Local comedian, orchestra founders honored by Washington Center for the Performing Arts
It’s been a big year for comedian Gabriel Rutledge.
Rutledge, who’s lived in Olympia since he was 11, has been telling jokes — mostly self-deprecating ones — on stage since 2000, and he has a record of success: He won the Seattle International Comedy Competition in 2004 and the Laughing Skull Comedy Festival in 2017.
In the past year, though, he’s ascended to another level of success, becoming a regular in Las Vegas. It’s a huge turnaround since the pandemic found him supplementing his much-reduced comedy work by delivering groceries for Walmart.
From June 25-27, Rutledge will be in New York performing at the venerable Comedy Cellar, a place where “Saturday Night Live” stars have been discovered.
On June 29, he’ll be back home to attend The Washington Center for the Performing Arts’ Center Stage Gala, where he’ll receive the center’s 2023 Achievement in the Arts Award.
He’s the first comic to get the award, given by the center’s board, and though it won’t boost his national profile, he’s happy to get some hometown love and delighted that the other award to be given that night is going to Greg and Krina Allison of Student Orchestras of Greater Olympia.
Greg Allison — whom Rutledge still calls “Mr. Allison” — was his band teacher when he was in fifth grade at Pioneer Elementary. It was Rutledge’s first year in Olympia, and he and his now-wife, Kristi, were both in the band, he said, adding, “This is about as local an evening as you’re going to get.”
There’s a continent of distance between the small world of Olympia and the stand-up scene in New York, where Rutledge auditioned at the Comedy Cellar in September. There, he performed with comedians who are often seen on TV. “It’s nice to feel like I belong in that world,” he said.
The audition, obviously, was a success, and that — along with the efforts he made during the pandemic to increase his online presence — led to the steadier and higher profile work he’s doing now.
Rutledge’s approach to comedy hasn’t changed much over the years, he said.
“The way I do it, stand-up comedy is escapism,” he said. “I’m not trying to make any serious points. I’m not making any political arguments. I’m just trying to make people laugh at my life.
“I sort of accidentally became a mainstream, comedy-for-everybody kind of person,” he added. “It was an accident that I did it, but I think it’s important that people can sit in a room and not know what their differences are. It’s a valuable service in the world. It sounds corny, but I do feel that way.”
Another happy accident for Rutledge was the discovery that he could keep his career growing without leaving the town he’s lived in for nearly 40 years.
“When I started, launching a stand-up comedy career from Olympia was like learning to swim with cement shorts on,” he said. “But now, because of the Internet, famous comedians are living wherever they want.”
That’s a good thing for Rutledge, who isn’t leaving anytime soon. That’s because his children are all in school here — Johnny, 21, is studying at Saint Martin’s University; Maisy, 15, will be a sophomore at Olympia High in the fall; and Olive, 12, will be a seventh-grader at Washington Middle School.
He still performs in Olympia, but doesn’t have anything scheduled here at the moment. His next nearby shows will be at Taste Northwest, happening June 30-July 2 at the Washington State Fairgrounds in Puyallup.
If you haven’t caught his act yet, here’s his take on a few things most of us can relate to:
Amazon shopping: “I got an email from Amazon, and the email said, ‘Based on your recent activity, we thought you might be interested in this,’ and it was a picture of a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos. … Based on what recent activity? It’s not like, ‘Oh, I ordered a case of bean dip, so this makes sense.’ … I think it’s because I ordered an extra-large shirt, and then I returned it and exchanged it for a double-extra-large shirt. That’s when the hurtful algorithm kicked in.”
Alcohol vs. marijuana: “You’re going to have to pick a side in the upcoming pot vs. alcohol war. You guys look nervous. … You guys are like, ‘When’s that? Did Trump tweet something?’ No. I’m just saying if there was a pot vs. alcohol war, I thought about it, and I’m going with team alcohol. ’Cause when the fighting starts, yeah, we’ll be drunk. But I feel like more of us will show up.”
Parenting in a parking lot: “My kids were running around the Walmart parking lot. Not that far away from me, but far enough that people did not know they were mine. … I accidentally yelled the worst thing you could yell at children in a parking lot. Just super loud, I go, ‘Get in the van.’ … When people looked at me, I just panicked. I was like: Oh, no no no no no. It’s my van.’ ”
SOGO founders honored
Greg and Krina Allison, who started Student Orchestras of Greater Olympia in 2000, will receive The Washington Center for the Performing Arts’ 2023 Commitment to the Arts Award.
“I love SOGO,” said Jill Barnes, the center’s executive director. “It’s an amazing organization. Students might take private lessons or be in their school orchestra or band, but if they have a hunger to do more, being able to play with others is so rewarding. It’s the payoff for practicing all those hours alone.”
The youth symphony program, which includes three orchestras for students at different levels and a brass choir, has served about 2,000 students in its history.
The experience of playing with a full orchestra, instead of a smaller school orchestra or band, is like coloring with the biggest box of crayons instead of just a 24-pack, said Greg Allison, SOGO’s artistic director and one of its conductors.
“It’s a much wider palette musically,” he said. “That seems to make the biggest difference for students.”
During the pandemic, the Allisons launched a new program, SOGO to Schools, which brings teaching artists into public schools to work with small groups of young musicians and offers those musicians free private lessons.
Center Stage Awards and Gala
What: Comedian Gabriel Rutledge and Student Orchestras of Greater Olympia founders Greg and Krina Allison will be honored at The Washington Center for the Performing Arts’ annual gala. After the gala, renowned Prince tribute band Marshall Charloff and The Purple Xperience will perform.
When: Gala at 5 p.m. June 29; performance at 7:30 p.m.
Where: Gala at the Olympia Ballroom, 116 Legion Way SW, Olympia; performance at The Washington Center, 512 Washington St SE, Olympia.
Tickets: The gala is sold out. Tickets for the show are $25-$65.
More information: https://www.washingtoncenter.org/event/purple-xperience-with-marshall-charloff/
