March 2017 online editionv4 2b

CAMPUS ACTIVITIES MAGAZINE MARCH 2017 ONLINE EDITION

Enduring Campus Artists

Tipping The Scales:

Weighing In On Obesity

FEATURES 1 MTV’s The Buried Life

REAL LIFE with Elaine Pasqua

Obesity is a national problem and one that often effects college students. This month Elaine deals with this head-on.

Alain Nu

Johnny Cardinale

27

AEP: A Conference For Serious Programmers

\The Dirty Heads

Mike Birbiglia

College conference have become longer and longer as associations try to look for more profits. AEP is short and sweet and to the point.

Campus Activities Magazine® is delivered monthly online and Quarterly in print and is available to every campus in the United States that actively programs Entertainment and similar programs for their students. To sign your campus up, call W.C. Kirby at (803) 917-5121 or wckirbyjr@me.com. The Association of Entertainment Professionals (AEP) programs a conference for entertainment professionals every year in Las Vegas and any campus is welcomed to participate with the Industry’s top professional buyers, artists and agents. Students attending who are under 21 will received a special wristband to avoid unintended alcohol use. Student buyers are considered an integral part of the buying community and will be exposed to many acts and agencies that you will not find in any other conference. Meet and Greets with artists and agencies follow every showcase and educational sessions are available throughout the conference. Special Discounts are offered to all colleges.

Do you often hear the term Freshmen 15?

How common is it for students to put on weight when they enter college? The picture of health painted by epidemiologists for younger people in this country is not so rosy.

Nationwide, campus administrators and faculty have observed an increase in overweight students. There’s a significant increase of obesity related disorders in teens and people in their twenties.

Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol typically seen in middle age are now affecting younger people.

The estimated annual medical cost of obesity in the U.S. is 190 billion dollars. Experts believe that these younger people will be a greater health burden at 50 than their parents are. I see the impact of obesity around me on a daily basis. People can’t walk as easily so they are using canes at younger ages. Many request to pre-board planes because they can’t walk as fast.

Not only is obesity a public health issue but research shows that when students gain weight they lose self-confidence as they become self-conscious of their changing bodies.

Depression and anxiety can set in, which leads to feeling of a loss of self-control and eating more to self-medicate. The eating and depression cycle becomes unmanageable as the lack of physical activity increases. Weight gain can then spiral out of control in a few years.

The life style of a typical college student makes it easy to gain weight. You come into a cafeteria where there is an abundance of food and desserts. We live in a super-size society where bigger portions are the norm. Junk food and snacks are abundant. Consuming a few

more calories per day and per week is cumulative. It’s easy to gradually put on a few pounds every year and before you know it, the weight is on and it’s hard to shed.

The following tips will help prevent weight gain. This should be about your health, not body image. Value your health and your wellbeing. Make food choices because they are good for you and you’ll feel better.

First, don’t skip meals. Food is your fuel source for a healthy immune system and provides brain power. You need food for energy;

that you should eat fast, but if you leave the food area as soon as you have finished you will reduce temptation to eat more.

Watch the carbs and sugar laden foods which easily convert into fat. If you drink alcohol, decrease the amount that you are consuming.

The body recognizes the sugars in alcohol as fat and converts it to fatty tissue. Read the ingredients on the labels of your food and avoid high fructose corn syrup. HFCS is easily converted to fat by the body. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables and high quality protein. Be aware of the quality of the snacks you are consuming. Replace sugary snacks with nuts, popcorn, sun flower seeds, or fruit. All have essential nutrients and fewer calories.

Watch fat intake, especially trans and saturated fats; fried foods contain both. Limit where you can, without totally eliminating fats. You need some fats to be healthy, so look for monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fats.

Avoid soda and other sugary drinks.

It is important to stay hydrated; water best satisfies our thirst and is much healthier. It helps to flush the toxins from the body.

without it you can develop headaches and become lethargic. Studies show that those who skip breakfast gain more weight. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. You are breaking that 5 to 10 hour fast. Avoid fast food sandwiches that are laden with fat and salt.

Instead eat yogurt, eggs, or fruit.

Watch portions. Don’t feel like you need to fill your plate and stomach. I often look at a serving of food and try to determine if it will fit comfortably in my stomach. Rule of thumb, don’t eat a portion of a particular food that is larger than the palm of your hand and stop eating before you feel full. Choose a variety of food for your diet, this way it will be more balanced.

Students who linger in the dining hall after a meal will graze and eat more. I am not saying

Don’t eat right before you go to bed.

Gravity helps to move your food through your digestive tract. When you go to bed on a full stomach that process shows down and you absorb more calories.

If you live on a large campus that offers shuttles, walk to class. The average person should be walking 10,000 steps a day but most don’t.

Take advantage of the recreation facilities.

Carving out time to exercise each day not only benefits your physical health but it improves your emotional well-being.

You too can help save a life!

Got a question or a topic you want Elaine to discuss in this column?

Contact her at: info@elainepasqua.com

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BRING THIS MTV HIT SHOW TO YOUR CAMPUS! 2, CAMPUS ACTIVITIES MAGAZINE ©, March 2017 • campusactivitiesmagazine.com

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t’s a bit sad to contemplate the overall moral guidance and demeanor of mass media in general and especially programming based in the demographic range of campus activities and student program boards.

I

Besides all the flashy projects involved in The Buried Life, probably its most genuine appeal is an inherent quality of not only entertaining without being degrading, but actually rising above any sort of negativity and spreading a message of helping others as well as one’s self.

Perhaps a bit of an explanation. The Buried Life features four guys, Ben Nemtin, Dave Lingwood, Duncan Penn and Jonnie Penn, who had an idea to make a list of 100 things they wanted to do before they die, and film their attempts at the checklist. Somewhere along the line the project transformed from a neat idea to something much bigger than any one of the four guys at its core.

Ben Nemtin, the widely acknowledged ringleader of the group, sits down for an exclusive interview with Campus Activities Magazine, courtesy of Keppler Speakers Bureau.

“We were all friends growing up together in Victoria, BC. When we were in college, we were having the same sort of aimless feelings many kids at that stage of life feel. We felt like we

wanted to do something that had more meaning, besides just being fun. We felt like something was missing.”

The gang decided to take two weeks off work before returning to school for the next semester and take a plunge.

“We bought a camera off eBay and borrowed an uncle’s rickety old RV and hit the road, essentially to try to cross off as many things from our list as possible. For every one thing we accomplished, we asked a stranger what we could do to help them accomplish something from their own list.”

As they developed the idea, Jonnie was in first year English class and was assigned a poem. It’s title was “The Buried Life,” written by Matthew Arnold in 1852. “In it, there were four lines that spoke to him,” Ben says. “and he brought them back to us.

They read ‘But often, in the world's most crowded streets, But often, in the din of strife, There rises an unspeakable desire, After the knowledge of our buried life.’ He realized the author was feeling the same things we were feeling, but 150 years ago. It was a profound connection for all of us, so the name made sense.

We all have things we want to do but they get buried by work, school or just life in general. It was a cathartic realization to match the name with the project.”

It was only intended to be a two week road trip. That was six years ago, a

feature documentary, two seasons on MTV, several awards and now a prominent book release (available March 27, 2012) since. “From the initial two week project, things just started to snowball. We got on the local news and then national news. It went crazy online once we posted our list and we got all sorts of responses from people saying they could help us and folks even started sharing their own lists with us.”

Someone working for RE/MAX could arrange a hot air balloon ride, someone had a friend getting married (make a toast at someone’s wedding).

“Someone who shared a list with us wanted to learn the bagpipes, or fly in a fighter jet or sing a duet with Michael Bublé. We were totally blown away by the response. We knew it resonated with us, but had no idea of the impact it would have on others as well.”

You can find the complete list on our website at www.CampusActMag.com

One of the emails they got was from a producer and it just so happened number 53 was to start a TV show. “We went to Toronto and began meeting with networks but were forced to make a really tough decision in turning down the offers because they stipulated a loss of creative control and ownership of ‘The Buried Life.’”

Essentially by completing one item on the list they would be forced to forgo

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the rest of it (or at least any control over it). “We didn’t care about a television show that much,” Ben states emphatically. “We started The Buried Life to inspire our friends to make their dreams happen and realize they could accomplish things they never thought possible if they didn’t try. In our minds, TV show or not, it was working. We decided not to sell out to the networks.”

TBL went back to school, and back to the grassroots effort of making personal contact for their project. “We hit the phone books the next year again,” Ben says, explaining their method for fund raising the project was essentially a combination of gumption and charm. “We would pretend to be a production company,” he says chuckling. “We talked about the movie we were making and persuaded enough people to sponsor the project to buy a bus and hire a crew to film some more for the next summer.”

The team decided to start producing some of the content from the footage themselves and by the following year had a pilot and a trailer. “We started making regular trips down to L.A. We slowly worked our way around Hollywood trying to figure out who the right people for the project were. MTV contacted us after seeing the stuff we put online. They offered us a chance to not only make the show, but to be executive producers and retain complete

freedom of control and ownership. It was a no-brainer at that point.”

This process occurred over about a five year span, allowing the guys not only to build the popularity of TBL, but also to become heavily emotionally invested. “It wasn’t all that easy. I am retelling the story in five minutes, and it seems like everything just naturally fell together, but there were times when we almost quit, at times we were living with our parents and had dropped out of school. Nothing was handed to us. We didn’t have any Hollywood connections, so to take this from the seed of an idea to a mainstream success was an incredibly hard experience, and a learning experience, which is what we speak about on campuses today.”

If you want to ask about TBL’s favorites from their list, get them on your campus and let your students have at them in the Q&A session after their talk. Ben mentions a couple cool examples, but for the purposes of this article, CAM wants to drill in on the wider message, and why this show could be so important for your school. Rather than the easy targets like “Playing ball with Obama” (which they did), I ask if there are any stories of interactions with people they’ve helped that touched the guys personally in a deep way. “Yeah. There are definitely a few. The first person we ever helped was this guy named Brent. He had

lived on the streets and wanted to get back to the homeless shelter. He started a business to get himself off the streets, and when we interviewed him he mentioned the crippling of this business due to the loss of his truck.

This was a tangential part of the conversation; his segment had nothing to do with asking for a truck. We realized if we found out a way to get this guy one though, it would be a pathway to at least getting him headed on the right direction.”

They found one for $480 and surprised him with it. “I think that was the first time any of us had ever really helped someone in a meaningful way. That was when we knew this was something bigger than us and really lit the fire.”

So of course we can’t mention balling with Obama in passing and leave you hanging on the rim (okay bad pun), but maybe that wasn’t even the most important thing that happened on that trip.

“We were in D.C. and saw these two guys walking around looking at the monuments and we asked them what they wanted to do before they died.

They were probably in their late 50’s and they said ‘We want to go back to our childhood swimming hole.’ When they were 13 or 14 they had a spot they would swim at every day and hadn’t been back in 40 years, or seen their other childhood friends in that time either.”

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TBL sprang into action and did some research, contacting the long lost friends and pinpointing the geography.

“We surprised them back at the swimming hole. When they all saw each other, even though it had been 40 years, it was like they had all been there yesterday, kids playing in their swimming hole. The four of us saw perhaps ourselves in 40 years. Now those guys take trips there every summer and we helped spark that, which is pretty dope.”

