At home in Portland

For Steve Treviño, being in Portland isn’t unusual.

He grew up in Portland.

Portland, Texas.

It was there that he developed his sense of humor, and on Feb. 24 he’ll put his comedy stylings on display in Portland, Indiana, as he performs for Road Rubber Comedy at 8 p.m. at Jay County Event Center.

Treviño describes himself as a kid who dealt with a pretty nasty divorce and used laughter as a coping mechanism.

“I think I found humor to be kind of my outlet,” he said. “I was the funny kid in school.”

There are three elementary schools in Portland, Texas, a city of fewer than 20,000 located across the bay from Corpus Christi along the Gulf of Mexico. He attended all of them.

“Having to make friends and using my humor, I found pretty early on that, ‘Oh, this is a way for me to adjust and make friends …”

Like many youngsters of his time, he fondly remembers seeing the comedy special “Eddie Murphy: Raw” for the first time. At the time, he didn’t even know stand-up comedy could be a job. He just wanted to do what Murphy was doing.

So after he graduated from high school, he followed his cousin about 400 miles north to Dallas. To break into the business, he started working the door at The Improv.

Now a full-time stand-up comedian — he was also influenced by Def Comedy Jam, HBO specials and comedians like George Lopez, Carlos Mecia and Cheech Marion, who share his Mexican-American heritage — he’s had specials on Showtime and Netflix, and his upcoming tour dates include Houston, Las Vegas and Cleveland in addition to Jay County.

"The coolest thing about his comedy is he's got an interesting background and he's relatable, seriously, to about 90 percent of the population,” said Tony Minch, who heads Road Rubber with his wife Monica. “So we felt like that combined with his skill would be a good fit.”

Treviño hears that word — relatable — so much that he made it the title of his Netflix special.

His comedy focuses on his life, with frequent stories about his relationship with his wife Renae. During his show, though, she’s referred to as “Captain Evil.”

He jokes about how his wife makes the rules but doesn’t have to follow them, that he can’t hang out with his friends without filling out the proper paperwork and that Renae makes him play a version of “The Price is Right” when she returns home with groceries.

“It’s very honest. It’s very real,” Treviño said during a phone interview this week with his 16-month-old son, Garrett — he’s named for comedian Brad Garrett of “Everybody Loves Raymond” fame — chattering in the background. “If you’re in a relationship, been in a relationship, witnessed a relationship, if you’re married, it’s very honest and real to life.

“Couples will literally point at each other like, ‘Oh my god, that’s you.’ Once that started happening, I really kind of started moving in that direction because it was just honest and real. If you come to my show, that’s what you can expect. You’re not meeting a character, you’re not meeting a persona, you’re meeting me, Steve Treviño.”

Though he’s had his specials and plays in big cities, Treviño said he’s always grateful to be on stage anywhere fans are willing to buy tickets.

There was a time when he kept getting contact from fans in Kane, Pennsylvania, a city of fewer than 4,000 on the east side of the Allegheny National Forest. Sell 200 tickets and I’ll come, he finally told them.

“They’ve sold 400 tickets every year since,” he said. “And I’ve gone every year to do their Elks Lodge and I literally know almost everybody in town now.”

He’d be happy to do the same for the Jay County city with the same name as the place he grew up. Tickets are $25 and are available at http://www.roadrubbercomedy.com. (Road Rubber will also host his performance Feb. 25 at Eventfully Yours in Marion.)

“Performing in a Portland, Indiana, for me, is one of those things I almost prefer,” he said. “I’m a loyal guy, and if Portland gives me the love, I will always come back, no matter what.”‘