From Portland to Philadelphia: Imani Denae's Comedy Journey

Join Cody Parr (Beertown Comedy), Creach, Hopper & Julia Reed Nichols for a lively conversation on Central Oregon culture, where sports, community events, and delightfully quirky topics collide. From the World Cup to women’s sports bars and drone fireworks, we explore what’s happening locally—and what could be next.

Also in this episode meet comedian Imani Denae who shares her journey from Portland to Philadelphia, her unique approach to comedy, and what’s ahead in her career. Imani dives into how she finds inspiration, adapts to new comedy scenes, and balances authenticity with ambition. Plus, hear about her upcoming performances in Bend, Oregon at The Tower Theater and what audiences can expect from her live shows.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

It looks like you're trying to keep your hands warm. Yeah, like superstar for superstar. So welcome, welcome back to this week's episode of Nighttime Benders Powered by the Source, your favorite place to catch up with Central Oregon's favorite funny people. My name is Julia Reed Nichols, and I get to be your host today, and we have some fabulously funny comedians joining us. And let's talk with you. Introduce yourself.

SPEAKER_05 0:29

My name is Jeff. No, I'm Brent Hopper.

SPEAKER_01 0:34

It's a podcast. You should use your words. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 0:36

Local comedian, a part-time stripper. No, I don't strip anymore.

SPEAKER_01 0:42

You don't make any money off of it, anyways.

SPEAKER_05 0:45

It's a horrible Achilles tent and injury. I don't want to talk about it anymore. So it's a it's a dark place. Sorry.

SPEAKER_01 0:52

Please introduce yourself.

SPEAKER_03 0:53

I am Cody Barr. I am owner and producer of Deertown Comedy here in Bend, Oregon. A single father, and I also own local legends marketing here in town. Help small businesses just kind of get more exposure and stretch their dollars so they don't have to break the bank.

SPEAKER_01 1:07

Yeah. And you also run our Monday open mics at Silver Moon, right? Yeah. It's probably the most popular open mic in town.

SPEAKER_03 1:15

Definitely.

SPEAKER_01 1:16

Yeah. I keep telling people, I'm like, it's a great open mic, but either be prepared to look rude leaving early or stay a really long time because it's very popular.

SPEAKER_04 1:25

You left early last week.

SPEAKER_01 1:27

I did, yes. I was to do it. I have some I'm a big producer, okay? All right. I know.

SPEAKER_04 1:35

Your words, your words.

SPEAKER_01 1:36

I know. I'm sure people that don't know me are like, that diva. She comes in, signs up first, leaves after her friends go. I'm yeah, I know. I but I'm really nice if you get to know me. Okay, anyways, please introduce yourself.

SPEAKER_04 1:51

I'm David Creech, local guy, born and raised here. You might have seen me as an Uber driver. I also do some business consulting uh when I want to get on the complete other end of the working spectrum and handyman work. I know I just do a lot of things and stuff.

SPEAKER_01 2:06

Me and my husband were actually talking about you. I was like, Jimmy, did you know Creech was a handyman? I was like, I think I think he should become our handyman.

SPEAKER_04 2:14

I'm not licensed and bonded. I just for friends.

SPEAKER_01 2:18

That's okay. That's okay. We're we're gonna be able to do that.

SPEAKER_04 2:19

I'm the Ben handyman, you know.

SPEAKER_05 2:21

We're not the licensed involving kind of creeps. You're homeschooled and you're a handyman. Yeah, man. I'm starting to get that you're half-homish.

SPEAKER_04 2:28

Pretty much religious, too. I just we did have a TV.

SPEAKER_01 2:32

There was no cable. There was no cable, but what were you allowed to watch on the TV?

SPEAKER_04 2:36

Uh Veggie Tales. Disney was actually not allowed.

SPEAKER_01 2:40

Disney wasn't allowed, just Veggie Tales.

SPEAKER_04 2:42

There's Veggie. Bible Man.

SPEAKER_01 2:44

Bible Man?

SPEAKER_04 2:45

That's a thing. That's like watching a Looney Tunes. I watched Looney Tunes, and then for some reason my mom really liked like murder shows, but would always hate the action. She's like, ah, big explosions. I'm like, you watch people die every night.

SPEAKER_01 2:55

So she was fine with murder.

SPEAKER_04 2:57

You know, I didn't set the rules.

SPEAKER_01 2:59

These are you're like, it was very complicated to figure out as a kid, and it's even more complicated as an adult.

SPEAKER_04 3:04

It really is. Yeah. You just got the internet.

SPEAKER_05 3:08

Watch veggie tells.

SPEAKER_04 3:09

You're not gonna I mean that's true, but does any kid want to eat their vegetables?

SPEAKER_05 3:12

Hold on. You you you question that. What other things do you watch that you would be okay with eating? We don't want to talk about it. Okay.

SPEAKER_06 3:20

Did you like that's not a kid's show?

SPEAKER_01 3:26

That's no, but you can also find it on the internet. Oh, you can't. Yeah, you can also find it on the internet.

SPEAKER_04 3:31

Did you like veg eating vegetables as a kid then?

SPEAKER_05 3:34

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Okay, because you were free of veggie tails. Yeah, I did not, you know, uh did not watch that. You know, but I I did watch Bambi though, and I love Deer Meat, so I kind of yeah, yeah. Well, anyway, like we're not gonna talk about that.