TBL wants students to feel this level of satisfaction in their lives, and start making the world a better place in the process. “We’ve known since the beginning that this was bigger than us.

We want students to know that anyone who wants to be a part of that can do so. We’ve seen how this project

moves people and we’ve been humbled by the fact that people have come up to us and told us how The Buried Life has changed their lives. That is what drives us. The emails we get from the kid who said they were going to commit suicide until they saw something in the show that changed their mind, or the life-changing accomplishment someone experiences when they conquer their fears. When we feel down, that is what brings us back up.

We have a responsibility now, this is our job. A lot of people count on us.

“It is much bigger than the four of us.

It’s not about the four of us. It’s about the question ‘What do you want to do before you die?’ and helping people get there and sharing those stories.

That spans much further than the four of us, but if we can come to campus to

represent the spirit of the project through personal interaction, that’s better than even a TV show.”

The Buried Life was filming yet another show for MTV when we first talked to them, and if you want to bring a truly meaningful and inspiring event to campus that still has a celebrity appeal and undoubtedly a draw for your students, contact Theo Moll at Keppler Speakers Bureau at 703.516.4000; tmoll@kepplerspeakers.com For extended coverage of The Buried Life, including the list, video clips of the project and audio excerpts from our interview, head over to our website and give us your comments right on the article’s page. If you enjoyed the story, please Like it and share with your friends!

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And what are on the top of the infamous Bucket List?:

01.) Open the six o'clock news 02.) Lead a parade 03.) Get a tattoo 04.) Start a dance in a public place 05.) Go down a mountain on a long board 06.) Attend a party at the Playboy Mansion 07.) Get in a real NBA match 08.) Ride a bull 09.) Destroy a computer 10.) Learn to fly 11.) Get a college degree 12.) Kick a field goal 13.) Help someone build a house 14.) Grow a mustache 15.) Get on the cover of Rolling Stone 16.) Drive across North America 17.) Start a huge wave

18.) Tell a joke on Late Night Television 19.) Write a book 20.) Get a song we've written on the radio 21.) Become a licensed minister 22.) Approach the most beautiful girl you've ever seen and kiss her 23.) Learn how to play an instrument 24.) Go to a rock concert in all leather 25.) Solve a crime or capture a fugitive 26.) Tell a judge: "You want the truth?

You can't handle the truth!"

27.) Give a stranger a $100 bill 28.) Send a message in a bottle 29.) Scream at the top of your lungs 30.) Make a donation to charity 31.) Cut a ribbon at a major opening 32.) Get someone named after you 33.) Compete in a Krump Competition 34.) Pay for someone's groceries 35.) Sing the National Anthem to a packed stadium

36.) Throw the first pitch at a major league baseball game 37.) Win and yell "Bingo!" at a Bingo hall 38.) Kiss the Stanley Cup 39.) Design a baseball cap and get 50 people to buy it 40.) Make the front page of a newspaper 41.) Make a toast at a stranger's wedding 42.) Host a cooking show 43.) Become a knight for a day 44.) Catch something and eat it 45.) Sleep in a haunted house for 1 night 46.) Do a sketch with Will Ferrell 47.) Get in the Guinness Book of World Records 48.) Accept a dare 49.) Take a stranger out to dinner 50.) Streak a field

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R

Interview & Story by Ian Kirby

oy Wood, Jr. is a name that anyone with any longevity in the campus market, or has been a frequent reader of Campus Activities Magazine would know. He’s been rigorously touring campuses for more than 10 years and has become a staple here in comedy. In the last three years, he has spread his face to a national market, as a regular supporting role on the TBS sitcom “Sullivan & Son” featuring Steve Byrne.

Now, with an exciting announcement that lands SPOT ON in the campus market, Roy’s star is about to rise even higher. Starting this season of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah,” Roy will be featured as a regular correspondent. It’s exciting news for us in the campus market; we have an entertainer who knows our audience and understands the ins and outs of doing dates on campus, who also has the draw of being on primetime television.

This isn’t to mention that all of us in the campus market feel some pride when a hometown boy makes good and we can say “hey! I know that guy!” when he’s on TV.

While it’s exciting for us, Roy’s brain circuits are a little overloaded. There is no more perfect term than “shellshocked.”

“You know what, I don’t think it has quite hit me yet but it is definitely a blessing and a wonderful opportunity,” he says. “To be part of such a storied program is an honor. I mean, they just won three Emmys this year. No pressure or anything,” he jokes. “I feel like a walk-on for the team that just won the Super Bowl. I am happy to be a part of it and it has been a great learning experience thus far just taking everything in.”

Roy may be a walk-on in the Super Bowl, but his analogy is a little unfair to himself, unless you consider he has been playing some pretty high level ball already. He’s been in the game for 17 years. “I have been blessed to have what I feel to be a pretty long career so far, I started comedy when I was 19 years old and have been doing it ever since. It’s a job that can be kind of stressful from time to time.”

Being featured on the hit sitcom “Sullivan & Son” was a great break for Roy and opened a lot of doors. “Before TBS, my body of work hadn’t included the scripted comedy or sitcom world. I have learned a lot of tricks as an actor, so that was a great gig for me. When you couple that with all of the years of experience in stand-up, multiple appearances on “Conan” and even the radio work I have done, it has all helped to prepare me for this opportunity.”

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That breadth of experience made Roy a perfect choice for the new position. “There were tons of other people who auditioned. This is a very long and involved process that Comedy Central takes very seriously. Being the last man standing at the end of that process is definitely something I don’t take lightly.”

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It’s a pretty perfect coincidence for Roy and his campus fans that he ended up on a program so directly suited for the market he is already experienced in. “I had to kind of laugh to myself,” he says. “I am a guy who does really well at colleges, on a TV show that college students watch, at a time when a lot of them are watching. I thought to myself ‘This should be pretty easy.’ There is definitely a lot to learn now that I am there, but it is cool to be connected to something that is already connected to the people I have entertained for well over a decade.”

You might think it a tentative connection, but the truth is that it has already come full circle. “I already did a piece for ‘The Daily Show’ where one of the people I interviewed was a student at UW Platteville a long time ago who had seen me on campus.” It shouldn’t really come as a surprise though.

If you do that math, Roy has done close to 1000 campus dates in his career. If the median crowd was 100 people (we all know there are some much bigger and some much smaller), that means Roy has performed live, on stage, in front of at least 100,000 people. Odds are he’s bound to run into more folks that remember him from their college days.

“Damn, I didn’t even do the math like that,” he says, sounding a little shocked himself.

Roy hails originally from Birmingham, AL, but his stage origins aren’t rooted there. “I started officially in Tallahassee, FL. Of course I went home and did open mics in Birmingham, but that only happened there once a month.

Much of my week to week growth as a comedian came at Florida A&M University but really even more so at Florida State. I was enrolled at A&M, but Florida State had more shows and opportunities. I spent a lot of time entering student talent competitions and things like that.”

The actual “campus market” as we think of it as its own unique entity is something that Roy wasn’t aware of for a while. “The funny thing is that I didn’t even know a lot about the market. What little college work I had achieved came on the heels of doing gigs at Florida State. It wasn’t until I met Chuck Johnson from Summit Comedy (who is my college agent now to this day), that I found the potential for full time touring in this market. It was Chuck’s idea, I’ll be honest. I didn’t know a lot about that world. He started submitting me for conferences.”

It wasn’t an instant success. “It was hard early on. The market can be competitive and sticking with it long enough to prime the pump is the key.

I submitted for probably the first two years before I got selected to showcase. When you are a young comedian and only making $500 a month take home pay after expenses, the $80 submission fees really hurt, especially when you don’t see an immediate return.”

While Roy had to keep his head up during the initial slow time, he says once he got in he felt like he had really earned it. “Because of the way the campus market rotates in and out and the folks who are responsible for making the booking decisions, I feel that the selection system in this market is one of the fairest systems in comedy, in terms of assessing talent.

I also like it because it forces you to stay fresh as a performer. The people who chose me to showcase at conferences 10 years ago are not the same people who chose me 5 years ago and are not the same as those choosing this year or next year. That constant turn over gives all of the talent, old and new, an equal chance to get in the door, as long as they stay sharp, fresh and funny.”

Roy Wood Jr. has been one of the most consistently working comics in a variety of venues and markets in the last decade. From the stage to

television and even hosting a weekday morning show radio, once he was able to get himself noticed, he has stayed in the public eye. “2005 was the breakthrough year,” he says. “That is when I started doing colleges full time, which was easy for me, because that is where I learned to do comedy. Getting on TV was a natural extension of that.

Everything you do as a performer is connected to the next thing you are destined to do. It’s all important and it’s all beneficial and every step of the way you have to prove yourself.

I personally love the fact that everything has to be earned and is not freely given. That never stops.

Nothing is given. Maybe now with ‘The Daily Show’ who knows? But I feel like everything I have accomplished in my career was because I just kept writing and tried my best to stay fresh and original with my material. Even then, you are competing against other people that are doing the same thing. After I did ‘Conan’ once, they didn’t just call me and say ‘Come on down whenever you like,’ there is a screening process and you have to submit your materials each time to a booker, the same way you do each time to try and get a showcase slot. The only thing that is different is the length of the tape and the subject matter of the material.

“It has been a fun ride and I have been fortunate enough to make a television appearance every year since 2001. Every single year since I was on ‘Showtime At The Apollo’ I have managed to land a national TV appearance. That is something I feel very fortunate to be able to say.”

The frequency of that particular point of pride is about to jump way up. Contact Summit Comedy at 800947-0651 or melissa@summitcomedy.com for more information on bringing Roy and a little taste of ‘The Daily Show’ to your campus.

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Every now and then, one gets the journalistic pleasure of covering a truly inspiring story. Kiara Kabukuru is one of them. The series of fantastically extreme reversals of fortune for this intelligent and articulate woman have been dramatic. It is a life that has been filled with diversity and overcoming adversity and as such, we couldn’t think of a better fit for our annual Diversity Issue cover. She shares her story with the readers of Campus Activities Magazine, as she does at campuses across the nation.

She also imparts some of the message she brings to students, many (if not most) of whom will identify with her journey in some way.

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Born in Uganda, as a child Kiara initially led a fairly comfortable (if not privileged) life. However, she was a child that came into the world in the very midst of the reign of Idi Amin, a dictator that spared no measure in retaining his position. This is a person who consistently makes top 10 lists for the most brutal dictators in history and is justly associated with the term genocide, accredited with the mas-

sacre of 300,000 civilians. Considering Kiara’s father, the “Donald Trump Of Kampala” had taken to funding revolutionaries against the regime, her family was in an incredibly precarious position. “I was born in the city of Kampala, but my family were village people from the rural area,” Kiara says. “My dad ended up becoming a really huge entrepreneur in Kampala in the 1970’s and started funding rebel groups. It was a crazy place at the time, with coups and political parties being overthrown constantly. The guy that he was backing looked like he was going to get into office and stabilize the country, so my father thought he was betting on the right horse, so to speak.”

