“The industry is out there in (Los Angeles), there’s no two ways about it. I really don’t have a choice. I either go out there or I can stay here and live atop a paint store on the South Side forever.” — Steve Seagren, Nov. 1, 1991
`I never did, I chickened out,” Steve Seagren says about moving to Los Angeles to take his career to the next level several years ago. He opted to remain in Chicago, which he admits is “a big security blanket” for him when it comes to the steady work it provides.
But Seagren, a comedian for 15 years, has made a move that will result in his making The Move: He’s signed on with Messina/Baker Entertainment, management for Tim Allen, Drew Carey, Janeane Garofalo and other big comedy stars.
“It’s the best thing that’s happened to me in a long time,” says Seagren, 43, adding that now “I’d be stupid not to” relocate to the City of Angels.
Seagren, who’s had his standup comedy showcased on MTV, A&E, Comedy Central and Showtime, has hitched his star to one of the most influential managers in comedy, a person who has the knowledge and clout to help him take his stature in show business to that elusive “next level” of television and movies.
“(Manager) Rick Messina’s got a lot of power out there, and he can do a lot for me,” says Seagren, who is packing up his stuff and heading west in June, where the “first thing I’m gonna do is get a place, and then I’m probably going to be broke for about three or four months.”
Messina, who has worked with Seagren over the years (he booked the comic to open for Allen), became reacquainted with him at a showcase at Zanies last fall and told Seagren to give him a call if he was ever in Los Angeles. Seagren did that when he was out there a few weeks ago, and the two talked.
“He’s always had the qualities that I look for in a client,” Messina says. “He’s always exhibited charisma and wit and intelligence. And he’s a strong performer who can make a lot out of very little. And I’ve been a fan of his over the years.”
When Seagren gets to Los Angeles, Messina says, the comedian will get help with the “presentation” of his career via photos, resumes and introductions to the industry. Soon afterwards, Seagren will begin working the showcases, getting his face out for movers and shakers to take notice, working comedy festivals, going to auditions and the like.
“We’ll be putting him on stages around town, introducing the industry to him a little at a time,” says Messina, who has been managing acts for 11 years. “At the same time, trying to steer his standup and the presentation of the standup in the right direction, in order to either shake loose a deal for him and about him, or to make him an appealing character for someone else’s project.”
Seagren has goals for what he would like to do with his career. He jokes that those goals will result in his referring to himself as an unemployed actor. “For some reason that seems to have more snob appeal,” he laughs before talking about the character actor-type parts he would like to get in the future.
“I always look at these guys, like you see them on sitcoms or in films,” Seagren explains. “You never know what their names are. It’s always, `Hey, there’s that guy.’ Like some character guy, like maybe a bartender. . . . It seems to be like whoever plays that guy is always working. And I would like that, to work all the time.”
Messina seems to think that’s an attainable goal, saying that, while becoming the next Drew Carey is not “an exact science,” that he is confident he can make a national audience aware of the comic “within a handful of years.”
And although Seagren admits he’ll miss Chicago, this is an opportunity he simply can’t afford to miss: “Hopefully something will come out of it. But so far right now, I’m glad because I’ve got the opportunity. I can go to L.A. and I’ve got somebody backing me, instead of just going there and sleeping in my car and standing in line with everybody else.”
Steve Seagren appears Friday and Saturday at the Funny Bone, 1504 Naper Blvd. in Naperville’s Tower Crossing Shopping Center; call 630-955-0500; he is also the regular Monday night talent for Las Vegas music and comedy entertainment night at the Copa, 601 Mall Drive in Schaumburg; call 847-969-1602.
The standup lineup
Here’s who’s working various comedy outlets. Current sets are scheduled to run through Sunday; new acts begin on Wednesday unless otherwise noted. Lineups are subject to change.
– Second City’s 83rd revue, which was delayed due to featured performer Scott Adsit’s departure to write and perform in a television series for Barry Levinson (“Wag the Dog,” TV’s “Homicide”) and Robert Morton (“Late Night with David Letterman”), is finally here. “Promise Keepers, Losers Weepers” opens Thursday at 1616 N. Wells St. For tickets, call 312-337-3992.
– Arnez J., a morning cutup on “Crazy” Howard McGee’s WGCI-FM radio program, is the headliner for a comedy show that also features Melanie Comarcho, Mike Epps, T. Rexx, Akintunde and Tony Sculfield. The “I’d Rather Laugh Than Die Tour” is Wednesday at the Regal Theatre, 1665 E. 79th St.; call Ticketmaster at 312-559-1212.
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– Lenny Schmidt, a standup who also worked the local improv scene at the Improv-
Olympic, is the star Friday through Sunday at the Barrel of Laughs, 10345 S. Central Ave., Oak Lawn (708-499-2969).
Yuks on the tube
– The British are coming! The British comedians are coming to Comedy Central on Friday, as an evening of the English-made sitcom “Fawlty Towers,” a taped performance by Rowan Atkinson (“Mr. Bean”) and the classic “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” are scheduled. Check local listings for times.
– HBO’s ” ‘Round Midnight” comedy package starts at 10:30 p.m. Friday with “Dennis Miller Live,” with talk show host Rosie O’Donnell as the scheduled guest. At 11 p.m. on “Comedy Half-Hour” is Harland Williams, the star of recent movies “Rocketman” and “Half Baked” who is capable of delivering an edgy and funny stage performance.