SPEAKER_01 3:52

Moving on to the topics for today. So uh I heard there was some big news in the sports world. This this the sports world had big news this week. We they we what happened?

SPEAKER_03 4:05

The World Cup, is that what we wanted to do? That's what we're talking about.

SPEAKER_01 4:07

That's my that's my segue into the rock.

SPEAKER_03 4:10

It's a tough loss. It's a tough loss.

SPEAKER_01 4:11

So we we didn't win.

SPEAKER_04 4:12

You went to the loss. No bad.

unknown 4:14

No.

SPEAKER_01 4:15

And we lost to Belgium. Belgium.

SPEAKER_04 4:18

We got to like the top 16, and they had won their last game, and they got a red card with their their top player, came down on somebody's ankle hard, got a red card, got ejected from the game, was supposed to have a one-game suspension.

SPEAKER_06 4:30

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_04 4:31

As per FIFA rules. But then Trump gave a call to the head of FIFA, made some backdoor deal, and the suspension was delayed until next year. So our star player got to come in. And Belgium took that personally. They scored nine minutes in. And then the US, the US turned the tide. They finally scored and were like, we're back in this. And 61 seconds later, Belgium came and went, No, you're not. And they scored and just crushed.

SPEAKER_01 5:00

I feel like I'm watching it again with Preach's description. That was great.

SPEAKER_03 5:04

By the time I started watching it, it looked like the US team had just given up already.

SPEAKER_01 5:09

Like, this It's kind of embarrassing because we had a larger. I mean, how many, like we were talking like how many people are in Belgium? Like you were saying, it's like the side of Rhode Island, right?

SPEAKER_04 5:19

11.87 million.

SPEAKER_01 5:20

What, how many?

SPEAKER_04 5:21

11.87 million.

SPEAKER_01 5:22

11.8.

SPEAKER_04 5:25

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 5:26

And we and they still pulled a better team than we could have pulled in the entire US.

SPEAKER_04 5:31

We do all the sports though. Like we no, and like Europeans, soccer is their sorry, football is their is their sport. That's like, and all of the best teams are there, so they're all playing against the best competition. Whereas we have American football. We are not the best in baseball, but we you know Japan took that.

SPEAKER_05 5:50

We invented sport and and became the best at it until someone's discovers it. We've got basketball. That's that's what it is. I mean, there's the best basketball player right now is a Frenchman. If you're a true patriot, you should not be able to live comfortably. That is that is that's not right. I I tried, I tried watching the the World Cup, like, and you know, I know I just can't get deal with the pacing. Like, people are going crazy after 60 seconds of like no stoppage. I'm like, just pick the bunk, pick the damn thing up and just run right into that goal with it. I wish there was a sport that that we could emulate, like that, you know, it could be something similar to that. You just pick it up and run with it. If you don't like the guy running with it, just knock the motherfucker down. It is, it's called the NBA.

SPEAKER_06 6:31

Oh, that's right. Yeah, that's the W NBA. Yeah. Just beat him up.

SPEAKER_01 6:39

Well, that's a that's a good segue to one of our other topics. So there is a line of sports bars that recently opened up called the Sports Bra. Uh, they haven't been around very long, but they've opened up franchises in Portland, Vegas, I think maybe St. Louis. And it is a sports bar dedicated to women's sports only. Now, this sports bar is also seeking funding because it turns out this idea was not as financially successful right off the bat as they thought. What do you guys think about that? Do you think people want to watch women's sports?

SPEAKER_03 7:24

I think I think some people do. I think there's definitely not a big enough pool for something like that. I mean, obviously, somebody had the money. And somebody was like, hey, this is working, let's expand. Or maybe they just started all in different cities at the same time. I have no idea. But as far as like the WNBA, like the sports bra needs a Caitlin Clark, all right? They need to bring attention to it. I think I was saying this earlier. It was like the sports bra needs like a mascot, like a chestnut. Like somebody just taking down like tofu nuggets, like nobody's business. Just all types of vegan food. Like that lady can take down some tofu nuggets.

SPEAKER_01 8:01

What I like is you can tell it's a sports bar marketed to women because they're like, we have vegan and gluten-free options.

SPEAKER_04 8:11

What's this GF mean? Is that is that the case?

SPEAKER_01 8:13

I know I feel like a bad feminist for like not supporting the idea, but it's just it's just not something that I as a woman would go to. So I'm like, then then who is the audience? You know, who's the audience? And I guess people not like me is the audience.

SPEAKER_05 8:29

I think it's just insanely ironic that you you name a place after something that was built for support and you turn around and need.

SPEAKER_06 8:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 8:43

But you're the sports, right?

SPEAKER_01 8:45

I know. Well, we wish them the best of luck.

SPEAKER_03 8:47

I just it's hard enough to keep a regular sports on television. Exactly. A very niche thing. I thought this was just a Portland thing, but it's multiple cities.

SPEAKER_01 8:58

No, I know. It no, I I saw it in law, I saw it in a Las Vegas newspaper where they were like talking about it. So um, yeah, I know we have they have everything in Vegas.

SPEAKER_04 9:08

Are they having a lot of the teams like represent them? Because when with soccer, the interesting thing is whereas the US isn't great at men's soccer, we have the women's soccer has won World Cups four times.