That didn’t happen in time to help Kiara’s family, though history would later prove her father right. “When Yoweri Museveni came into power, he did stabilize the country, and he continues to as President today. At a certain point though he was exiled and they hunted down anyone who had certain political alignments. You either escaped, or were killed. Luckily

we escaped, thanks to the help of some of my father’s international friends.”

The family didn’t make it out unscathed. “My father’s brother and many, many other people were killed,” she says. Running and hiding were the first six years of her life, but surprisingly she says she remained fairly happy and well-adjusted. “We were still in a kind of bubble. We were very well taken care of, but outside there were dead bodies about and we’d sometimes have to just leave in the middle of the night. But at that age, it was almost kind of fun and exciting.

Or at least it was normalized, and was as fun and exciting as any other 6 year old’s activities. I didn’t take it all in and consider the wider ramifications and consequences of the situation we were in.”

When it was time to make their exit, they didn’t all just go in the family station wagon to the airport. “When we did finally get to leave, my parents left first without contact with us. We thought they were dead. My dad’s

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friend from Los Angeles came to Uganda to help us, but we had to hide out in Kenya for about 18 months.

We discovered that our parents had made it out, but during that time we only had phone contact with them.”

They finally made it to the U.S. when Kiara was 6 years old, in 1981. “Before we came we didn’t really even know what Los Angeles or even the Unites States of America were. It was all like a big adventure then. Once the day came that we flew here, it was quite a shock. I had spent my entire life in Uganda, with its heat, weather, colors, music, food, dance and of course the war. It is just a completely different atmosphere than say, landing in Heathrow Airport where there is no sun and no sky. The red earth I am used to is covered with cement.

It felt like being on a different planet and it was hard as a child to understand how this could be a good thing.”

That was just the beginning of the culture shock and I’m sure most readers can already see the implications of how well qualified Kiara is to speak on the topics of diversity. “Things like seeing the first white person ever in real life were, for me, incredible. I must have seen white people before, but what I remember were many Indian people and of course Ugandans.

When I saw a woman with long blond hair and brown tights, I thought she was multicolored. I literally had to walk up to her to understand what was going on. It was an entirely new world that I couldn’t have possibly imagined. To then come to Los Angeles and try to take in the size of this city was immense. I remember getting off the plane and looking out over what seemed to be an ocean of cars and lights.”

This was all before tackling the little things like starting school, and learn-

ing a language she had never before spoken. “There were four of us kids and we had to learn English right away. We had to take cross town buses, go to school and completely immerse ourselves in the culture all at once.” Stranger in a strange land couldn’t be a more apt description.

The situation wasn’t exactly ideal for any of them, least of all her parents.

Along with their father losing his entire fortune by the time they settled, they were highly wary of the overall effect the move would have on their children. “This wasn’t their plan, so they were very protective of us insofar as American culture. It was almost like they were trying to raise us as if we were still in Uganda.”

Perhaps a less jet set place than L.A. would have made her parents more comfortable, but their connection to the U.S. was in L.A. which features a significant Ugandan community as well. “My father had a friend in Los Angeles and in the United States, and was only aware of two considerable Ugandan communities at the time, one in Mississippi and the other in L.A. He had a really good friend who had moved to Los Angeles and offered to help us out. That same friend also stole all the money my father had managed to transfer out, but at least we made it.”

Kiara went from a life of privilege to one of struggle and sacrifice. “Here is a guy who went from being the Donald Trump of Kampala to pushing grocery carts and doing anything he could to get money to feed our family. my parents were living on nothing for a while, literally not having enough food to eat. My dad had a full-on nervous breakdown and has never really been the same since that happened.

It was tough.”

There was a community church who helped them get their papers in order and employed, Kiara’s father was hired as an accountant for Paramount Pictures and gradually the family adapted and shifted into a more stable lifestyle. “We were pretty much okay after that.” Things went from good to very bad and back to good for Kiara, and they were about to get great. But, that’s not to say she didn’t still deal with her own set of struggles, some that continued to develop her keenness on the topics of diversity. “In school, we were definitely different. We were ‘The Africans’ and people used to call us all sorts of awful names like ‘African booty scratcher’ and everyone had to tell us that Africans were diseased, we don’t have just foreheads we have eightheads, we just looked different. We dressed differently, we acted differently.”

The interesting thing is Kiara didn’t experience the typical incarnation of racism. She, like many mixed race children, found herself on the outside of any one group. “What was interesting to me is that the African Americans were actually meaner to us than Caucasians or Asians or anyone else.”

Kiara went through an awkward gangly phase as a young girl, and if professional model were a career path you told her she would walk, she would’ve laughed. “I started praying that I could look like my mother, because she was so beautiful and I was kind of awkward and small. Somehow it happened. It seemed like within a year I went from the awkward girl with braces and bad skin to someone approaching me about modeling.”

At about 15, Kiara bloomed and everything changed. “Everyone

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started complimenting me and saying I should be a model. I was really interested in fashion and clothes, even making some of my own. I looked at magazines, but I had no idea how people got there.”

Then a chance meeting, like so many great discoveries, took place and a future modeling star was born. “I was 17 at that point and a photographer approached me at a mall. He told me I should really be a model and that he would like to take pictures of me. At that point I had my mind set on being a teacher so I kind of shrugged it off but took his card anyway.”

Events conspired to push Kiara in that direction. “That same week I lost my job caring for small children at my church. My mom encouraged me to call the photographer and we ended up talking for a while and shooting some photographs. He built a whole portfolio for me and started sending them out to agencies around Los Angeles.”

The initial response wasn’t promising. “Everybody said no except for one person because I am smaller and at that time (pre Kate Moss), almost all models (runway especially) were 5’10” plus.” Despite that, she got some interest and was booked for a job in New York for Levi’s Jeans. “I actually had an offer on the table for a 5 year contract with a television show in Los Angeles when the call came in about the New York gig. In my heart I knew I wanted to travel and this was exciting, it was my chance. My parents were so over-protective and I always had this vision of traveling the world. For me it was more important to go and experience this than to secure the 5year contract in Los Angeles.”

Kiara moved to New York on her 18th birthday and was soon sent to Europe for a week. “I hadn’t flown out of the country since I had flown in from Uganda, but I jumped on the plane with 2 changes of clothes, an address and no one to pick me up in Paris. I don’t speak any French but luckily I got to the agency and spent the next two years in Europe doing the rounds between Paris and London.”

It took a few years and being broke for a bit, but her luck finally got her there. “I was starting to get discouraged and had run out of money. Essentially I had made the decision to give myself another six months. If nothing happened in that time, I would pack my things up and go home and go to college to become a teacher.

Luckily, everything happened in that six months.”

She was booked for Gucci, the cover of Vogue, a contract with L’Oreal and more. This roller coaster of success went on for about three years from 1997 to 2000 when yet another cruel reversal of fortunes befell Kiara. She went from living life in a dream to a nightmare she couldn’t wake up from.

“My accident was in 2000. I was just about to sign a huge CoverGirl contract THAT week when I was hit by a truck on my bicycle in New York.”

We’ll spare you the gruesome details, but the physical damage from being struck and dragged was brutal, and especially devastating for someone who’s current career relied so heavily on her appearance. “My teeth were very badly damaged but I didn’t have a lot of broken bones. At the beginning, my skin was gone, but once I healed you couldn’t really see the physical damage. It did really send me into a long, painful, healing part of my life where I was figuring out what was really important to me.”

Like dwelling not on the fact that her career had been derailed, but the fact that she was here to draw breath at all. “Even though it was so dreadful and painful, I was so happy to be here. Even in that condition. That was the beginning of seeing life in a completely different way for me, and that is really the core of the message that I share with students. Life is incredible. I knew I would rather be here and going through that than not be here at all.”

Kiara went from living a life with some direction to living one with true purpose. “I realized, I am here on purpose. I chose to be here. Even during my accident I stayed with it, completely conscious the entire time, I decided to experience the whole thing, I feel like I really did choose. Since then I am just so grateful and so sure that I am meant to be here.

I am meant to do something here.

All of these things that have happened to me can be shared for the good of as many that can take something from it. In that way, the terrible situation was a major gift.”

Kiara Kabukuru would like to come and share this gift with your students. Whether your goal is to inspire, celebrate diversity, teach overcoming adversity or simply give students some often needed perspective on their own lives, this remarkable woman is the perfect way to accomplish all these goals.

For more information on bringing Kiara to your campus, contact IMG Speakers at (212) 774-6735 or speakers@img.com.

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You’d probably never guess by listening to Mike Birbiglia’s fairly average accent that he was born and raised around Boston, Massachusetts. “I have a very ambiguous accent,” he says. “And most people just think I am from the Midwest.

I am actually writing a movie write now (starring myself) and I’m placing the main character in Ohio, because people just think I’m from there (laughs).”

Most comedy enthusiasts and Comedy Central Crackheads (CCC’s) will know Mike Birbiglia’s name already.

With “Premium Blend” appearances, a “Comedy Central Present’s” special, several feature clips on “Shorties Watchin’ Shorties” and a successful off-Broadway play to his credit he is an increasingly familiar face in the comedy scene.

A significant part of Mike’s success can be attributed to campus dates and he gives Campus Activities Magazine® an exclusive interview so students can have a little bit of an insight into his quirky world.

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This is not a guy who just walked into a comedy club one day and got his career just handed to him… not exactly anyway. “After I performed my first time at the DC Improv I told them I wanted to start doing this all the time. The guy handed me a mop.”

Perhaps a little bit more context for focus is in order. You see, ever since Mike was in high school, he has enjoyed standup comedy from some of the same names we now revere as the newer greats. “I was drawn to comedy from high school seeing comics on television. I was always interested in Bill Cosby and Steven Wright.

When I got into college, I discovered Mitch Hedberg [R.I.P.].”

“When I was in college at Georgetown, they had a ‘Funniest Person on Campus’ contest,” he says, laughing at the memory. “It was this annual thing and I decided to just go for it. I put so much work into it, trying to put together an act.

I won the contest. What I won was an opportunity to perform at the DC Improv. I opened for Dave Chappelle (this was long before ‘Chappell’s Show’) but I was still a big fan of his specials at the time.”

The gig Mike did at the DC Improv went pretty well, so he went to the owner to inquire about future op-

portunities. “I went to the owner and I thought it would be so easy I was like ‘Yeah, so I want to do this all the time.’ He told me I could work there, but there would be no stage time. I could work the door and seat people and over time when there are fallouts and cancellations they would try to work me in.

I did that for about 4 years.”

There’s not much more “paying your dues” one could do. “It was really like my comedy college, but I had to keep it a secret from my family. My dad didn’t work his whole life to send me to college so that I could then get a job making fun of him in front of strangers (laughs) you know what I mean?

This is sort of the very last thing he would have had me do, to become a comedian. He didn’t even know what a comedy club was when I told him I was working at one.”

At that point Mike’s and his father’s priorities weren’t necessarily falling in line with each other. “He said ‘Well anyway, school is your number one priority!’ I was thinking ‘Ummm, not really, but okay.’ So, I worked at this comedy club and kind of sneaked by in school.”

While Mike was working in the background at the club, he was getting the opportunity to absorb directly what some of the best in the business were doing. “I stud-

ied these great comedians who came through, people like Brian Reagan, Dave Attell, Mitch Hedberg, Kathleen Madigan, Margaret Cho and I just learned so much about the idea of being a touring comedian. I never knew you could actually do that.”

