hen I met Andre Savage he was a rapper and already way ahead of his time. He wore tweed blazers with a clean-cut college boy style and had a low monotone comedic flow much like Kanye West and Young Money. He was young, arrogant, passionate, easy on the eyes and on the brink of greatness. An entertainer at heart, he was focused on a career in entertainment or television after graduating from college. If his plan to rap didn’t pan out, no worries, as an athlete and sports enthusiast his desire was to be in front of the camera talking about sports.

Today, Andre Savage is arguably one of the most provocative figures in television in NW Ohio. His view of television has few boundaries as he is not afraid to make viewers uncomfortable. He admits that he can be overly ambitious and impatient, but his urgency comes from a personal and spiritual place.

This is not just a job, for Savage this is a calling and it goes beyond what may be perceived as egotistical achievement. He is providing a platform and an opportunity for artists in video, communications and music spending most of the time behind the camera.

Savage also showcases Toledo’s unsung heroes through his entertainment show, “Game Savvy Late Night,” which is premiering its new season Feb. 26 on WNWO after “SNL.” The show consists of a multicultural cast performing skits and conducting interviews with the who’s who around the city. The show also features local musical talent that ranges in genre and ethnicity.

Adding to his already impressive resume, Savage is the newest cast member to the NBC 24 family as co-host of “Game Time with Eric (Haubert) and Andre.” Not bad for a former aspiring rapper, but it took years of hard life lessons to bring him full circle. He started working for various stations in Toledo and then moved to Atlanta. Within two weeks his aggressive determination landed him a job as a freelance editor for WSB an ABC affiliate while working on the show, ‘Inside the NBA’ as a side job.

Andre Savage and the Game Savvy cast

His love and dedication to his daughter would bring him back to Toledo and eventually to the first station that gave him a shot over a decade ago. His future goals include building a television network based on the creativity and hard work of a team consisting of like minded, hardworking individuals. Savage shares his start and how he would like to finish.

Martini Rox: What were some of the obstacles you faced after graduating college trying to pursue a career in the entertainment industry?

Andre Savage: I don’t ever like to really blame being a man of color as the reason (because) I don’t necessarily know, but people weren’t letting me try what I wanted to try. In other words, I was never given the opportunity to be on air and I knew I wanted to do that in the very beginning. As a matter of fact the strategy after the camera thing was, “OK, I’ll do the camera guy thing.” Let’s take this position with the hopes that if we just get in the door, eventually we’re going to get the opportunity to be in front of the camera.

Rox: Now that your Plan B has paved the way for Plan A, what is the desired out come on your path to give back to the city?

Savage: Some damn esteem, some pride and selflessness. Yes, even as naive as that is, Yes, I’d rather die in the spirit of trying to make that happen in my (own) way, but I am only one person, it has to be thousands of us to change it all the way around.

As we continue on …

Tags: Andre Savage, Game Savvy, Saturday Night Live

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012 at 12:29 pm and is filed under On the Rox, Star.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

For Jim Breuer, Toledo is a very welcome stop on his latest stand-up comedy tour. In fact, he made sure to play in the Glass City again this time around.

“I remember it was some of my best shows,” Breuer said in an interview with Toledo Free Press Star. “I remember working on my [last] special, and that was one of the places that I absolutely destroyed. And now that I’m working on another special — which I’m pretty locked into my new hour, which is what I’m putting out there — I specifically wanted that Toledo run.”

Breuer returns to the scene of his “destruction” on Feb. 24 and 25, for shows at the Funny Bone at Fat Fish Blue in Perrysburg. He noted, with fondness in his voice, that he finds Toledo crowds very easy to relate to.

“I think they’re very blue-collar, very easy to affiliate with. I come up from a very blue collar family of teacher and officers, and real-life stuff. And they’re very grounded,” Breuer said.

“I never got caught up in that Hollywood world and all that, so those are the audiences that appeal best to me,” he said.

Jim Breuer

There is no doubt that Breuer has found his groove as a comic in recent years. After nearly two decades in entertainment — with stints on “Saturday Night Live” and the big screen under his belt — Breuer is riding a new crest of popularity as a stand-up following the success of his last Comedy Central special.

