On the eve of 2017, Matt Braunger is considering his New Year’s resolution. “Be a good husband,” he decides, riffing with the cadence of a seasoned stand-up. “I’m getting married in Portland in November. I can save that ’til the end of the year. I can be a shitty fiancé through October.”
New Year’s resolutions aren’t a new thing for the Portland-raised, LA-based comedian. “I made [a resolution at] the beginning of this year that I’ve kept,” he explains. “To never be the last guy at a party ever again. I cannot be that guy who’s standing there in a robe that’s not mine, and I look over and there’s one guy I’ve never met and I say, ‘When’s everybody else coming back?’”
Fittingly, Braunger, who co-founded Portland’s Bridgetown Comedy Festival, is headed to the Aladdin Theater this week with a tour called Made of Mistakes. “I’m looking at life like, ‘Oh, my fuck-ups led me to this,’” he explains. “Expect a lot of stories about things going horribly wrong.”