Brooks is a Portlander by way of Philadelphia and still has the attitude to prove it. Her career has spanned both journalism and politics and she now proudly calls herself a civil servant with a stand-up comedy habit. She is a member of the feminist killjoy comedy collective That’s What She Said. Free time activities include playing softball, bicycle riding, driving around town in her Lezbaru, walking her rascally mutt Duchess, and wondering how she got to be such a stereotype.

TikTok: @YourSafetyDaddy
Instagram: @BrooksisBrooks

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Chris is a proud Michigander or Michiganian. His job with the local school district keeps him very busy so he balances it out with several creative endeavors. Chris is part of an improv trio called Broke Gravy. They have performed at several festivals internationally and can be seen regularly at theaters around town. Chris is a story coach and performer at backfencepdx. He is the creator and host of Front Porch Sessions a local storytelling/community-building event and he is also the co-host of the podcast Whatchu Wanna Know. He holds a Master’s Degree in Conflict Resolution and believes completely in the transformative power of storytelling. Chris is an okay mimic of accents and loves to work 80’s and 90’s pop culture references into serious conversations whenever possible.

@Shanklin33
@Frontporchpdx

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Darshanpreet Gill is a high school science teacher who frequently gets weepy when talking about how much she loves her students. It’s gross. She’s originally from the small farming town of Selma, California, but has been enjoying living in Portland for the past six years. She loves to travel and has been fortunate enough to travel to over 25 countries so far. Aside from that, she dedicates most of her time to rewatching The Office and maintaining her cats’ Instagram (@leoandmister).

@dkgill

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Eden Dawn is an award-winning writer, wardrobe stylist, and entrepreneur from Portland, Oregon. She’s a beloved local personality, often seen performing at storytelling events, sitting on nonprofit advisory boards, chatting through live television segments, emceeing galas, and hosting her own quarterly series “Fashion in Film” at the historic Hollywood Theater.

Known well in the style community for her 11-year tenure as Oregon’s sole fashion editor for Portland Monthly magazine where she covered all facets of the field from hanging out in the glitter-filled closet of Darcelle, the world’s oldest drag queen, to writing pieces on the mismanagement of pandemic unemployment funds for independent designers to styling hundreds of fancy looks in lauded photo editorials. She is the author of the best-selling Portland Book of Dates—a stylish, cheeky, curated guidebook of where the cool kids go while educating readers on this treasured city.

On the entrepreneurial front, she is the founder and operator of the activism-based nail polish company Claws Out where each color donates to a different progressive charity prompting Congresswoman Katie Porter to declare, “Claws Out represents the best of American small business.” The brand was tapped to create the first NBA polish for the Trailblazers and fabricated a custom color for the Elizabeth Warren presidential campaign team. 

When she’s not writing or running a growing business, she’s wardrobe styling projects like caftan fashion editorials for Elizabeth Dye or music videos for Portugal the Man and Laura Gibson.

She is married to her frequent collaborator, creative director, and illustrator Ashod Simonian. They live in a slightly creaky 100-year-old house in Portland’s Alberta Arts District with their three fluffy cats: Ruby, Daphne, and Foxglove.

@edendawn

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Jason Rouse is an actor/director/teacher who spent seven years as an announcer and writer for PRI’s Live Wire with Luke Burbank. He’s appeared in feature films (Lean on Pete, Timmy Failure, Netflix’s upcoming Metal Lords),  television series (Trinkets, The Perfectionists, Angie Tribeca, Portlandia, Grimm, Leverage), and in a bunch of commercials for the Oregon Lottery and various other totally legitimate “businesses.” With the sketch comedy groups The 3rd Floor and SWEAT, he’s performed around the country and headlined festivals in Portland, Chicago, and New York. He lives happily with his wife Jessica, and the smallest dog in the world, Goldie. 

Instagram: @gorillasuit
Twitter: @Jason_Rouse

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Katie Nguyen is a writer and comedian living in Portland, Oregon. Her writing has been featured in The New Yorker, you can hear her stand-up on SiriusXM radio, and she is a regular at Helium Comedy Club. Katie teaches comedy classes at Helium and Portland Center Stage. She has twice been chosen as one of the Portland Mercury’s Geniuses of Comedy, and was recently named the winner of Willamette Week’s Funniest Five. Katie is a writer and the host of the new PBS Kids series, Mega Wow. In 2020, she also co-wrote and starred in a semi-autobiographical short film, Crouching Comic.

UPCOMING: Comedy in the Pearl at Botanist (8/18/21), Comedy in the Park (by Kickstand) in Laurelhurst Park (8/20/21), the first ever St. Johns Comedy Festival (8/21/21)

Twitter/Instagram: @ktnuggin

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Kirsten Kuppenbender is a goddamn powerhouse, with a heart made of precious metal. Kupp’s comedy has been described as “observational, with bouts of off-the-cuff brilliance”. As a host, she has been deemed quirky, bubbly, and “completely out of control” by guests and performers alike. She’s stoked to be a part of ANYTHING Frayn is up to!  If you think you recognize her, you may have seen her hosting Lez Stand Up, performing at Helium, Siren Theater, or Curious Comedy… or maybe when she opened for Emily Heller, Michael Che, DeAnne Smith, or Fortune Feimster! Kupp gets around!

UPCOMING: Hosting St. John’s Comedy Festival (August 21, 2021), Sound Comedy (August 27, 2021)

@kupptastic on Twitter
@kuppenbender on Instagram
https://www.facebook.com/kirsten.kuppenbender

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In her own practice, art and life are closely interwoven. Spontaneous collaborations, experimentation, social practice, teaching, dance, and creative experiences are favorite mediums. Monica also works in fabric, dyeing, and sewing. She co-founded Action Studios, which provides a workspace for 7 artists and is located in Portland’s N Industrial district. 

She is currently studying flower and gem essences, energy work, and channeling under the mentorship of Shayne Case. Monica believes creating community with others through art, food, storytelling, and self-defined spirituality are ways to make new patterns for living that lead to our collective healing.

@choybot

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