SPEAKER_01 9:20

Fantastic. Love that.

SPEAKER_04 9:21

Are they promoting? Are they gonna be the face of it? Like, what's where is it? Are they just running out of it?

SPEAKER_01 9:26

Yeah, I I I don't know. I I did not do enough research on this topic to be an educated commentary.

SPEAKER_05 9:32

Split your bars into two different types of bars. You have the Angel Reese version and then the Caitlin Clark version. And that won't cause any division at all. Right.

SPEAKER_03 9:40

It it will bring the community together, just like the WNBA is trying to do, and uh everybody will maybe what they could do is like theme nights where it's like, you know, like this bar's a Raiders bar, and this bar's a Steelers bar, and this is a Dodgers place. Like, what if they did it with women's sports where it's like, hey, tonight is going to be this and this, like, come support, and like whoever, whichever team wins, like you guys get like 10% off on your bill or something like that. So people are trying to compete.

SPEAKER_01 10:07

Compete, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:09

Drive traffic, drive traffic, any type of creative marketing that they can just like that. Here's an idea too.

SPEAKER_04 10:14

Uh just offer all sports, and just cater to the women. But women's sports on the big screen, guys' sport gets little TVs. There you go. There we go. We're still in the heart of it. Now we can, you know, the mass majority of the audience can look at the small sports.

SPEAKER_01 10:29

I think that's really we just want you to feel smaller inside the sports.

SPEAKER_03 10:33

It's kind of like shopping, like when you go shopping with like a girlfriend or your significant other or something like that, and like they're doing all the shopping, and you're just kind of like the guy tagging along. If we had some way to connect with each other in those moments where it's like, Yeah, well, I think that might help.

SPEAKER_05 10:48

I think you don't, I don't, I think you bring in the the men's sports also for the women. There are tons of NFL women, like female NFL fans, NBA fans, baseball fans. You're you're actually discriminating against your the demographic you're trying to bring in by just saying, here's just the women's sports.

SPEAKER_01 11:02

Right? Like acting like women don't want to engage in watching men's sports as well.

SPEAKER_05 11:07

Exactly. Yeah, I think that legit is a problem.

SPEAKER_03 11:09

It could it could be also something where it's like this is a great idea, it's just way too early.

SPEAKER_01 11:14

Yeah. It's like having a female president.

SPEAKER_04 11:22

Made for science fiction movies.

SPEAKER_01 11:24

Is that what we're doing? Is that what we're talking about?

SPEAKER_05 11:28

The current one's hands kind of fit, and he's almost like.

SPEAKER_01 11:31

Anyway, uh, we recently celebrated our nation's birth. 250 years of America. And Central Oregon was abuzz with drone and fireworks shows, and people have very strong opinions on which type of shows should be allowed. What do you guys think about drone versus fireworks?

SPEAKER_04 11:52

Uh personally, I usually never like robots or drones, but in this case, I think we should move toward them because one, I also am a pet sitter, is one of the things. I watch dogs, and dogs are absolutely terrified of it. And uh, as bad as I feel like that's that's the bend plug, right? All everyone in Bend can get behind that. What less people are getting behind but should is that the veterans are now experiencing like sparkly PTSD. Like, thanks for your service. I hope you enjoy the show, and three nights of not sleeping. Fireworks are cool, they've always been cool, but I don't think the benefits are worth it.

SPEAKER_06 12:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 12:28

I have PTSD and fireworks are related to my PTSD. And I when I first kind of got diagnosed, it was really affecting me. It really, really stood out. But as time went on, it just got better and better and better. So I don't think it should be replaced. I think maybe we should just keep up with the American tradition of like do what you want to do. However, I like the idea of the option where it's like this side of town, you can watch an amazing drone show, but it better be amazing. Yeah. And then this side of town, you can have the fireworks or something like that. Yeah. Having the option, I think, is cool. I did see a hybrid where they did a drone show with like fireworks in the background that correlated with the drones.

SPEAKER_04 13:13

But not drones shooting fireworks. I'm not on board with that type.

SPEAKER_01 13:16

That's uh that's actually a war machine and drone.

SPEAKER_04 13:22

Oh, yeah, all right. Let's get it.

SPEAKER_01 13:24

What do you think?

SPEAKER_05 13:25

I think drone show shows are just one more step closer to communism. No, no deeper. Do you have a feeling freeze, brother? I've had dogs here for the last four years or almost five now, and uh each year they're better, it gets better with them, like because I'm there present with them. So it's like as a dog owner, be a good dog owner. Don't just think that they're gonna be okay by themselves.

SPEAKER_01 13:50

I heard you took your dogs down to the fireworks.

SPEAKER_05 13:52

Did you?

SPEAKER_01 13:53

Yeah, I don't know. People were talking about your good dog parenting.

SPEAKER_05 14:00

Let it roll. But no, I uh yeah, I I think and and maybe just get a little more control on in-city fireworks, and but I hate the fact that they're using drones to ticket people like that. That I don't know about you guys, that really rows me wrong.

SPEAKER_01 14:17

Ticket people with fireworks?

SPEAKER_05 14:19

Ticketing people, they're ticketing people using their drone little eye in the sky.

SPEAKER_01 14:25

But for fireworks or for something else?