Mike performed a lot at Georgetown while he was there, building both experience and momentum. “I was in the improv troupe on campus that performed every month and then I would host everything I could find like the ‘A cappella festival’ or the ‘Sketch Comedy Festival’ or student orientation. I remember every year I hosted the new student orientations. I have done it like 11

times; because I continued doing them after I graduated,” he laughs.

“I became a permanent installment of what it is to be a Georgetown freshman. If you said my name people would be like ‘Oh yeah, Mike Birbiglia, of course.’ I was famous in that universe only.”

Once Mike got out of school, he kept plugging along, working his way up. “I started opening for people on the road. I basically borrowed my mom’s station wagon and drove it around the country from gig to gig. I went to all of the shadiest comedy clubs in the far stretches of the earth and, I performed at a lot of colleges.”

Mike with Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane

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Mike credits his discovery of a niche in the college market one of the saving graces of his career. “One of the best things that happened to me when I got out of school was applying to and entering NACA because once I did, I started performing at a ton of colleges.”

Mike remembers semi-fondly some of the off-hour, day, site or color gigs the college market is famous for putting in entertainers at the bottom trying to work their way up. “Some of those gigs were terrible,” he laughs. “I remember showing up and they had forgotten they even invited me, so they’re like ‘Oh yeah, so its ‘you’ and we have a lip syncing contest… why don’t you host the contest, yeah, that’s it, host!’ This really happened once. I literally showed up and they had me host a lip-syncing contest, an art form I am not particularly fond of.”

Apparently, neither were the students. “There were only 2 entries and the woman running the event was very upset about this. She was really angry and when she got up to introduce me to the crowd she goes ‘You know, we have this contest every year and in the past we’ve had 15 or 20 entries and this year there were 2. We don’t have to have this contest if you don’t want to have it and I am not doing this for me I’m doing it for you,’ she says all very severely. Then she says ‘And now, here’s comedian Mike Birbiglia.’ That was great.”

Mike says there are plenty more wacky campus stories where that came from. “One time I showed up and they had me performing in the center of a walk-a-thon for lupus in the gymnasium, I’m chasing these people around with a microphone.

I was like an oscillating desk fan, gently blowing humor. The best part was the guy who booked me looks me dead in the eye and says

‘I know it’s not ideal…’ Not ideal?!”

But Mike is quick to point out he doesn’t want to give the wrong impression about his experience here. “That’s what a lot of those early college gigs were like, but then even more of them were great. It was a really mixed bag, but it got to where more and more of the college students coming out would email me.”

Mike says the two to three hundred schools he performed at during this time were a trial by fire for him. “It was the best thing for me at the time, because to be honest I didn’t have a ton of material then. It would force me to show up at the schools and just improvise a lot of stuff. I would go on stage with just an idea of what a story was and then I would tell it. As it went along I would come up with jokes and very quickly from doing that I developed a couple of hours of mate-

Like some of the comic legends that have preceded him (Carriot Top, Jay Mohr, Dane Cook and others), Mike Birbiglia really shines out with college audiences.

rial. It was a really big part of me becoming a comedian.”

It takes “big ones” to go out there and put yourself in a sink or swim situation like that. “I strongly believe that to go out and become a comedian, you have to be a little bit delusional. Particularly when you are starting out, there is so much failure and amidst that failure you have to tell yourself ‘It’s going quite nicely!’ Otherwise, you would never get on stage again, thinking ‘Well, I guess human beings don’t like me…’

“I remember the first time I had a paid gig it was at this bar in Virginia.

I drove out there and the back stage area was just the sidewalk of this strip mall. I was so scared because I didn’t know what was going to happen. I was supposed to perform like 30 minutes of comedy. I only had like 11. They open the door and say ‘Mike you’re on.’ I turned around and puked on the sidewalk and walked on stage.

day. “I told her it was amazing because in my mind, it had been.

If it hadn’t, I wouldn’t have gotten on stage again.”

Fortunately the comedy club’s kingpin didn’t send Mike out the back with Lil’ Joey. “I went into the manager’s office and I thought that he might, you know, punch me in the face or pull a gun or something, but he just took out $50 and put it on the desk. He said ‘Thanks for coming and we’ll see you again next time’. It was a completely preposterous moment for me because it

was the first time where I was thinking ‘But, I’m a comedian now!’ You learn your lesson and become humbled; the next time I got a paid gig I made damn sure I had the 30 minutes I needed. You really do have to become delusional to become a comedian; you have to lie to yourself and tell yourself everything is going well when its really not going well at all.”

But eventually it does. “Over the years, people have kind of taken to specific jokes and things that I didn’t expect,” he says. I have

“Now, I have heard many bastardizations of my last name in my life (its BIR-BIG-LIA), but this particular gentleman (and this is the worst I have ever heard) says ‘Ladies and Gentleman, please welcome Mike Bavuski…’ I was so mad, I was thinking ‘You didn’t even try! You just said a B and the first thing you could think of and you made me Polish, and that’s a really specific choice…’

“I got on stage, did 4 minutes of comedy and left. I thanked the audience and apologized at the same time, which was weird because I had never done it before. It was like ‘Thank you, sorry!’ (laughs) I walked off and went home to my girlfriend and she asked me how it went.

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And so the fledgling comic’s selfdelusion swoops in to save the

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next time’. It was a completely preposterous moment for me because it was the first time where I was thinking ‘But, I’m a comedian now!’

You learn your lesson and become humbled; the next time I got a paid gig I made damn sure I had the 30 minutes I needed. You really do have to become delusional to become a comedian; you have to lie to yourself and tell yourself everything is going well when its really not going well at all.”

But eventually it does. “Over the years, people have kind of taken to specific jokes and things that I didn’t expect,” he says. I have about

being a ‘cracker’ and I use the word ‘cracker’ on stage. In the same way that some black comics use the n-word, I use the c-word on stage. Cracker please, (laughs).”

It just goes to show how some of our most classic bits have the simplest ori-

gins. “I was just trying to come up with as many jokes as I could and all of a sudden people were quoting that back to me and I was like ‘Oh okay, I guess I’m on to something. The same thing has happened to me with so many of the bits, it is really exciting in a way.”

Mike has an interesting philosophy that is especially audience-minded and, may explain why he has so handily been able to build such popularity over his short years in the business. “There is a famous quote that Jerry Seinfeld once gave. He said words to the effect ‘You don’t tell the audience what’s funny about you, they tell you what’s funny.’ I think that’s very true; I think you have to kind of step back and see what is connecting with people, in your comfort zone. You don’t want to pander completely to what every audience wants and become this sort of amorphous comedic Backstreet Boy of comedy. At some point you have to go out and do what you do and see what the most people react to. Then you can always try to figure out why.”

theater shows. He is the perfect choice for clean, universal comedy almost any audience will enjoy. He has experience and name recognition, but is not yet to the point of astronomical impossibility for most institutions. Consider bringing him in for your next Georgetown Freshman Orientation today…just kidding. But, what’s no joke is Mike Birbiglia’s ability to be the next big hit on your campus.

BOOK IT! For more information on bringing Mike Birbiglia to your school, contact Jackie Knobbe at (310) 888-4291. For online media of Mike, including video, pricing, tour dates and booking info, log on to our websiteat www.campusactivitiesmagazine.com.

Click on “Artists” under the “Buyer’s Guide” Tab and either enter Mike’s name in the given field or find it browsing through the letter “B.” CA

Mike Birbiglia is currently performing a variety of dates not only in the college market, but also in comedy clubs and successful

Mike Birbiglia’s article photos are by Brian Friedman.

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There are very few true professionals entertaining in the campus market with the level of experience, understanding, technical ability and natural rapport as Alain Nu. It’s a little hard to peg Alain. In our Artist Report Card section, he falls loosely under “Live Novelty”, but that does little to narrow things down. He isn’t a hypnotist (though he may use some form of hypnosis). He can’t really be called a magician and he’s not exactly a mentalist. “I like to consider myself an ‘enigmatist’ as someone who’s interests range with regards to unusual enigmas, psychological gambits, really anything people might consider to be paranormal.

Those all encompass the gamut of my interests and what I like to demonstrate.”

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Those all encompass the gamut of my interests and what I like to demonstrate.”

Enigmatism can include many forms of what we traditionally think of in this genre of entertainment and, many things you won’t see from anyone but Alain and his unique take. “Some of the more obvious examples of what I do are perceptual manipulation of magical sort of effects, demonstrations of mind over matter, non-verbal communication in the form of telepathy or the like and all other sorts of cool things like hypnosis, lightning calculations, super memory and others.

The most popular forms of what I do would fall under hypnotism, mentalism and magic. My show is all of these things rolled up into a presentation that very specifically focuses on the power of the mind and how we can potentially push ourselves to find our mental limits and unknown abilities and strengths.”

While there can be meaning drawn from some of the presentations he makes, Alain’s show is for the most part a purely entertainment experience. “It is definitely a show in which people are having a great time and audience participation is first and foremost in my show. Almost every demonstration involves either part of the audience or the entire audience itself. In the end, the loose message one might walk away with is ‘be curious about yourself and your own potential.’”

Alain certainly isn’t “new” when it comes to entertaining and can easily bring a veteran’s game to the show. “I am one of the crazy few who can truly say they ‘I have been doing this my entire life.’ My interest has been there ever

since I was a kid; I come from a Vietnamese and Chinese background, so of course the family history is this sort of rich tapestry of lore, legend, some unconventional thinking that involved everything from mind over matter to unusual superstitions and beliefs. But, for the most part growing up in the United States (born in California) but growing up as a child of immigrant parents, I adopted sort of an unusual way of looking at myself and the world.”

Alain felt a natural tendency toward becoming the mysterious and unusual guy that he is. His interest in magic began at around 7, bolstered by stories from aunts and uncles of strange and fantastic spirits, ghosts, walking statues and mythical beasts from the past. “Along with wanting to not only honor my family’s heritage but to also help convey that to other people, I found magic a unique and particularly effective medium for showing people the sort of strange reality that was mine.”

Before long, Alain had discovered magic goes far beyond illusion and the physical affect it can have on our minds; it is ultimately a way to connect and communicate with fellow man. “I learned that magic goes much deeper than just tricks, there is a very deep psychological edge to it that really kind of bridges our own imaginations with reality. It is possible to bring that feeling of something tremendous, unbelievable and absolutely impossible working beneath our own selves right into the very hands of another person. I feel that is something we can tap into using the kind of demonstrations I do.”

Alain’s studies ran deep as he found the more he learned the more there was to learn. “I found that the more I studied and got into it, the more doors opened up for me.” He eventually found himself living in the Washington DC area as his father had gotten a job at the Library of Congress (coincidentally enough both of Alain’s parents are librarians). “When I moved to DC I opened myself up to an underground magic scene of people that included magicians, mentalists, sance mediums and all sorts of other colorful characters in the area.”

The area was rife with some of the most well known and respected at the time. “I was kind of fortunate in that respect to have my eyes opened up to that culture. As I got deeper and deeper I found myself traveling all over the world, meeting other masters of their respective crafts and exchanging information with them.”

