Longtime “Saturday Night Live” fans may recall former cast member Jim Breuer best as the character Goat Boy.
The New York-born comedian, whose tenure on the long-running NBC late-night program was almost 20 years ago, remains a name more recognizable than the Brad Halls, Victoria Jacksons or Paul Brittains.
Breuer is far from a pigeonholed role still portraying a short-lived sketch character on a show that probably should have been canceled a decade earlier. Radio host, film and television star, stand-up comedian, podcast host, author and heavy metal aficionado are all part of what makes up Jim Breuer, who will perform Saturday evening at the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College.
Comedy always was the one sure thing in Breuer’s life.
“Since I was a kid, I had a huge infatuation with comedy and comedy on TV,” he said from his New Jersey home. “I was a little boy, watching Sonny and Cher and laughing. I loved Laurel and Hardy, and Abbott and Costello. Then I got into Steve Martin. That was my first comedy record. I never really looked back, and by the time I was in high school, I was in stand-up. It was something I wanted to do pretty much my whole life.”
Breuer’s stand-up show, while billed as “clean comedy,” doesn’t necessarily mean kid-friendly. A lecture about the history of jazz music in America may also be clean, but that doesn’t mean a kid is going to be thrilled with sitting through an oral history of the life and times of Gerry Mulligan. The same can be said about Breuer’s show as he rolls through bits about raising kids and life on the road.
“People who don’t know me only know ‘Half Baked’ or maybe ‘SNL’ from back in the ’90s,” he said. “But basically, stand-up-wise, if you want to categorize me, it’s Bill Cosby with a leather jacket. I don’t get dark and dirty and filthy. I like that, I’m a fan of it, but I don’t do it.
“I wouldn’t bring a kid to the show. Kids are going to be bored with me talking about being married, or my elderly parents, or some other subject that I go off on. But ‘family-friendly’ sounds soft. It’s hard-core, rocking, raw stand-up. But there’s no cursing.”
Breuer doesn’t have to dig too deep to gather material for his act. In his radio programs and in his personal life he’s managed to ban any type of outlet that inundates his life with news and pop culture. It’s a personal stance against the wave of information Americans are hit with at every turn, from the second you get up to the second you go to sleep. His material is provided by the wealth of comedy and sometimes drama you’re hit with simply by being a married, middle-aged dad.
“Having three daughters and being married for 20 years and having elderly parents – I don’t need to go out of that circle,” Breuer said. “I’m set for life with material. It never ends.”
Liggett_b@fortlewis.edu. Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and KDUR station manager.
Bryant’s Best
Saturday: Comedy with Jim Breuer, 7:30 p.m., $17/$19/$32. Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College, 247-7657.
Saturday: DJs Matteo, Myster E and Niko play for KDUR’s Transvestite Ball, 9 p.m., $15/$20., Animas City Theatre, 128 E. College Drive, 247-7261.