SPEAKER_05 14:27

Probably much many things.

SPEAKER_01 14:29

But we have mass stuff for sure.

SPEAKER_05 14:31

Fireworks and that was happening all across the nation this this last weekend. And so that's just something, you know, as we try to, like you said, like make sure everybody gets equality in this country, but at the same time still hold true to wanting freedom for it, too. So it's uh it's a weird balance, you know. It's like trying to keep a wife or girlfriend or fiance happy. It's just you'll never really get there.

SPEAKER_01 14:54

You know, when I when I grew up in Seattle, they would launch the fireworks off of a barge in the middle of the water. That seems sensible. Yeah, I think the thing about fireworks in Central Oregon is you're lighting it off from like the top of a candle. A flammable gets dipped in gas. Exactly.

SPEAKER_05 15:14

It's like we should just double slide it up.

SPEAKER_04 15:19

See, I think that's a double-edged sword because I agree. Like, I I don't want the fires or the smoke, but I always want the butte to catch on fire.

SPEAKER_06 15:26

100%.

SPEAKER_04 15:27

The fire was great. It was like two minutes in this year.

SPEAKER_03 15:29

Yeah, we took bets this year. How fast will the butte catch on fire? That was quick. I had the over under at four and a half minutes. When did it come in? I was actually in Primeville, so it wasn't here. I went and watched that one for the first time, and that was that was less than five minutes. Yeah. This one was they were prepared for it. Kind of the way I see it with the 4th of July fireworks is the firefighters do controlled burns all year round. They're so prepared for this exact thing every single year. I think what it is is the illegal fireworks that people go buy out of state or buy somewhere else, and then they bring it back here and do it. Because I will in not bend, there were a lot of illegal fireworks. And my first question is where do you get the money for these? Because I feel like you lit more than the city did.

SPEAKER_04 16:16

Couldn't we come up with like a compromise? Like, we can still have fireworks shows, but we're gonna do them in the forest where we're doing controlled burns. That's the coolest way to set it off. Like our it's out of the city. If the sounds aren't gonna bug anyone who's not going to watch, there you go. Firefighters can do their job.

SPEAKER_05 16:35

Perfect.

SPEAKER_01 16:36

You found the solution.

SPEAKER_05 16:37

That's it. I I do know just with like seeing the tradition of watching Pilot View burn, I know that knowing the history of Pilot View, that's my preferred flame to see on the top of that hill. So, yeah. If we are gonna light it up, yeah, that was yeah, you know, that should be that should be that one.

SPEAKER_01 16:53

Happy birthday, America. Freedom! But you were talking about some freedoms that might be getting taken away in Oregon. Can you explain the Oregon hunting?

SPEAKER_03 17:02

There is a ban that will it has got enough signatures to reach the ballot this year. I think it's November that it's gonna be on there to ban hunting, fishing, ranching, and that would include like your at-home pest control. You couldn't even like help mitigate insects and mice around your house because it would be considered animal abuse. And they're trying to introduce it to the state. The governor has openly said, like, I don't support this, whether that's a genuine feeling, or if it's like, hey, I can't support this because I got I'll get so many votes removed from you know my count. Yeah, I just don't understand how and why people even signed enough signatures to do it. I'm assuming that the approach was like, hey, we're here to support like against animal abuse. You don't like animal abuse, right?

SPEAKER_01 17:56

Like, yeah, oh, those street signers.

SPEAKER_03 17:59

And he got enough signatures that way. I don't know if that's what he did, so I can't say, but if information was given to the people that did sign, because if you look at it, it is ridiculous.

SPEAKER_01 18:10

Well, it's an overstep, it's a complete overstep. Absolutely. I mean, we have the right to hunt in this country. You have what were the it was hunting? Ranching.

SPEAKER_03 18:19

Ranching. You can't you can't do anything with that.

SPEAKER_01 18:21

Don't we need ranching? Isn't that a need?

SPEAKER_03 18:24

Seems like it would be like a need, right? Well, even if you remove ranching, we're Oregon is still going to sell meat in the supermarkets and locally, it's just for the more expensive meat? Yes. And then you're gonna have all these different agencies that are gonna try and enforce no hunting and no fishing in Oregon. But like, watch how many people either leave the state or don't care at all.

SPEAKER_01 18:50

But it's like who's gonna enforce it?

SPEAKER_03 18:51

Exactly. Who's actually going to be able to do that? It's not gonna be the who's gonna pay for it.

SPEAKER_05 18:55

Enforce it.

SPEAKER_03 18:55

Yeah, the people the other part of it is too, is if even if it did somehow miraculously pass, the governor could just be like, no, no, that's tens of billions of dollars every year that the state won't see. That's just not people are just mad.

SPEAKER_01 19:09

Yeah, it feels like this. I I feel this divide in the country in general, but it feels very strong in Oregon. The city people versus the non-city people, like they just don't have the same existence.

SPEAKER_06 19:22

Right.

SPEAKER_01 19:22

Like, how could you even think that a hunting or a ranching ban would be viable when most of the state is red?

SPEAKER_03 19:33

Yeah, and I think the blue little pimples run everything in the state as far as the politics and voting go. So you have these three little dots that are like, oh well, we don't live in that world that the 95% of the other people in the state live in and do. So we don't understand it. So that's just kind of how I see it from the hunting aspect of it, the fishing aspect of it, the people that signed that to get it put on the ballot. And like I said, I don't know if it was a lack of full disclosure of what they were signing or if it was just a lack of intelligence. But it's it's anger. It's it's anger.