As the child of two Asian librarians, Alain’s path wasn’t one that wouldn’t rock any boats. “I definitely had some issues with my parents with regards to what they wanted me to do versus what I ended up doing. It’s funny because the entire time that I was pushing to become who I am, I sort of had to go it on my own. With both of them being ‘old school’ Asians if you will, they weren’t really into the idea of me being in the entertainment industry and saw absolutely no future in it for me whatsoever. So by the time I was 18, I had pretty much struck out and pursued my career path against the wishes of my parents.”

Like so many artists before him who’s parents have high ambitions (and often a little bit too spe-

cific of a plan in mind) for their children, it wasn’t until Alain’s parents had the relief of seeing him succeed that they became more accepting of his choice. “It really wasn’t until I started to do well with my career that they began to reaccept me once again. It was a little bit hurtful at the time and I feel it has created somewhat of an unfortunate distance between them and myself. But, I truly feel you just have to go with your flow; if you have it in your heart to do something and you want to achieve something important in your life for yourself, then you have to find your passion and move toward that goal without letting anyone stop you.”

The college market was a boon for Alain that typifies a pattern that has seemed to develop throughout his life. Call it Providence, call it Karma or call it luck, whatever it is it has served him well. “Its funny because my life is literally one random thing happening to me after another and for some reason I’ve gotten some great opportunities. Before I got into the college market, I was kind of doing my own thing working heavily in the corporate market in the local Washington DC area. All of a sudden this agency RP Productions decided to pick me up and represent me in the college market. They literally paid for everything, including taking me into the conferences. So, that experience was the first I knew a ‘market’ even existed. Now of course prior to that point I knew that Craig Karges was in the college market and I had heard of Gil Eagles, but I never thought of it as an actual ‘market’ for myself until Robert Sapilski showed me the ropes.

After that I just fell right into it.”

Eventually Alain parted with this first campus representation, around June 2001. After September 11, he immediately realized he would need to adapt. “I turned to my wife and said ‘I’m going to be a part of the college market now,’ because I knew that at least for a while the corporate market would basically go down the tubes. I thought if there was a place to go it would be the college market. I began advertising through Campus Activities Magazine and worked my way through independently.”

Later partnering with Everything But The Mime, Alain maintained an active presence in the college market and filmed four hour-long television specials for TLC. “The Mysterious World of Alain Nu” can still be occasionally seen in rebroadcast.

After developing what felt like somewhat of a disconnect between himself and the agency, Alain parted ways with Everything But The Mime. “I felt like my personal brand and the direction of my show were just different than theirs.”

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Meanwhile GP Entertainment was going strong and building a unique brand and reputation for themselves as well and had it not been for unfortunate timing, Alain might have been with GP long ago. “They had originally asked me about

joining their roster literally the day after I signed with Everything But The Mime. I felt bad because in a way I wanted to, but I had a commitment with Carol. Once that resolved I went with GP and I have to say they are great guys and I feel really strong about the group we have over there.” [Incidentally Tim & Rich at GP felt back then that Alain was the best kept secret in the college market and “the strongest thought reading act out there”, Alain was to be the very first act on GP’s roster.] “I feel like I fit in very well with the rest of their roster, from the paranormalists there including the elite ghost hunters to demonologists to great hypnosis, magic, variety & sideshow acts. Since what I do is a mixture of all of those things, I am a good example of the GP Entertainment squad.”

get some sort of widespread television exposure.

“A totally random happening again. A guy was talking to a magician in a bar [sounds like the beginning of a bad joke] and he asked ‘Whom would you recommend for a television show that would have enough material to fit into an hourlong timeslot?’ The weird part because this magician could have named any number of people; it was almost like a name came out of a hat and it happened to be mine,” he says with a still disbelieving laugh in his voice. “This guy calls me up and tells me he wants to do a TV show. I was literally so in disbelief that I didn’t take it seriously, not nearly enough anyway,” he says chagrined.

“I should have immediately started working on it but I didn’t want anything to stop my own personal stride at the time and there was never anything that actually came in, in the way of a contract. Nothing was really happening other than me giving him ideas, which comes naturally to me. I am good at what I do in the sense that I can apply the knowledge I have in many different ways.” This skill would eventually allow him to pull off a seemingly insurmountable task.

The gentlemen showed up unexpectedly one day to take Alain to meet with some television networks. Things were pushed through quicker than he could have expected and because of his previous lack of taking things as seriously as he should have, he suddenly found himself with two weeks to come up with an hour’s television material. “It was insane because there were like 20 segments in that hour, it was lightning fast.”

Another lucky break and connection landed Alain a string of gigs over several years at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. “Once again, it was a connection that opened up for me. In my show I spend a good deal talking about connections and making connections. I use what I do as a metaphor for my own life because I feel like it is all about making connections and forming relationships with people.

“Anyway I got a call from a friend asking ‘How would you like to work Caesar’s Palace?’ I sent in a videotape and before I knew it I was performing in this theatrical experience called ‘Caesar’s Magical Empire.” I worked six nights a week, 46 weeks per run, 3 or 4 times a year. It was kind of my mainstay show and was the place I could go whenever I would hit a slow month. I could call up Caesar’s and they would put me up for the month. It was all great until Celine Dion came along and kicked us all out,” he says laughing.

“The Mysterious World of Alain Nu” is possibly Alain’s most impressive credential, as most entertainers in his field spend their careers trying to

One segment turned into 4 over the course of 4 months and Alain now has an impressive set of specials that encapsulate a huge amount of material. Over 80 different demonstrations occupy this catalog and is a testament to his creativity and prolific nature. “That was a huge, crazy ordeal that spanned over eight cities across America. Television is a beast that eats up material and it was a hectic ordeal I wouldn’t want to have to repeat to be honest,” he says laughing.

Alain Nu is a professional of the utmost degree.

He is friendly, personable and will amaze your students beyond mere fascination and take them on a trip through their own minds. On the other side, perhaps they’ll be just a little bit more cognizant of their own abilities.

BOOK IT! For more information on bringing Alain Nu to your school, contact GP Entertainment at (866) 812-8248. For online media of Alain, including video, pricing, tour dates and booking info, log on to our website at www.campusactivitiesmagazine.com. Click on “Artists” under the “Buyer’s Guide” Tab and either enter Alain’s name in the given field or find it browsing through the letter “A.” CA

CAMPUS ACTIVITIES MAGAZINE ©, March 2017 • campusactivitiesmagazine.com, 31

They’ve toured multiple times with legendary reggae/rock acts like 311, Pepper, Kottonmouth Kings, Unwritten Law, Matisyahu and Sublime with Rome. Their hit song, “Lay Me Down” written with Sublime of Rome member Rome Ramirez, went to number one on the U.S. Alternative and U.S. Rock charts.

On the edgier side of the market’s music scene, this probably isn’t the band you want to bring in for little sibs’ weekend, but for student audiences, this act represents the youthful, trendy and edgy entertainment they crave.

Jared Watson, one of two founding members of the band, gives Campus Activities Magazine the lowdown on the band’s history, show and the fascinating story of how the Heads signed a deal with Warner Bros., recorded an album, had the deal fall through, yet somehow walked away with their master recordings!

Probably the most obvious question that pops into a reader’s mind upon seeing this story is the origin of The Dirty Heads name. It’s a humorous story, though not an entirely wholesome one. But again, neither CAM or The Dirty Heads are claiming these guys are completely straight-edged, though they are older and more mature than the teenagers they were when Jared his pal Dustin “Duddy” Bushnell stole a 12-pack of beer and someone shouted at them “Come here you little dirty heads!”

The core of the band has been around since 1996, but it is really coming into it’s own only just recently. “Today, I think we have finally figured out 100% who the band is and who is in the band and have tightened up the style of music we play. Now we are very comfortable playing live and our only goal now is touring our asses off. We want to make our live shows as tight and fun as possible. Now that we are all so comfortable with each other, we can jam, do covers and have a lot more fun, rather than mechanically going out and playing our songs trying to make them perfect every time. It is a lot of fun for us now, very cool. The crowd’s are growing, every show is getting bigger and we are very happy with where we are right now. The payoff is finally coming.”

The band plays a variety of shows including the college market, festivals and clubs. “When we are not out with a big headliner like Sublime With Rome or 311 doing the big arenas, we are playing clubs like House of Blues type venues. Usually the shows range anywhere from 500 to 3000 kids, it depends on where we are and the exposure in that market as to how well we do there.”

The band has been so busy touring with the mega acts at the big shows that they almost lost sight of their own glow. “It is funny, we just did our first headlining show in two months. I forgot how much fun they were. We have been with Sublime forever in all of these huge arenas with big tickets and assigned seating and VIP areas in the front… ugh. The shows we play ourselves are real. Those VIP areas are just filled with like a bunch of rich douche bags that don’t really care about the show, they just want to impress their chicks or something.”

Taking a rock show to a level like that is a strange dichotomy; taking an art that is inherently rootsy and homegrown in a garage and turning it into a very corporate money-making atmosphere. There is also the important detail that while The Dirty Heads get great exposure to thousands of new fans, the audiences in the arenas are not there to see The Dirty Heads. “You take one of those giant arenas with like 5,000 or 10,000 people peppered with maybe 500 to 1000 Dirty Heads fans, who are all locked into assigned seating so there is a separation there. Last night, we played in New York in a headlining show and it was all of our fans, right up front, smashed up against us. We could hear every word they were singing with us, it was so much fun. We totally forgot how rad headlining shows are and how intimate they are; you can really connect with the crowd.”

Amazing stories abound in the entertainment industry and sometimes we are taken in by circumstances that seem to good to be true. We seem to be especially rapt and invested into stories of the underdog, and that might just be what we have here today.

Dirty Heads is a band on the rise, with the successful record “Any Port In A Storm” to their credit and some notable Hollywood attention for their songs, this band founded way back in 1996 is finally seeing the traction it deserves and might be the next hot act for the campus mar-

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Despite missing the feeling of being the headliner, these guys are smart enough to count their blessings.

“I think some support bands in the past have carried the sentiment of being under-appreciated when on tour with a big headliner, but honestly I don't think we could say there is a bad side to it. There is definitely the feeling of not connecting with the fans as much because so many people there don’t even know ket.

Activities Magazine® brought youfinish Fall Out Boyand and Plain full of 311 fans goes nuts, who Campus we are, but are just listening.

Now, when you a song a crowd it is great, but during the songs, half of the crowd is just like ‘Who are these guys?‘ they don’t know White T’s just before they exploded and were still affordable, so this every word, but it’s fun to win new fans and I don’t think there is a down side to it. From a business asmight be an act you want to take a closer look at. pect, getting in front of as many people as possible is kind of the point (laughs).”

Hailing Huntington California, this standard rockmany quartet This is a from good attitude to take Beach, for an approach to the college market, where venues will house audiences new has anband. eclectic blend of styles that makes but the norm. to the “Doing Warped Tour and some of thethem biggeranything festivals really helped me as one of the front men to develop a better to win new audiences.

In band’s Warped Tour, there are so many people Blending theability stylistic influences of the members equally, the re- and so many bands playing, you have to like...yell at the mf-ers to come and watch you.

