwest Portland, comic moms Betsy Kauffman and Joanie Quinn end shows by bedtime
By Rebecca Koffman | Special to The Oregonian
on April 18, 2013
Betsy Kauffman and Joanie Quinn couldn't stay up late enough to watch, much less perform in, many of the comedy shows around Portland. So they started one of their own. Quinn explains that going on stage at 10 or 11 p.m. is hard when you're in your 50s and have children.
"Spilt Milk -- you'll laugh 'til you cry," was their solution. It's a comedy showcase at O'Connors in Multnomah Village. It starts promptly at 7 p.m., and it's clean. "We used to say it had to be Uber-clean; (we) now say it's PG-13," says Quinn.
"We know our audience, these are our people," says Kauffman. "We all need time afterwards to go home and fold laundry."
It's a winning formula. The showcase started out as a one-night monthly event almost a year ago. Now the show draws a full house for two consecutive nights each month.
-- Rebecca Koffman, special to the Oregonian
Read the entire article
In Southwest Portland, comic moms Betsy Kauffman and Joanie Quinn end shows by bedtime
By Rebecca Koffman | Special to The Oregonian
on April 18, 2013
Betsy Kauffman and Joanie Quinn couldn't stay up late enough to watch, much less perform in, many of the comedy shows around Portland. So they started one of their own. Quinn explains that going on stage at 10 or 11 p.m. is hard when you're in your 50s and have children.
"Spilt Milk -- you'll laugh 'til you cry," was their solution. It's a comedy showcase at O'Connors in Multnomah Village. It starts promptly at 7 p.m., and it's clean. "We used to say it had to be Uber-clean; (we) now say it's PG-13," says Quinn.
"We know our audience, these are our people," says Kauffman. "We all need time afterwards to go home and fold laundry."
It's a winning formula. The showcase started out as a one-night monthly event almost a year ago. Now the show draws a full house for two consecutive nights each month.
-- Rebecca Koffman, special to the Oregonian
Read the entire article