SPEAKER_05 20:10

These are the people that we took their drugs away legally years ago, and they they need to take something from you now.

SPEAKER_01 20:16

I don't know. We barely even took their drugs away in this state.

SPEAKER_06 20:19

Like it's like slightly less stable.

SPEAKER_03 20:22

I'm curious to build centers so you can do it safely. So yeah. I would like to take a poll on the people that did sign that and say it. How many of you have sushi here at Oregon? How many of you have been to McDonald's or gotten a cheeseburger for the last month? Yes. Like, what are we doing here? Do you do you do any type of pest control in your home?

SPEAKER_01 20:40

I think anyone that has an issue with hunting doesn't know a lot of hunters because my family's from Michigan and like it's a very common thing to do there. But I mean, it's not like you're killing 25 deer a season, you know? It's like one.

SPEAKER_05 20:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:58

If you're lucky.

SPEAKER_05 20:59

If you're lucky, if you go in, yeah. Yeah, they they hunters contribute so much to keep in our forest. Actually, like alive as well. You know, the burn control. Most of that, 70 roughly 75% of the money that goes into our forests and uh forest apartments and all that is from hunters, fishers. So they can kick rocks. In fact, I propose a new thing. There's always special tags for hunting. So whoever made that specific ballot to get it banned, let's go ahead and have a lottery for that guy. No? I don't think maybe that's too bad.

SPEAKER_01 21:32

So basically he's not against it.

SPEAKER_05 21:35

So interesting in how to expand it. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 21:38

So basically, people trying to control us is one of the worst parts about Central Oregon, which we're gonna get into because the Source recently launched their best of Central Oregon. Yeah. So if you want to go to the Source, you can check out and vote for your favorite like hairstylist and restaurant and open. Mike. Yeah. Beer town is a definite contender for that. All kinds of things you can vote on. You can't vote on the best comedian, but that's nope, nope, that's a story for another day. Can't do that. But we it got me thinking about some of the worst in Central Oregon. Like, what is some of the worst? Like, what would you nominate as the worst in Central Oregon? Cyclists, all of them. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_05 22:24

I shouldn't have said that.

SPEAKER_06 22:25

Oh, shit. Such strong feelings.

SPEAKER_05 22:28

No, just the bright colored uh in the middle of the city, getting using the bike lane and the the and the sidewalk and the road type of people. I was literally just driving uh home from Prime Dill Reservoir, it was a couple weeks ago. And there's somebody just in the middle of the road, just on the yellow dotted line, just cycling away like nobody's coming home during the weekend. And I hate you people. I love you people. I'm trying to find the space in my heart for it. It's just not there yet. So that that would be for me is in cyclists, and this is coming from a Californian that's dealt with them.

SPEAKER_03 23:02

What you don't know is that Hopper is a deeply closeted cyclist.

SPEAKER_01 23:06

So he truly just hates himself.

SPEAKER_03 23:09

He flipped his bike around the corner.

SPEAKER_05 23:11

It's a unicycle, he starts soft. I will admit I have the suit, I just don't have the bike.

SPEAKER_03 23:19

Or accepted of cyclists if they were like if you saw more tandems or unicycle riders. Because that brings me amusement and I enjoy it.

SPEAKER_05 23:26

Absolutely, absolutely. Where's the unicyclists? Come on.

SPEAKER_04 23:30

They're on the trails uh that have the frisbee golf. Like legitimately. Are they really they will ride on like the frisbee golf courses and be the most hipster person? That's so much worst of Central Art. Frisbee golfers, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:42

Wait, do people actually do frisbee golf? Because they see those things that people actually have everything in Ben.

SPEAKER_04 23:50

There's straight up a circuits that comes in on Wednesdays at like downtown at Drake Park. All the hippies will be there with like 12 slack lines. They'll have giant like tripod for people with silks. Like, we have everything. We have hippies, hipsters, we've got circus. It's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 24:05

We got it all.

SPEAKER_04 24:06

I I actually would like to add on to Poppers because I think it's the worst upgrade is our like Greenwood renovation where we split down to one lane so we could have it for bikers.

SPEAKER_01 24:18

Oh, the green, the highlighting.

SPEAKER_04 24:19

We can't ride half the year because we're under snow. But thank God they have more room in the summer.

SPEAKER_05 24:26

Yeah, they still love that sidewalk up top.

SPEAKER_04 24:28

And they still love the sidewalk up top. So the upgrades for the bikers are kind of once the bikers can follow the rules of the road, we wouldn't need all it's true.

SPEAKER_01 24:38

It's part of I I've heard rumor that there is overall city planning in place to try to like make driving and parking more difficult so we all are encouraged to bike. It's like social engineering. They're trying to make it more difficult for you to make it.

SPEAKER_04 24:56

Bend is also aging out. Like, there's an older population, there's a lot of people who live here who don't like biking's not just feasible. Yeah. And when you eliminate it, you're like, well, we're doing the best. It's it's the same as the hunting thing. Like, we know what's best for you. And like, you don't. You're thinking very narrowly of like, yeah, on a whole, on paper, a biking city is better than a city where everybody has a car. But we are a high desert that goes from mountains to river to straight desert. We we are not the biome for that. We're not a city in that sense. We need a sports bra here.