“I’m most confident on a stage than anywhere else I go, business-wise,” he said. “Because I know what I’m capable [of] on the stage. And I’m the director, writer, cast member, everything.

“It’s no different to the way a surfer would ride a wave. I know how to catch it, I know how to ride it, I know how long to ride it, I know when to get off and go to the next freaking beach.”

So what has changed to bring him this new level of confidence and expertise? For one thing, his material. The comic is focusing on presenting a “clean” act — a change inspired by his own experiences as a parent.

“I want my kids to be able to watch videos online without me cursing and saying ‘s’ and ‘f’ and ‘s’ and ‘f’ and ‘s,’” Breuer said. “I’m not saying that’s not funny, but I want my kids to be able to watch that.

“The kids in my neighborhood look up to me, and the families do, and I take that as a responsibility. I wanna be that father, I wanna be that husband, I wanna be that guy who sets an example. And then, everyone can watch.”

Breuer’s was most excited as he discussed his passion for stand-up, which he said he loved above all other forms he had worked in. “In the other worlds, I never had control of anything I’m doing. The only time I had control of something was when I was actually performing. When I was on ‘Saturday Night Live’ — there’s five, six hands in that writing piece. When I’m in a film, all I can do is act.”

Breuer also noted that his experiences have helped reshape who he is onstage.

“You grow in time, and in life,” Breuer said. “Twenty years ago, I didn’t have three children, or been married. Now I’ve been married for 18 years and have three girls, and elderly parents, one of whom lives with me. There’s a lot of source of comedy and entertainment there. I think my goals and ambitions are a little different with that in my house, than twenty years ago living on my own.”

His relationship with his aging father has also been key to much of the direction Breuer’s comedy has taken. His father even accompanied him on tour in 2008, which was documented in the film “More Than Me.” This ed to his dad becoming a more prominent character in his act — though Breuer made sure to get his permission first.

“I asked him, because there are some bits where I talk about him pooping himself. Those are embarrassing moments, but those moments write themselves. This is stuff that people just howl over. You’re laughing at the tragedy of it — that’s the classic comedy and tragedy. It’s hilarious and tragic at the same time.”

It’s that balance — laughing because it’s funny, and laughing so that you may not cry — that makes Breuer’s comedy so potent these days. That, and his newfound focus on being the best he can at what he loves most.

“I made a commitment two years ago, that this is what I’m gonna do. I mean, I always knew this is what it was forever. But now I’m content to go and — I’m fine with just being a comedian. If other things come along, great. But I’m fine.”

Tags: Fat Fish Blue, Jeff McGinnis, Jim Breuer, Pop Goes the Culture, Saturday Night Live

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 21st, 2012 at 12:18 pm and is filed under Comedy, Pop Goes the Culture, Star.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

“Everyone wants to be on a postage stamp, but nobody wants to die.” — Pat MacDonald

Thanks to the U.S. Postal Service, 22 years after MacDonald sang that lyric on the Timbuk3 song “Standard White Jesus,” you no longer have to.

Of all the honors American society and culture can bestow — hosting “Saturday Night Live,” being parodied by “Weird Al” Yankovic, providing a voice for a “Simpsons” character, being mentioned in a David Letterman Top 10 list, marrying a Kardashian — having one’s image on a postage stamp is the greatest; but until now, it could only happen after one assumed room temperature and could not enjoy it.

The policy does make sense. Imagine if there had been an early 2011 unveiling of “The Coaches of Penn State” stamp series, featuring Joe Paterno, Jerry Sandusky and Mike McQueary. Those stamps would not have graced many Christmas cards by year’s end. The Big Ten Football Conference, which encompasses 12 teams, learned that lesson this year when it had to strip Paterno’s name from its inaugural championship trophy.

By waiting until people are long dead before placing them on a stamp or money, you have a reasonable shot at making sure you know enough about them to avoid such an embarrassing scenario. That doesn’t mean the occasional revelation won’t surface, but we tend to forgive the dead when we discover they endorsed documents espousing equality while owning slaves and fathering children with those slaves.

William Porter recently wrote in The Denver Post that, “When Arapahoe County’s former sheriff was recently arrested and charged with dealing methamphetamine, much was made of the fact that he was jailed, orange prisoner jumpsuit and all, in a building named in his honor. This was not only humiliating for a man once named national Sheriff of the Year. It also posed a serious public-relations problem for the county he once served: What do you do when the Patrick J. Sullivan Jr. Detention Facility houses Patrick J. Sullivan Jr.?”