It’s like ‘Hey, come over sult is an amalgam of reggae/rock/roots music that is hip and catchy andhere and listen, I know you are here to see someone else, but check this out for a second.’ My goal is to have people walking away saying ‘Man, I will connect onThe your students’ sawsurely 15 bands today and Dirty Heads waslevel. the one that blew my face off. I definitely have that mindset now and CAMPUS ACTIVITIES MAGAZINE ©, March 2017 • campusactivitiesmagazine.com, 33

glow. “It is funny, we just did our first headlining show in two months. I forgot how much fun they were. We have been with Sublime forever in all of these huge arenas with big tickets and assigned seating and VIP areas in the front… ugh. The shows we play ourselves are real. Those VIP areas are just filled with like a bunch of rich douche bags that don’t really care about the show, they just want to impress their chicks or something.”

Taking a rock show to a level like that is a strange dichotomy; taking an art that is inherently rootsy and homegrown in a garage and turning it into a very corporate money-making atmosphere. There is also the important detail that while The Dirty Heads get great exposure to thousands of new fans, the audiences in the arenas are not there to see The Dirty Heads. “You take one of those giant arenas with like 5,000 or 10,000 people peppered with maybe 500 to 1000 Dirty Heads fans, who are all locked into assigned seating so there is a separation there. Last night, we played in New York in a headlining show and it was all of our fans, right up front, smashed up against us. We could hear every word they were singing with us, it was so much fun.

We totally forgot how rad headlining shows are and how intimate they are; you can really connect with the crowd.”

They’ve toured multiple times with legendary reggae/rock acts like 311, Pepper, Kottonmouth Kings, Unwritten Law, Matisyahu and Sublime with Rome. Their hit song, “Lay Me Down” written with Sublime of Rome member Rome Ramirez, went to number one on the U.S. Alternative and U.S. Rock charts.

On the edgier side of the market’s music scene, this probably isn’t the band you want to bring in for little sibs’ weekend, but for student audiences, this act represents the youthful, trendy and edgy entertainment they crave.

Jared Watson, one of two founding members of the band, gives Campus Activities Magazine the lowdown on

the band’s history, show and the fascinating story of how the Heads signed a deal with Warner Bros., recorded an album, had the deal fall through, yet somehow walked away with their master recordings!

Probably the most obvious question that pops into a reader’s mind upon seeing this story is the origin of The Dirty Heads name. It’s a humorous story, though not an entirely wholesome one. But again, neither CAM or The Dirty Heads are claiming these guys are completely straight-edged, though they are older and more mature than the teenagers they were when Jared his pal Dustin “Duddy” Bushnell stole a 12-pack of beer and some-

one shouted at them “Come here you little dirty heads!”

The core of the band has been around since 1996, but it is really coming into it’s own only just recently. “Today, I think we have finally figured out 100% who the band is and who is in the band and have tightened up the style of music we play. Now we are very comfortable playing live and our only goal now is touring our asses off. We want to make our live shows as tight and fun as possible. Now that we are all so comfortable with each other, we can jam, do covers and have a lot more fun, rather than mechanically going out and playing our songs trying to make them perfect every time. It is a lot of fun for us now, very cool. The

34, CAMPUS ACTIVITIES MAGAZINE ©, March 2017 • campusactivitiesmagazine.com

crowd’s are growing, every show is getting bigger and we are very happy with where we are right now. The payoff is finally coming.”

The band plays a variety of shows including the college market, festivals and clubs. “When we are not out with a big headliner like Sublime With Rome or 311 doing the big arenas, we are playing clubs like House of Blues type venues. Usually the shows range anywhere from 500 to 3000 kids, it depends on where we are and the exposure in that market as to how well we do there.”

The band has been so busy touring with the mega acts at the big shows that they almost lost sight of their own

Despite missing the feeling of being the headliner, these guys are smart enough to count their blessings. “I think some support bands in the past have carried the sentiment of being under-appreciated when on tour with a big headliner, but honestly I don't think we could say there is a bad side to it. There is definitely the feeling of not connecting with the fans as much because so many people there don’t even know who we are, but are just listening. Now, when you finish a song and a crowd full of 311 fans goes nuts, it is great, but during the songs, half of the crowd is just like ‘Who are these guys?‘ they don’t know every word, but it’s fun to win new fans and I don’t think there is a down side to it. From a business aspect, getting in front of as many

people as possible is kind of the point (laughs).”

This is a good attitude to take for an approach to the college market, where many venues will house audiences new to the band. “Doing Warped Tour and some of the bigger festivals really helped me as one of the front men to develop a better ability to win new audiences. In Warped Tour, there are so many people and so many bands playing, you have to like...yell at the mf-ers to come and watch you. It’s like ‘Hey, come over here and listen, I know you are here to see someone else, but check this out for a second.’ My goal is to have people walking away saying ‘Man, I saw 15 bands today and The Dirty Heads was the one that blew my face off. I definitely have that mindset now and it’s really fun and kind of a challenge. I don’t think about it to much or let it bug me, but I do go out and play every show the best we can and want people to leave going ‘Holy shit! That opening band was better than the headliner!’”

The band has some interesting flexibility now that they have hit their stride.

Many artists, in the interest of protecting their artistic integrity, may opt to play only their original material in a show, but The Dirty Heads see the wisdom in pumping a crowd up with old favorites. “We actually do a lot of older shit. Right now we are doing a cover of The Rolling Stones ‘Paint It Black’ and other stuff we really like. It is more about what we want to play more than the hottest new tune the kids want to hear covered, that’s not really our gig.

But, we also do look for songs people know because we realize that when we are playing in front of a new audience, they can automatically connect to a cover song.”

Bob Marley, Led Zeppelin and The Stones are all included, but the choices also have to be carefully vetted. “You have to pick the right songs for your band and vocalists, you don’t want to just go out there and murder a great classic. We try and do a new cover every tour and are very careful about what we pick. We want the widest appeal and something that will turn the

CAMPUS ACTIVITIES MAGAZINE ©, March 2017 • campusactivitiesmagazine.com, 35

was too cool. Tom our exec was very cool about it, I think his kid was into our band and that might have had something to do with it. I don’t know what his reasons were, but we’re grateful.

We were able to get away with the master, get new producers and get it out. Looking back, it was a blessing in disguise, because now we own the album and it’s doing well. It worked out amazingly for us. Even though it held us back for about three years, we got an album recorded and paid for completely by them and then handed to us for nothing. That is not a normal story in this industry.”

And if your campus brings in The Dirty Heads, it won’t be a normal show. This young, hip and high energy band has just the right spice to appeal to your students on their level and will respect the band’s authenticity. With the success of Any Port In A Storm and their huge tours with headline acts, they are sure to be a great draw.

most people on. We definitely aren’t into the human jukebox thing though (laughs). We probably won’t ever play anything that came out in the last 5 or 10 years.” Sorry Lady Ga-Ga fans.

Probably one of the most interesting stories about this band is how their record, Any Port In A Storm came into existence, or rather, how it almost didn’t. “There were definitely a lot of ups and downs and a lot of the kind of cliche´music industry BS you hear about. Me and Duddy first met in high school before we were actually The Dirty Heads and we hung out a lot listening to music. We wrote some songs around 18, but it wasn’t until we were 21 or so that we started doing little acoustic shows and selling them out.

That’s when we realized we could really do this, about six or seven years ago. We put together a band and played the Roxy a few times, selling it out just based on a demo. We got hooked up with a manager and Warner Bros. got ahold of us.”

And the plot thickens. “I would love to have about three albums now, I can’t

wait to get the second one out, but this is why we have been around so long but don’t have a catalog: We got with WB and were the happiest dudes ever thinking ‘Oh my God, we’re on a major label! This will be great!’ Well, the music industry took a big shit right when we were signed and we were a tiny little fish in a huge pond. All of the bigger bands got the attention and Warner Bros. put us on the back burner for about a year. We were kind of stuck and going crazy, we couldn’t get money together to tour and had no record to support. That held us up for a long time.”

Then, something amazing happened.

The band had recorded, mixed and mastered their album. In most situations, this would have been retained by the record company and relegated to some lost and dusty corner never to be heard from again, but the band’s exec at Warner did something remarkable. “They basically said, ‘Okay, we’re not going to be doing anything else with you guys because business is on the skids, we don’t see eye to eye, so we’ll give you the album back. That

BOOK IT! For more information on bringing The Dirty Heads to your campus, contact Jaime Kelsall at APA at (310) 888-4249.

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It’s only been about three years now since we first featured Johnny Cardinale in a story about his teaming up and performing with Melanie Reno, a fellow friend and comic. Its hard to believe that only that short time ago, Melanie and Johnny relied on each other to fill a one-hour college show slot simply because they didn’t have enough material to go it alone. How times have changed. Johnny Cardinale is now a successful and well-known campus comic in his own right and we are excited to bring you this feature story dedicated solely to Johnny and his comedy.

First thing’s first, just because you might see pictures of Johnny on stage, don’t think he’s pegged. Unlike some comic musicians who produce the bulk of their shows with music and parodies, Johnny comes from a real stand-up background. He’s more like a musical comic than a comic musician.

So, roughly half of his college show can be expected to be pure unadulterated stand-up. The other half consists of Johnny’s own unique hybrid blend of music and comedy. He came up originally in clubs, but for our purposes, Johnny will be referencing his college show unless otherwise specified. “I mix music with the comedy and while there are other people out there who do that, I think my take is a little bit different from most comics who use music.”

These differences emerge in a couple of different forms. Firstly, Johnny was a singer before being a comic. And perhaps the finest distinction between Johnny and many others of his ilk is the fact that he stays away from comic parodies and extended musical interludes. “Even though it seems like I am making fun of a lot of bands and singers, I’m actually not,” he says laughing. “I’m poking fun at the music industry but when I am doing impressions of singers in my show, I am really trying to nail the spot on.”

Here Johnny’s background as a trained singer serves its purpose. “I try to sound just like the artists and not even in a funny way; I just really like to see how well I can do it and its fun for the audience. I take the singing portion very seriously when I’m performing, actually.”

So, what Johnny is all about really isn't funny music. It’s seriously good music to listen to- that we can also all poke fun at. “Let’s say I’ll play a part of a Snow Patrol song. I’ll focus really hard on making it sound just right and then I’ll stop and make a joke about the song or maybe the lyrics. I don’t really change the lyrics in songs to try and make them all funny,” he says, Honestly, not to knock anyone’s style (as Weird Al is a master of the universe in his own way), but we’ve all done funny or dirty parodies (sometimes both- more often neither) in our lives, going back to grade school. It’s something much more refined and what Johnny does is something more difficult to do. “I generally play a song straight the way they are meant to be played and then I pause for commentary, so it’s a really observational style I suppose.”