SPEAKER_01 25:33

That would change everything. Yeah, exactly. Well, I think that brings us full circle. Yes. Full circle, ladies and gentlemen. With that, we have a great comedian for you to meet this week. I was able to talk to Amani Danae. She's going to be coming to town at the Tower Theater later this fall. And you can check out her show. But first, get to know her a little bit more. Well, this is supposed to be fun. That's the number one goal, I promise you. First off, welcome to the podcast. If you could introduce yourself for people that might not be familiar with who you are and your work.

SPEAKER_00 26:12

My name is Imani Dinay. I am a stand-up comedian who started in Portland, born in Portland, Oregon. And I just recently moved to Philadelphia so I could be closer to New York. I've been doing comedy for five years, and it has been just up since then, which I'm very blessed to say. Um I don't know what else to say.

SPEAKER_01 26:37

I think No, that's that's exciting. So you've been learning my comedy. I I think that's exciting. You've been doing comedy for five years. Can you tell us your comedy origin story? What was your first time at a mic?

SPEAKER_00 26:50

So I kind of became interested in stand-up in 2019. And then uh I have I'm a perfectionist and I don't like to feel bad at something. So for like four months, I just watched open mics. I would go to them and just sit in the front. Actually, I would sit dead in the front and just watch and listen to the local comics tell jokes, and I would look them up on YouTube to see what the local comics had on YouTube and just watch. And I think it was like my way of studying to make sure I knew like overall what people thought was funny, and then also what I felt like wasn't funny. And uh I learned like how like what you're supposed to do. You take the mic out of the mic stand, you move the mic stand. Like I just gained that all from like sight.

SPEAKER_06 27:50

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 27:51

And then I tried it for the first time at the end of 2019, and it went really well. Um, but I didn't I stopped doing it after that. I just I did not go back that entire rest of the year. And then I tried to get back into it in March of 2020, and I think we know what happened then, but I couldn't do comedy for double 2020. And then I started again in um January of 2021.

SPEAKER_01 28:23

Yeah. I watched a lot of your comedy to kind of prepare and get a feel for you. And I have to say, you feel like a friend, like you feel like somebody I want to hang out with. Where do you get your material from? Where do you source most of your jokes from? Because it all feels very organic.

SPEAKER_00 28:38

It's crazy. I I get a lot of my jokes from hanging out with people. I think. Like as long as I'm like an observer or a a part of something, then like I can scope it out and see what is funny. I find my comedy to be critical, but like a funny criticism. Cause I I was always like a a wallflower growing up, like I always attach myself to like the the biggest personality in the room, but I wasn't that. And so I got to see how people respond to people with like huge personalities, and it kind of helped me like understand authentic conversation because you get to see somebody who sometimes people are not being authentic with.

SPEAKER_06 29:32

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 29:33

And you get to be the person who I don't know, I just saw it all. I saw the people who liked them, people who didn't like them, everything in between. And I just started writing about people who I didn't particularly like. That was how it started. It was like people who bothered me or who uh would always write about people who didn't make any sense to me and like made bad decisions.

SPEAKER_01 29:58

There's plenty of those people in the world. Plenty of those people. I I I like your observations because they feel like the things that we all are thinking but just not saying. You know? You're like, she's right. She's right. And you mentioned that you were in Portland and you've recently relocated to Philly. How is that transition going from one scene to another scene?

SPEAKER_00 30:25

It's been like so interesting. I think interesting is the the best word for it because I wouldn't say it's bad or it's good. It's been difficult, it's had its challenges. The culture, like I've never lived on the East Coast before, and the culture on the East Coast is so drastically different. I think people are closer here in proximity to each other, which creates a whole different dynamic. We're like in Portland or just in the Pacific Northwest, we have a lot of space between ourselves and other people. And so I think that makes us more relaxed. At least in my opinion, I feel like maybe that's why I'm so relaxed is because anyone who bothers me, I I know I'll never see them again. Whereas like here, there's a good chance you will see them again. So it's there's that, I think the comedy scene here is like super ambitious. In a way that I guess I didn't really see in Portland. Even though Portland comics are ambitious, I think that there's like something about having this proximity to New York where it's like an hour and a half train ride away. Like that in itself creates people who are extremely career-driven people in general.

SPEAKER_01 31:49

Yeah. And what do you think drives that that ambition? Like, what do what goal do you think people are headed towards when you say they're incredibly ambitious? Like, what's the end goal, do you think?

SPEAKER_00 32:03

I think like, at least for me, my end goal was strictly just to make stand-up comedy my career. And I think that's something that a lot of people here are doing. Like, all they do is stand up.

unknown 32:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:18

Or like anything comedy worlds adjacent. And I think that that's like the main goal of any person going to New York because becoming a famous actor, movie star, Netflix specialist, I that doesn't happen for everybody.