Ouch.

Death and time also provide context for notoriety and achievement. Fame can rise, burn bright and disappear faster than you can say “Yahoo Serious.” Or “Crocodile Dundee.” Or “Mark Fidrych.” Or “Snooki.” Or “Carty Finkbeiner.”

Still, imagine the fun to be had if you could be on a stamp while still alive! You could carry a postage stamp in your wallet as ID to impress snooty maitre d’s, and being on a stamp would be one of the greatest pickup lines ever.

There must be a thousand variations on “signed, sealed, delivered,” “return to sender,” “you send me” and “I bet you’ve licked me before” a person could smoothly invoke while brandishing a stamp with his or her face on it.

Someone on high must agree, because starting this year, the U.S. Postal Service is not only opening its stamps to living people, it is, in a decision that illustrates the wisdom guiding the organization, asking the public to help choose who could be honored.

Get your portrait ready, Larry the Cable Guy!

According to a news release, “The Postal Service is dropping a rule that currently requires an individual to have been deceased at least five years before being honored on a stamp. Under the new guidelines, living or recently deceased individuals will be eligible for commemoration on postage stamps.”

Can’t wait to see the many costumes of Lady Gaga immortalized!

“This change will enable us to pay tribute to individuals for their achievements while they are still alive to enjoy the honor,” said Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe in a news release. “These remarkable individuals — through their transformative achievements in their respective fields — have made enduring contributions to America. Honoring living individuals expands the interest in stamp topics and keeps our program timely, relevant and contemporary.”

Remember when the public voted on which image of Elvis Presley should be on a stamp? There was young, healthy, sexy, skinny Elvis, and older, unskinny Elvis. Could a similar choice soon face Oprah fans?

Stephen Kearney, executive director of stamp services for the postal service, was quoted as saying, “Engaging the public to offer their ideas is an innovative way to expand interest in stamps and the popular hobby of collecting them. We are inviting our customers to submit the top five living individuals they would like to see on stamps through Facebook.”

Some of the suggestions people have posted include Michael Jackson, who would qualify in a few years anyway (ditto Steve Jobs and Elizabeth Taylor); peace-loving Billy Graham (who was nominated by the same person who nominated violence-loving Clint Eastwood); Dolly Parton, who would require two stamps to illustrate the bounty of her wigs; Ellen DeGeneres, who would have a field day with tongue and licking jokes; Bill Clinton, who would have a field day with tongue and licking jokes; Harrison Ford, who has technically been on a stamp with the Han Solo portrait in the “Star Wars” stamps; Bill Cosby; Madonna; Barack Obama; Bob Dylan; Stephen Hawking; and Jesus Christ (the nominating person wrote on Facebook, “I really want to be able to send letters with Jesus Christ stamps. He even fits both profiles of being deceased, yet is still alive!”)

As no human being is perfect, no human being is beyond making a legacy-shattering mistake. Changing the USPS policy to allow living human beings on stamps is risky, but the conundrum of human nature in all its fallibility is an issue that will most likely never be licked.

Michael S. Miller is editor in chief of Toledo Free Press and Toledo Free Press Star. Email him at mmiller@toledofreepress.com.

Tags: Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Bill Cosby, Billy Graham, Bob Dylan, Carty Finkbeiner, Clint Eastwood, Crocodile Dundee, David Letterman, Dolly Parton, Elizabeth Taylor, Ellen DeGeneres, Elvis Presley, Harrison Ford, Jerry Sandusky, Jesus Christ, Joe Paterno, Kardashian, Lady Gaga, Larry the Cable Guy, Lighting The Fuse, Madonna, Mark Fidrych, Michael Jackson, Michael S. Miller, Oprah, Pat MacDonald, Penn State, Saturday Night Live, Simpsons, Snooki, Star Wars, Stephen Hawking, Steve Jobs, Timbuk3, US Postal Service, Weird Al Yankovic, Yahoo Serious

This entry was posted on Friday, January 6th, 2012 at 12:00 am and is filed under Lighting The Fuse, Opinion.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.