Johnny describes an evolution of his comedy in the last few years that sounds as much like a coming-of-age-story as someone describing the development of his or her talents. However one thing is clear, he has struck upon one of the resounding basic tenets of every star we’ve ever known; be comfortable in your own skin. “I guess I have kind of become myself. I am now pretty close on stage to the person I am off stage, but it has taken me some time to do, that I must say. It is not a natural process, although the hope is that the end-result looks very natural.Johnny says performing at college gigs has given him a unique perspective on connecting with his audiences. “I have noticed (especially at colleges) that a little bit of crowd work and talking to them goes a long way. They all seem to enjoy being talked to and they generally have fun things to say, so it is a lot of fun for the whole show. I have done a lot of college orientation shows where you essentially have rooms full of people who don’t know each other. There is no built in camaraderie and maybe some of them feel a little bit intimidated to laugh out loud. I mean, come on, you don’t want everybody staring at you for laughing when you shouldn’t, right?” he says laughing. “Everybody wants to looks cool. So, bringing the crowd into the show is fun and it is kind of a nice icebreaker at the same time. It makes the show more complete and I find when I do that during the show, students are a lot more willing to come up and talk after the show as well.”

Which is another thing Johnny really enjoys. “They feel like they know you as a person a little bit more when you talk with them during the show, not just at them. It’s really nice when people come up and talk to you after a show because when they don’t, it kind of leaves you wondering why. It’s like ‘Wow, I thought we had a great time tonight but it must not have been too incredible if everyone just packs up and leaves the minute the show’s over.”

38, CAMPUS ACTIVITIES MAGAZINE ©, March 2017 • campusactivitiesmagazine.com

CAMPUS ACTIVITIES MAGAZINE ©, March 2017 • campusactivitiesmagazine.com, 39

So, what Johnny is all about really isn't funny music. It’s seriously good music to listen tothat we can also all poke fun at. “Let’s say I’ll play a part of a Snow Patrol song. I’ll focus really hard on making it sound just right and then I’ll stop and make a joke about the song or maybe the lyrics. I don’t really change the lyrics in songs to try and make them all funny,” he says,

Honestly, not to knock anyone’s style (as Weird Al is a master of the universe in his own way), but we’ve all done funny or dirty parodies (sometimes both- more often neither) in our lives, going back to grade school.

It’s something much more refined and what Johnny does is something more difficult to do. “I generally play a song straight the way they are meant to be played and then I pause for commentary, so it’s a really observational style I suppose.”

Johnny describes an evolution of his comedy in the last few years that sounds as much like a coming-of-agestory as someone describing the development of his or her talents. However one thing is clear, he has struck upon one of the resounding basic tenets of every star we’ve ever known; be comfortable in your own skin. “I guess I have kind of become myself. I am now

pretty close on stage to the person I am off stage, but it has taken me some time to do, that I must say. It is not a natural process, although the hope is that the end-result looks very natural.”

Johnny says performing at college gigs has given him a unique perspective on connecting with his audiences. “I have noticed (especially at colleges) that a little bit of crowd work and talking to them goes a long way. They all seem to enjoy being talked to and they generally have fun things to say, so it is a lot of fun for the whole show. I have done a lot of college orientation shows where you essentially have rooms full of people who don’t know each other. There is no built in camaraderie and maybe some of them feel a little bit intimidated to laugh out loud. I mean, come on, you don’t want everybody staring at you for laughing when you shouldn’t, right?” he says laughing. “Everybody wants to looks cool. So, bringing the crowd into the show is fun and it is kind of a nice icebreaker at the same time. It makes the show more complete and I find when I do that during the show, students are a lot more willing to come up and talk after the show as well.”

Which is another thing Johnny really enjoys. “They feel like they know you as a person a little bit more when you talk with them during the show, not just at them. It’s really nice when people come up and talk to you after a show because when they don’t, it kind of leaves you wondering why. It’s like ‘Wow, I thought we had a great time tonight but it must not have been too incredible if everyone just packs up and leaves the minute the show’s over.”

But, Johnny is enough of a professional in his field to know that the gesture isn’t always personal. “You never know; these students are so busy they could have classes or a job to get to or friends to hang out with. A lot of things are more important to them than chatting with some comic after a show, so I understand. Maybe they’re busy, maybe they are nervous, maybe they just don’t know they can come and say hello. Or, maybe they just didn’t feel that close to me and I need to connect with the audience more the next time.”

Anyone can think back to any of their favorite comics and more than likely one trait is common in all of them; audiences feel like they know and like the actual person, not just the jokes they are telling. “I think I’ve personally heard as far back as Johnny Carson being asked ‘What is the number one thing that makes a great comic?’ and he says the audience has to like the person.

There are a lot of great joke tellers who never go on to greatness because they don’t make that connection. I just feel like if students want to come up and hang out with me after a show, talking music, talking comedy or whatever, I feel like I really did my job that night.”

So, what makes an audience fall in love with a performer? If it were as easy as it is laid out above, everyone would do it, wouldn’t they? Many performers have found out there is a fine line between giving the audience what they want by being yourself and giving the audience what they want by being what you think they want. “For me, I am not setting out thinking ‘okay, what do they want?’ If I can just be free with myself that night, easygoing up there and have fun with the crowd, my mission is accomplished, because that is exactly how I am off

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stage as well.”

Johnny doesn’t set out deliberately to try and suck students in just for the novelty of it, the process is much more organic. “I don’t have a bunch of stock note card questions like ‘What’s your major?’ or “Where are you from?’ I try to just do some talking and if there is someone interesting in the crowd they’ll kind of crop up. Those people are fun, but I don’t set up a huge portion of my show to be crowd-interactive. Once I develop a rapport with the audience, I’ll go back and forth with them a little bit in between my jokes throughout the course of the entire show. It makes every show different and all of them really fun.”

One memorable experience he just recently had was with a pseudo-tough guy in the audience, but all in good fun.

“There was a girl in the audience and just messing around with her I asked if she was single and she says yes.

There was this guy sitting next to her who obviously didn’t know her from Eve and I said to him ‘Hey, why dontcha help her out buddy?’ He just goes “I’ll see what I can do?’

Now, I had just been making fun of my big Italian family, so I said to him [in an authentic-sounding Brooklyn Italian accent] “I’ll see what I can do? What, are you in the mafia? You sound like my uncle Vitto now, get outta here…

“It was funny because I was just kind of riffing until his friends come up to me after the show and were like ‘Dude, you totally nailed him! That’s exactly how he is!” Johnny remembers laughingly.

“He even came up after the show too and was cracking up, so it was great.”

Johnny loves to talk about his big Italian family. It would be hard not to, because they sure seem to give him a lot of material. Heck, even from birth, Johnny skirted with the forces of stereotypic hilarity. “My dad wanted to name me Dominick. Can you imagine? Think about it, Dom Cardinale? That’s got to be Italian for like ‘stool pigeon.’ Come on, I would have been the only kid in fifth grade in a double-breasted suit.”

And don’t forget the red carnation. Unlike the mafia, Johnny stays away from the popular rackets, merch sales. “At some point I probably will and I don’t know why, but I have always been kind of awkward about selling stuff after shows. Some comics have no problem doing it and it can be a wise thing to do, but it seems kind of weird for me to be like ‘Good night everybody… now let’s make a deal!’ I don’t know, it like I have to mentally cross-over; right now I want to say goodnight and leave the stage and have the audience remember me as that person, the guy on stage. Not the guy standing next to the table going ‘Buy my stuff.’”

Johnny’s career started a long time ago when as a child people began making comments on his knack for mimicry.

“From the Beatles to The Eagles I could nail them and people used to comment on it. It was nothing more than a fun thing to do for a long time.”

Not only did Johnny not have aspirations for a career in show business, but he was also on track for a straight-laced career in the corporate world. “I was an accounting major in college; I just wanted to get a decent job and get out in the real world.” A chance occurrence would lead him down an entirely different path. “When I was a junior, I just happened to see a comedian on television and it hooked me.”

Despite this seemingly surprise passion, his talents run a little deeper. “I think I come from a funny family and at functions, you better be ready to give and take, you know what I mean?” he says laughing. “Everybody busts your chops because it’s a big wise-ass Italian family so I grew up learning to think on my feet.”

Cut back to college and Johnny’s broadcast comedic experience. “I saw a comedian on this TV show and I don’t remember who he was, but I remember thinking that he was not that funny at all. It was some late night show and I had never even thought about comedy before then. I would sing for myself because I enjoyed it but I wasn’t in a band or anything. After I saw this show, I couldn’t stop thinking about it for like two weeks and finally I

said ‘You know what, I have got to give this a shot.’”

Johnny called up a friend that was going to UCLA at the time who happened to be moving into Los Angeles, a locale Johnny rarely visited despite living only about two hours from the metropolis. “He just happened to be moving out at the time I called and just happened to have a room in his apartment available too. It was like all of these things were happening for a reason; it was like I was supposed to move out there. So, I told my dad I was dropping out of college (and I was a really good student too who was taking school really seriously) and he was totally shocked. He told me I had to do what I had to do, so I dropped everything, moved to L.A. and started waiting tables.”

It wasn’t too long after Johnny had been taking improv and sketch classes (genres Johnny thought he would be more likely to occupy than stand-up) that he landed in coffeehouse dates playing songs solo. “Literally about a year and a half after I started doing those coffeehouses I was on tour opening for Pauley Shore, which I couldn’t even believe. I settled in and got my act going, stopped hiding behind the guitar and started using it to augment my comedy and really got into a comfort zone. It has now come to a complete act and it’s a lot of fun and I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

BOOK IT! For more information on bringing Johnny Cardinale to feature at your campus’ next comedy night, contact The College Agency at (952) 897-1001.

IF YOU BOOK THIS ACT, Don’t Forget To Report Your Results At campusactivitiesmagazine.com Just Click On The Report Card Icon to be taken to the Artist Report For Your Show.

WE WILL SHARE YOUR COMMENTS.

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Ben Bailey is a performer millions of people are familiar with through his hosting of Discovery Channel’s “Cash Cab,” but surprisingly most people don’t realize what a talented standup comic he is.

driver, which on later reflection was a great primer for his “Cash Cab” role.

Ben has been performing professionally for over ten years now, sort of falling into it by happenstance. “I moved to Los Angeles from New York to become a movie star,” he laughs.

“It wasn’t immediately working out and I had a series of odd jobs in the interim.” One of these sundry occupations was as a limo

Ben put in tons of hard work before he really got somewhere, landing the “Cash Cab” gig and becoming a national name. “It really has been amazing,” he says. “Despite not being an entirely creatively flexible scenario like standup, it has provided me a great opportunity to raise my profile and meet some incredible people. I’ve learned a lot too.”

He just recorded a one-hour special for Comedy Central, which will air this spring. “I think that will go a long way toward bringing my comedy to the forefront. I love doing ‘Cash Cab’ and it’s fun to be recognized for it, but I would like to get back to my roots and be known as a comic.”

The occupation that would eventually land him on stage however wasn’t much more illustrious. “I got hired to answer the phones at a comedy club and just happened to be hanging out backstage with a few comics one night. I was telling a story or something and had all of them in stitches when the club owner came up and asked me how long I had been doing comedy. ‘I just started!’ I said. He began putting me up on stage and I started to develop an act from there.”

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He put in tons of hard work before he really got somewhere, landing the “Cash Cab” gig and becoming a national name. “It really has been amazing,” he says. “Despite not being an entirely creatively flexible scenario like standup, it has provided me a great opportunity to raise my profile and meet some incredible people. I’ve learned a lot too.”