SPEAKER_06 32:36

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 32:37

But having a career in entertainment or stand-up could happen for anyone who puts the effort in so I think that everyone out here is just striving to have a career in comedy. Because there's industry here and they can. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:57

Yeah, exactly. Well, I always say that one of the the amazing things about stand-ups is they are slightly delusional, right? Like they get up on stage and they think a room full of people want to hear what they have to say, right? But at the same time, like that's how you I mean, that's how you sell out Madison Square Garden is by believing that. So it's nice to be around people that have similar ambitions. And so for success for you, it looks like working, you you're like, success for me means I don't have another job. It doesn't involve touring. Do you want to tour full-time?

SPEAKER_00 33:32

I do want to tour maybe full-time for like a year and then the next year half time, part-time, and then full-time for the next year. I wanna, I don't like the airport. I'll just say that. It makes me extremely upset to be at the airport. Um, especially because I have traveled a lot for stand-up. Um there's been times where within a month I've been to three different states.

SPEAKER_06 34:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:02

It's overwhelming when you get close to missing a flight or you miss a flight, especially on the way home. That happened to me leaving Omaha. I missed my flight, my connecting flight, and then I had to spend time at the Chicago airport. And by time I mean nine hours. So that was fun.

SPEAKER_01 34:24

You're like, I found their best.

SPEAKER_00 34:26

Like I end up crying. It's like I don't want to cry at the airport, and that's the hardest part of the traveling part of stand-up. So if I could have like a little schedule where I'm like, okay, I know for this year I'm a full-time touring comedian. This year, I'm part-time, and then I'm doing stuff on the side, whatever that case may be, that is also comedy adjacent, and then go back to full-time.

SPEAKER_01 34:53

Yeah, I've I've done something kind of similar. I toured for a long time in a show, um, and then I realized I didn't want to do that. So now I tour part of the year and I produce part of the year. And it's a nice balance not to be eating road food every night, you know? And yeah. And I don't it's like, I don't know if you drink, but sometimes when I have shows every night and it's like just like a party atmosphere, I'm like, I feel like a gross human being. Like, I just need some like yoga and trees. Um, which we have lots of in Bend. Are you gonna be coming to Bend with your comedy here in the fall? Have you ever been to Bend before?

SPEAKER_00 35:30

You know what's crazy is no, and I've lived in Oregon forever. Like, I don't understand how that happened. Like, I was born here, my parents moved me back in high school, and then after that, I've been here for 17 years. So I'm like, I don't know how I just managed. I've been booked in bin before and had to cancel.

SPEAKER_01 35:53

Well, we're excited to have you.

SPEAKER_00 35:56

Yeah, I'm excited to be there. Like, I think it's gonna be super exciting. It's because I get to see like everything. Yeah, I know there's a big tubing.

SPEAKER_01 36:05

There's like yes, that's what I was gonna say. Floating is a very, very big deal here. If you like the water, I highly, highly recommend it. Highly recommend it. I will say, you know, Ben, we're a very like isolated community. Where I think that's why people don't come here that often is we're kind of hard to get to. You're coming from Philly, so do you know how long of a trip it's gonna be for you to get here?

SPEAKER_00 36:30

I know that for me, I actually am flying to Portland. My birthday is the week before the festival, and I'm turning 30. So I'll be in Portland celebrating my birthday with like my friends and family. And then I'll be there for a week. The next week I'll be driving down to bend with uh some comics who are also on the festival from Portland.

SPEAKER_01 36:56

Fantastic. It'll be like a big party for you guys.

unknown 36:59

I think.

SPEAKER_01 37:00

It'll be a nice time of year. Yeah, it's a good time of year here, September, and you guys are gonna be at the Tower Theater, I believe. Isn't that where you guys are doing the shows at?

SPEAKER_00 37:09

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 37:09

Yeah, it's a fantastic, fantastic historical theater that's really beloved in town. So I think you're gonna have a great time. Um, and definitely make some time for some outdoor stuff while you're here in town.

SPEAKER_00 37:20

Oh, I definitely will. That and like I'll go to the blockbuster.

SPEAKER_01 37:25

Yes, yes, we do. We I think it's the last blockbuster. Yeah. It's our town's claim to fame. Our claim to fame for sure. Well, if people want to check out more of your work as we're getting ready to head into your show, where's the best place to catch up with you and your jokes and your schedule and all that good stuff?

SPEAKER_00 37:43

The best place would be to either follow me on Facebook or Instagram at Imani Dine underscore on Instagram or Imani Dine Comedy on Facebook. But both of those things I regularly regularly post my shows and clips of my comedy. Also, you can find me at YouTube at Imani Dine underscore, and you can find full sets. I'm posting a lot more of my full sets so that I can get them out there. So you'll definitely see some new jokes that you've never seen before on my YouTube.

SPEAKER_01 38:25

So well, thank you again. Is there anything else you want to share with the podcast listeners before we go today?

SPEAKER_00 38:31

Smile more. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 38:34

You're like, be nice to other people.

SPEAKER_00 38:36

Or at least, at least, yeah. Smile at least once today. There you go.

SPEAKER_01 38:41

Yeah. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 38:43

Oh, it's nice meeting you.

SPEAKER_01 38:44

Nice meeting you too. Thanks for watching. Bye, have a good day. Bye. Yeah, we're almost done. Like, you can you got this. You can hold it. You can hold it. Okay. If you want to check out more shows in Central Oregon, we have some great stuff coming up this week. First, I would like to announce that the Source is gonna be doing the world's funniest gnome competition at Little Woody this year. Grand prize is $250. It's free to enter.

