C CULTURE Stand-up for the Ages

By Elizabeth Warnimont

Aging with grace? Nope, aging with laughter, that’s my motto,” says Elizabeth Ueland, whose new comedy show played to a sellout crowd its first night at Silver Moon Brewing in Bend. The Source Weekly caught up with Ueland and comic Aaron Johnson recently to learn more about the new show.

Source Weekly: What gave you the idea to create a comedy show especially for older comics and audiences?

Elizabeth Ueland: I saw Brad Upton perform at the Tower Theatre in Bend. He’s 67. The show was almost sold out, so within days they opened up a second show – and that show sold out, too. I was telling comedy producers for years that we needed to have a show for seniors. I finally said forget it, I’ll do it myself. I know how to run a business, let’s go!

SW: You’ve said you’re a realtor by day, and a business developer. Do you think about giving up your day job to do comedy full time?

EU: Oh, no, no, no. I love real estate, that’s my jam. This, comedy, is my joy, my sport. Some people play pickleball, I put on a comedy show.

SW: When did you start doing comedy?

EU: One year ago. I was doing open mics up in Portland because I was thinking, I’m a realtor, how’s this gonna look? I got more confident, and now here I am a year later producing in Bend.

SW: Where do you get your ideas for material?

EU: I started with writing. I was, like, oh, this is funny, I should write a book. But no, that’s too much work, so let’s just get up on stage and have fun with it. And it is fun, you can engage with people in different ways. And I watch a lot of comedy. I’ve been following comedy for years. How about you, Aaron?

Aaron Johnson: All my life. I love comedy, I love to laugh. My kids are always saying I’m funny. I’m serious most of the time but they take my seriousness as a joke. Audiences do, too. I always tell them, “You know, I’m a Christian, I love Jesus, but some of the things coming out of my mouth, watch, you’ll doubt if I’m a Christian or not.” They laugh, and that ain’t even a joke.

EU: Every week will be different. It’s tough to write 15 minutes of new material for each show, but I have some interesting people coming to the stage. Liam Gibler is a big improv guy. He’s a young man, 21. I’m not averse to the young ones, but I’m going to use them in certain ways. He can razz the old people and we can tease him back. I’ll go up, I’ll say “Thanks for coming, here’s our host for the night, thought I’d bring a little young blood in the room, and we can all be jealous of his hair.”

SW: How do you find comedians for the show? Do you hold auditions?

EU: I’m at open mics regularly. I see the performers and I just select the best of the bunch.

AJ: That’s where I met Elizabeth. I was challenged by my wife to go to open mic three months ago and she was hosting that first night. I went back the next week and I kept coming, I got to know the guys, and here I am now.

SW: Overall, what would you say people can expect from an evening of comedy at Silver Moon?

EU: Most people come early to get food and drinks. We open at 6, the show starts at 7. You have the food trucks outside. My tagline is, “Shows for those of us who want to be in bed by 9:30.” It’s an early date, a fun night out. People can expect some good laughs.

Aging with Laughter!

Fri., July 21 7-8:30pm

Silver Moon Brewing 24 NW Greenwood Ave., Bend bendticket.com/events/aging-with-laughter-7-21-2023 $15