The premise of “Cash Cab” is that the host, Ben the cabbie, drives around New York City (just like any other cabbie) trolling for fairs. When someone is lucky enough to hail the “Cash Cab” they get to play a trivia style game show on the way to their destination.

Some of the questions are easy, some are hard, but Ben has picked up on a ton of random info in the process to be sure. “I am amazed every time at the things some people know, as well as the things some people don’t. I try not to be biased against people who don’t know the seemingly obvious questions, I have learned a lot myself. I study all the answers before the show because I obviously can’t read from a card while I’m driving the cab, so the question for me is one of retention, not outright ignorance. (laughs).”

Something must have leaked into his memory banks and if there really were a Celebrity Jeopardy, it seems Ben would have a shot. “I was watching ‘Jeopardy’ for the first time in several years the other day. I used to feel pretty dumb when I watched it, but the other night I answered 15 questions correctly in a row, so maybe there’s something there. The funny thing is, I’m actually friends with Alex Trebec now,” he jokes.

Joke or not, Ben is rightfully rubbing elbows with some of the other great TV hosts and he has the Emmys to prove it. “It’s still kind of a surreal shock. I don’t know if I’ll be announced as “Emmy Award winning Ben Bailey” before every comedy show (laughs), but it is a feather in my cap and I’m sure it will open doors.” Being nominated in 2008 and 2009 as well, Ben was clearly excited to receive the nod this year for “Outstanding Game Show Host” in the Daytime Emmys, solidifying his position

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as one of television’s top hosts.

Ben’s ability to read audiences and cater to their differing demographics is what makes him such a great choice for campuses, as evidenced by his long track record of college dates. Even in the comedy clubs, Ben has a fairly clean show, but his ability to clean things up to satisfy even a G-rating make him an obvious choice for a family audience. “My take on comedy isn’t really a dirty one. I sometimes swear superfluously for comedy club crowds because they want to hear it. Surprisingly some college audiences are the same.

“One of the most appealing aspects of the college market in my mind is the variety of shows I play within it. Sometimes, I get requests to be as dirty as possible for tough and rowdy audiences.Sometimes I get requests to keep the show as clean as possible for more conservative venues. It doesn’t really affect the show that much one way or the other. Everyone still has a good time, but it keeps things interesting for me.”

It’s hard to be a comic and not offend some people at least some of the time, that’s kind of what the whole business is about. Now, while most comics don’t intend to offend, bringing awkward subjects to light and having the maturity and insight to laugh at them with good nature is a way for our society to deal with delicate issues that have few other means of coming out.

For example, one of Ben’s routines you can find on YouTube has a bit about a lazy eye. The routine is funny and not in bad taste, but would he hold it back in a room full of people who had lazy eyes? “I don’t think so,” he says. “Because they are the people who would probably appreciate the joke the most.

I once did a show where the entire audience was either physically or mentally disabled. Now, there were a few comics performing there that night, but none of us were told anything about the gig or audience before hand. So, by the time everyone saw what was going on, they were all kind of nervous and afraid of the elephant in the room. I

was the last act and not one person made one mention about the special nature of this audience. I thought that was silly. These people may be different in one way or another, but they don’t want to be patronized either. Addressing their situation with good humor is a way to let them know their problem is being addressed and related to. It doesn’t show them any respect to simply act like everything is completely normal. They have to deal with a different set of challenges than other people do, and I think shedding some light on that is appreciated. The same theory goes for my lazy eye routine.”

Ben walked on stage in that particular show and commented “Boy, I’d really feel bad if this audience walked out on me!” The room absolutely exploded.

“That turned into an incredible show.

Everyone in that room was with me and had a great time. I think they respected the fact that I recognized them for who they were. I didn’t talk down to them, but I also didn’t act like I was completely oblivious to their situations either.”

Ben’s humor is widely acceptable because his wit is intelligent and insightful. He’s not the kind of guy that sits down to write something funny. The ideas come more organically driven by real-world experiences that Ben sifts through his quirky filter. “I am just struck by ideas at random times and have to get them down whenever I can.

I don’t constantly write new material, it just sort of comes when it comes.”

Having just recorded his one-hour special for Comedy Central, Ben now faces the proposition of having to build a new set. “Once you use something for TV, it’s pretty much done as far as usable material goes. Sure, you still use the audience favorites in a set on campus, but you have to keep things fresh as well. Comedy club audiences especially don’t want to see you go word for word through a routine they’ve already seen on television.”

Ben’s new special will be released on DVD as well, so if you host one of his shows, the members of the audience who want to stick around and meet Ben will have the chance to get them signed.

“The past few nights, I have been dealing with some back pain, so I haven’t been up to staying after the shows, but on every other occasion I almost always stay until the last person leaves. I really like to meet the fans, and I understand it’s a very unique and special feeling for them to meet someone they’ve seen on TV. I know I’m no Jay Leno, but I can see the light in the eyes of the folks who really enjoy meeting face to face and, it feels good for me to do my best to leave a lasting impression.”

Some of you may have the chance to bump into Ben this year in St. Louis, where he will be meeting folks in the booth of Kirkland Productions at NACA’s national convention.

Ben is an interesting guy with many things to talk about. He’s a somewhat imposing figure at six and a half feet tall and as an ironman competitor, stays in excellent shape. He’s also a guitarist, one relaxation technique he does use to help spring forth new ideas. “I like to play guitar and sometimes it does help me relax and clear my mind. Usually clearing the mental clutter is all it takes to see something as funny.”

Keep an eye on Comedy Central in the spring for Ben’s special, and tune in to the Discovery Channel for new episodes of “Cash Cab.” It’s a fun show to watch and has left Ben with some memorable experiences. “I have had all kinds of people in the cab and yes, most of them ask me if I am a real cabbie. I studied the book, took the test and am a licensed cab operator, thank you.”

Sometimes, Ben gets the “Cash Cab” fanatics. “I have had people tell me they knew the show was filming in a particular city at a certain time and they literally would roam the street for hours hailing every mini-van style cab they could find looking for me. I would imagine there are many bona fide cabbies out there who would’ve cursed me on those nights (laughs).”

Ben is a very personable guy and a true pro. He’s been at the comedy game a long time, much of which has

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WHY SHOULD YOU

COME TO AEP?

We have all heard the good and bad about Vegas.

But It IS THE ENTERTAINMENT CAPITAL of this country. And believe it or not, you can get in and out here cheaper and faster than any other conference.

College Conference or Massive Entertainment Conference.

But that is not the only reason! South Point is a Family Friendly Hotel that has it’s own Rodeo Arena and has been the home to Comic-Con. You will often see younger people here and it is not for gambling. There is a huge 64-lane bowling alley here as well as a multiplex that plays the blockbuster movies. But that is just part of the draw. The rooms are very affordable and we have negotiated a very good rate for this upcoming conference. Now, Saturday and Sunday Rates are higher but you also get a discount with the AEP rate should you come those days. The showcases are in the showroom, which by the way is State-of-the-art.

There is plenty of parking if you are traveling by car or van and if you are flying, the South Point Shuttle makes regular stops to and from the airport and travel on the shuttle is free.

Because the association feels that campus buyers are the next generation of entertainment producers,the rate for campuses next year is less than half (46%) of the going member rate and no membership is required to “come kick the tires”.

Ben walked on stage in that particular show and commented “Boy, I’d really feel bad if this audience walked out on me!” The room absolutely exploded. “That turned into an incredible show. Everyone in that room was with me and had a great time. I think they respected the fact that I recognized them for who they were. I didn’t talk down to them, but I also didn’t act like I was completely oblivious to their situations either.” been spent performing for and entertaining students just like yours. Consider bringing him in for the show you want your students to remember.

BOOK IT! For information on bringing Ben Bailey to your campus, contact KP Comedy at 866-769-9037.

For virtual links, including video of

Ben’s comedy, check out this story in the online 3D edition of this article on our website at www.campusactivitiesmagazine.com

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So what makes AEP different for NACA or APCA? Where else can you hang out with producers who are responsible for millions of dollars of entertainment worldwide? Certainly not at the aforementioned conferences. Plus AEP does not drag out the conference to be able to charge you more. It doesn’t last a week or ten days but you are in and out in only 2 1/2 days. Real Entertainment people are busy, so we have learned to respect their time because it is very valuable. Your conference registration- even at a drastically reduced rate, includes all meals, the ed sessions with true entertainment professionals and they are interactive, so you can ask questions and expect responses. These sessions deal with how to program to millennials, what to do when you get a rider that looks like a book, how to tag on to other touring shows, what you can probably scratch and lower your costs, plus at any time you can request a call for a show, talent or backline to be distributed to the AEP membership and almost every time, someone is going to have a real good option for what

you need.

I may have put in my time with NACA (11 years), but this is not NACA, but working with the big boys. You can talk with other agents and buyers about your needs and almost every time they will give you a clue to how from their experience, to deal with your situation.

Believe it or not, Big Producers from every sector of the entertainment industry are open to working with college buyers because the college market is a breeding ground for big buyers and producers and your best chance of being offered an internship that will result in a high paying job.

So what is another benefit? You get to see and experience acts you will never see at a college conference.

Acts Like Savannah Jack, Kevin Viner, The Boy Band Night, Jackie Boyz and December ‘63 showcased last year and were truly stellar.

But AEP is quickly attracting colleges and college agents and acts. Sophie K’s John Cassidy ended up with a Disney contract the first time he showcased. And Disney is a great reference no matter what. Wacky Chad from GP Entertainment had a great showcase last year and in 2014, Rob Jockel with Cutting Edge ended up with the Fastest Rising Star, Lindsay Benner.

This past year Kate Magill won the Fastest Rising Stars with Marcus & Guy and the benefit of that honor is connecting with some major producers for tutoring and a free showcase the following year.

and we are offering the best discounts ever for you to get involved with a professional organization that will offer you the best entertainment choices for the money you have to invest. You will also meet some of the best agents and buyers in the industry and a relationship with them will help you not only with your campus activities board but give you options after graduation to become part of an industry that is growing rapidly all iver the world.

Current College Members, Agents, Sponsors or Board Representatives are: Kate Magill, Sophie K Entertainment Rob Jockel, Cutting Edge Entertainment Rich at GP Entertainment Craig Karges at Karges Productions Tom Fassel at The University of Akron Rick Stowe at EastCoast Entertainment Lee Mayer, Houla Entertainment

While there is an exhibit area in the Educational Session Room, most real contacts are generated by a free Meet & Greet in the showcase room right after each showcase while the experience is still fresh in the buyer’s mind. And the cost: ZERO

And if you want to talk about food, The catering at this event is top notch, there is no reason for you to go hungry. Complimentary drink tickets are offered to those over 21, but for students with a under 21 wrist band, you can sample any soft drink.

There is a Late Night Jam the last day after the final showcase on the Casino Floor in The Grand View Lounge Area, and anyone can get on stage and perform: artist, agent, student or director. The Late Nite Jam has been managed by Lee Mayer with Houla Entertainment.

When students sign up for the conference, you will have to have ID to determine your birth date. This will generate the type of wristband you will be assigned.

This will help deter accidental alcohol use and your advisor will be notified which students get which wristbands.

Your safety is important to the AEP staff and board.

Conference Dates for 2018 will be announced soon

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