SPEAKER_04 39:14

Is this our workaround to becoming the funniest comedian?

SPEAKER_01 39:18

Exactly.

SPEAKER_04 39:19

Okay, I just gotta wear a gnome outfit, and then you'll say our exactly.

SPEAKER_01 39:23

We won't pick the funniest comedian from the source, but you can become the world's funniest gnome.

SPEAKER_05 39:29

Cody said, because on 5, 10, and under, I'm officially like you're officially eligible.

SPEAKER_01 39:35

So applications will be up for that soon on the little Woody site, and that's applications are due by July 31st, and the contest is gonna be August 29th.

SPEAKER_04 39:45

So what is the contest?

SPEAKER_01 39:47

It's five minutes of comedy dressed like a gnome. So it really is you guys putting on the And the way we're doing the contest, because I hate lining people up and clapping or judges. I hate all that shit. So what we're gonna do is we're gonna use a decibel meter and after each comedian's set, read that number, write it down, and at the end reveal everybody's numbers at once. Yeah. I like that. Right? Because like I was like, I don't mind losing if I'm a comedian. What I hate is lining up to lose. That's what hurts my ego. So I'm excited about that. Also, we have $5 Comedy Nights at Silver Moon, which is gonna be July 8th. And are you on that show?

SPEAKER_04 40:27

I am on that show, yeah.

unknown 40:28

Fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 40:30

Yes, gonna talk a lot at that show. There's actually a lot of great comedians on that show. You can check that out at BenTicket.com. There's also a show at Bunkin Brew Gateway. I think it's a weed show.

SPEAKER_02 40:42

Yeah, they go up and do stand-up and then they go get high and then come do more stand-up.

SPEAKER_01 40:47

Fantastic. Fantastic.

SPEAKER_02 40:48

They leave already?

SPEAKER_01 40:50

Yeah, they leave the venue, go to an undisclosed location, and then come back and it's just a van.

SPEAKER_04 40:55

It's somebody's van.

SPEAKER_01 40:56

This is a van.

SPEAKER_04 40:57

Undisclosed location.

SPEAKER_01 40:58

Undisclosed location. But those are some of the shows that are coming to town this week. But if you want to get up and try comedy, we have great mics in town. Always Mondays at Silver Moon. If you want to talk a little bit about your mic.

SPEAKER_03 41:13

Yeah, the open mic at Silver Moon, uh 6 30 to sign up if you want to go on stage. Seven o'clock is the show. If you want to just come watch, it's the number one locals night in town as well. $4 beers at Silver Moon Brewing. So come on out.

SPEAKER_01 41:26

Yep, that's how we get my husband there, those four-dollar beers.

SPEAKER_04 41:30

Not the support for you.

SPEAKER_01 41:32

No, absolutely not. It's the $4 beer. And then Wednesday Craft Kitchen has their open mic if you want to check that out. Is there anything else anybody else would like to plug? Any other shows coming up anytime soon?

SPEAKER_05 41:45

Uh yeah, I got um headlining uh was in August. It's a wedding. Yeah. I'm headlining a wedding.

SPEAKER_01 41:51

Headline, you're getting married. That's exciting. Well, that's exciting. A sold-out show. Well, congrats on the upcoming nuptials. I know Cam Stone got married this past weekend, too. So everybody's getting locked down. You might be next. Hey buddy.

SPEAKER_04 42:12

Can I see if you're gonna put a ring on it?

SPEAKER_01 42:18

Don't even have to ask. All right, Hopper.

SPEAKER_05 42:21

If people want to very simple across the social media platforms, it's just at Hopper Comedy.

SPEAKER_01 42:29

Perfect.

SPEAKER_05 42:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 42:33

And where's the best place to connect with you in Beertown?

SPEAKER_03 42:36

Uh go to beertowncomedy.com, or you can go on all the social handles, kind of like Hopper said, across the board at Beertown Comedy. Or for my personal page, it's at Cody Park3.

SPEAKER_01 42:47

Great. And Creech, where can people connect with you?

SPEAKER_03 42:49

Instagram at Creech Comedy.

SPEAKER_01 42:52

Fantastic. And Bumble. And are you active on there still?

SPEAKER_04 42:55

No, actually, I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 42:57

Do you have any apps open?

SPEAKER_04 42:58

I don't because that's only when I'm in the worst of the depression. Oh. Well, that's not how you but then you're like, oh, okay, I'm off of these apps now and I'm happier.

SPEAKER_01 43:05

No, when you're in your high vibe, that's when you need to go through celibate monk phase right now, or?

SPEAKER_04 43:09

No, I've just uh given up. I'm focused on my comedy now, okay. I'm crazy. I'll have you know I've gotten one show since I've given up. It's tomorrow night.

SPEAKER_01 43:22

It's at Silverman.

SPEAKER_03 43:24

The outlet malls, the pumpkin patches, farmer's markets. I promise you, you're gonna find someone.

SPEAKER_01 43:29

You don't? Being single is totally fine too. I was happy single, I'm happy married. They're both green. Time benders, we are on all the things. Subscribe where you're listening, like where you're liking, rate where you're rating. I don't know. There's so many buttons we're asking you to press, but please press all the buttons for us. We are a new podcast, it does matter. And we will be back next week with more of Central Oregon's favorite funny faces. Till next time. Bye.