arts & enter
A Standup Kinda Guy
Comedian Sandy Danto returns home for gigs at the Magic Bag.
Suzanne Chessler
Contributing Writer
S
andy Danto's mom, Robin,
thought he would grow up to be
an attorney. While she recalls
Sandy as the class clown, she also remem-
bers his dramatic reactions to experiences,
thinking that would have made him a
good litigator.
As it turns out, the clown came to domi-
nate, and Danto chose to pursue a career
as a standup comedian. Now based in Los
Angeles, he is returning to the area with
two performances at the Magic Bag in
Ferndale.
Danto appears at 7 and 10 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 25, when he will follow the
routines of Matt McClowry and Zach Stein
and look out at an audience filled with
friends of his parents and other family
members.
"All four of our kids will be in town,
and their friends will be in the audience,"
says Robin Danto, who teaches cooking at
Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, where
her stage-minded son studied for his bar
mitzvah.
Sandy Danto, whose dad is podiatrist
Jeffrey Danto, brings his personal life into
the routine but gives it a comic twist.
"My act has a lot of personal stories,
characters and impressions along with
some absurd, wacky and abstract stuff-7
says Danto, 28, in a phone conversation
from his California home.
"It's been a tough couple of years, per-
sonally and financially, and it's all caused
a lot of misadventures in my life. I've had
to make some sacrifices and decisions that
I don't think I would have had to make if I
wasn't under duress.
"They're the kind of things I'm not nec-
essarily proud of, but I think I can turn
those things around and make myself and
other people feel better about being in
tough spots by making light of it all."
In Danto's efforts to build a successful
entertainment career, there have been long
segments of what he calls "couch crash-
ing," and he talks about that in his routine.
He also jokingly describes the seedier jobs,
such as directing pornography, taken to
support himself.
"I definitely bring Jewish humor into
my act," says Danto, who grew up in West
Bloomfield and graduated from West
Bloomfield High School. "I have some
jokes on the topic, and I think my style
and sensibility are from a Jewish back-
ground:'
While Danto always wanted to be a
comedian, it took him some time to build
the confidence. That happened while he
was attending Indiana University.
"At college, everybody called me [come-
dian John] Belushi," recalls Danto, who
is single. "I couldn't stick with a major,
and I realized I never had trouble making
people laugh. I could see myself enjoying
that [role] in 30 or 40 years.
"I started doing sketch comedy at
Indiana University, and I took classes at
Second City in Detroit. After moving to
Los Angeles in 2006, I started working on
my standup.
"I got a job at National Lampoon doing
sketches for the Internet and then started
working with Pauly Shore, who got me a
job at the Comedy Store, which is owned
by his mom. When he started taking me
on the road with him to open his shows, I
realized standup was my thing."
For a time, Danto co-wrote and co-pro-
duced episodes of Chutzpah for Jewish Life
Television (JLTV). He developed sketches
expressing his comedic take on Jewish
themes.
Danto, who worked at the Magic Bag
last Thanksgiving, will be heading for New
York after his local appearances. He wants
to experience reactions to his humor at
small clubs in the big city.
Sandy Danto: "Because I'm from
Michigan, I'll be injecting some local
color."
"I like to change my act for each indi-
vidual place I go," says the comedian, who
enjoys running, playing basketball and
doing yoga when not couch-crashing.
"Because I'm from Michigan, I'll be
injecting some local color when I'm back
performing. I recently worked on some
new material, and I'm excited to preview it
where I have friends and family.
"I've done improv with folks from [LAs]
Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, but I've
mainly focused on standup comedy and
some acting and writing. I'm trying to
transition from being Pauly Shore's open-
ing act to being my own entity as a head-
linee
❑
Sandy Danto performs 7 and 10 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 25, at the Magic Bag,
22920 Woodward, Ferndale. $10.
(248) 544-3030; www.themagicbag.
COM.
On The Scene
Capturing live music through art.
Suzanne Chessler
Contributing Writer
S
teven Gamburd knows metro
stages and performers.
A drummer who communicates
through his music, Gamburd has communi-
cated the expressiveness of other entertain-
ers through his artwork.
Those images will be shown in a two-per-
son exhibit, "Art on the Scene: Illustrations
and Paintings by Angel Busque and Steven
Gamburd" running through Sept. 27 at the
Woods Gallery in the Huntington Woods
Public Library.
"Angel and I had been visiting open mic
nights, comedy showcases and concerts
individually to capture musicians with our
renderings," says Gamburd, 37, a single Oak
Parker.
"After I posted some of my sketches, she
suggested that we do a show together. Her
work grabbed my attention because of her
raw, natural style and color composition."
Some 100 images, including paintings
and black ink sketches, will fill the gallery
38
August 23 • 2012
space in stages until they are all present for
the reception on Thursday evening, Aug. 30,
when there will be musical entertainment by
Ian Pinchback and Jeff Jablonski.
Complementing the new work will be con-
cert posters and pieces with music themes
not directly related to the open mic concept.
"I like the newer pieces in this show
because they capture the moment and
almost seem alive," says Gamburd, who
will be donating proceeds from sales to the
Lupus Foundation of America in honor of
Busque, who lost her battle with the disease
earlier this year.
Gamburd, who also does house painting
and landscaping, became interested in art
at about the time he started school. Comic-
book illustrations caught his eye, and he
used that style as the starting point for his
sketching.
"When I began getting closer to college, I
got into watercolors," recalls Gamburd, who
took classes at Michigan State University
and Lansing Community College before
earning an associate's degree at Oakland
Community College.
The Woods
exhibit does not
represent the
array of artistry
that Gamburd
completes.
Besides doing
commissions
and home
murals, he takes
on individual
projects that he
Gamburd's black-ink sketches of local musicians
sells at summer
Ian Pinchback and Jeff Jablonski
art fairs.
His work will be seen Aug. 24-26 at
"Art on the Scene" runs
Dragon on the Lake in downtown Lake
through Sept. 27 at the
Orion and Sept. 22 at the Hazel Park Art
Woods Gallery, 26415 Scotia,
Fair at Green Acres Park.
Huntington Woods. Summer
"Some of the best times I've had in
hours:10 a.m.- 9 p.m. Mondays-
the area have been going to places where
Thursdays and 10 a.m.-5
people are performing at open mics," says
p.m. Fridays. There will be
Gamburd, who had his bar mitzvah at
a reception with musical
Congregation Beth Shalom and attends reli-
entertainment 6:30-8:30 p.m.
gious events at the Woodward Avenue Shul
Thursday, Aug. 30. (248) 581-
in Royal Oak. "Everyone looks so different
2696; www.woodsgallery.org .
while performing."
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