(Submitted photo)

Who: Among other accomplishments, Coquille, Oregon-born comedian Andy Andrist has written for Comedy Central’s “The Man Show.” The boundary-pushing comedian is a longtime member of the The Unbookables, an assemblage of comedians led by Doug Stanhope that includes James Inman, Brett Erickson and others. Andrist returns to Bend to perform at 7 p.m. Sept. 19 at The Capitol, 190 NW Oregon Ave., Bend. Produced by Sean Gettings, who says he looks forward to bringing more comedians to Bend, the evening also features comedians Max Brockman and host Katy Ipock. Tickets are $15. Contact: thecapitolbend.com.

Q: Did you live in L.A. when you were writing for “The Man Show”?

A: Yeah, I was friends with Stanhope (co-host with Joe Rogan). He had a place in Venice, but we lived on the TV lot, just kind of decided to stay there and turn the office into, like, the “Mash” experience.

Q: How has comedy changed for you over the last 15 years since then?

A: Oh, man. It used to be, like, just kind of generic paid gigs that … it didn’t matter who the comic was. You’d go there, and … you’re not allowed to be outside of the normal of what they’d want in that situation. All the gigs were you conform to a certain thing and you got paid a certain amount. Maybe it was just that I was new to it, but it didn’t seem like that many people were defining their own marketplace.

Q: Interesting. So now you need to have more of a brand of comedy?

A: Well, yeah, something like that. I hate the term, but I guess, yeah. You want people at least at some point when you’re traveling around doing a show you want people who are familiar with you. Stanhope had a bit about how people don’t choose their movies by which movie theater’s closest. You want to see a certain movie. But yeah, comedy, you kind of have to define who you are. Well, it’s just what I do. I don’t fit the usual — if you’re bringing the family out, and you want to have a good time and not have your beliefs or ideas challenged, or (hear) some opinions on stuff. That’s kind of the show I do. Whereas if I were at a Funny Bone (chain) comedy club like I used to work at, and I would do that, and people would write a comment card, and then I would hear from the manager that “Hey, we’re getting complaints,” or whatever. It seems like in those situations, people more readily want to complain. “This didn’t work out for me, I’m pissed, who do I talk to about this?” Rather than back a few years ago, where people would just go, “Well, that sucked, I’m going home, and having a few beers and complaining about it at home.”

Q: Can you tell me about “Issues with Andy”? I found that on YouTube.

A: Oh, yeah. A friend of mine, Brett (Erickson) wanted to do a podcast, and so we talked to — it’s basically Doug Stanhope’s podcast with me and Brett Erickson instead of Doug, because we have Chad Shank, who’s great. He’s a regular on Doug’s. And we have Doug’s road manager and producer of his podcast, Greg Chaille, involved with it. We started in Alaska. We were all there for this festival, and there was another thing set up to podcast, and no crowd or anything. The four of us sat down and grabbed the mics and just started talking, which is basically a podcast. So we then (said), “We could do this on the regular.” … I knew we were doing it via computer, so I could see all the guys, but originally we were talking about just doing the audio. Then we were doing some test runs and things just fell apart. I don’t do computer stuff well.

Q: Yeah, you seem like the one who’s the most technologically challenged.

A: Yeah, so I just lost it on one of the days. It was like everybody else is ready to go, and I’m ready to go, and then it just went downhill. So that was one Brett put out — me freaking out and them trying to explain stuff. We didn’t really have a title for things, but I guess (“Issues with Andy”) is what we’re going with now. I hope that I’ll have the technology figured out, but usually I do have an issue, so I’m willing to go with the title for now. But yeah, we’re just kind of starting on that. It’s fun because I like all those guys. It’s like the old dudes that get together for coffee, only we’re doing it via the computer and smoking weed. … Well, only in the legal states.

Q: Can you tell me about what people will hear at The Capitol?

A: I think the best comedy reflects what’s going on in the world to some degree. At least that’s what I gravitate toward. … I have a bit about the Earth dying. I try to steer clear of Trump crap because it’s just too polarizing to some people to try to make those points and bigger picture kind of stuff. I was molested as a kid, and I confronted my pedophile, so I’m doing quite a chunk on that, because I’ll be taping something pretty soon. … If you want to call it a special, I don’t know. We’re going to be taping a comedy thing. If it’s good, then it will be a special. So I’m kind of working on some material that, probably, if I was just in Bend on the regular, I might skip over some of this material in favor of easier stuff.

— David Jasper, The Bulletin