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Mike Young, front and center, directs on set.

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First Film Release

Rochester Chop House

Southfield native Mike Young's career
spans standup to the silver screen.

I

Suzanne Chessler
Contributing Writer

M

ike Young has expanded
his reach from comedy
clubs and TV shows to full-
fledged feature-film production, but
he won't be seen in front of the camera
for his first release.
He wrote and directed My Man Is a
Loser, starring John Stamos, Michael
Rapaport and Bryan Callen. It opens
in AMC theaters on July 25 and comes
out On Demand the same day.
"It's the story of two married men
out of touch with their wives," explains
Young, 46 and single. "They don't
listen. They don't cuddle. They're not
spontaneous.
"To get their groove back, they
employ their single and cool best
friend, played by Stamos, who helps
them reconnect with their wives.
Comedy ensues:"
The film, shot in New York, feels
like a natural progression to Young,
who grew up in Southfield.
"If you look at a lot of comedians,
like Woody Allen and Barry Levinson,
their desire to tell a story — whether
on stage or on the page or on the
screen — is the same," Young says.
"I had a lot of stories I wanted to
tell and get out to the masses. I always
had a love for writing and worked on
Entourage for HBO and a couple of
TV shows in development. I wrote a
movie called Grounded that was shot
in Detroit and will come out after this
movie:'
Young says his comedic outlook
was first seen at Southfield's Leonard
Elementary School, where he was the
funny kid in class. The laughter and
reaction from classmates did not sit
well with teachers.
"I fell in love with the material used
by Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy and
George Carlin while I was growing
up and wanted to be a comedian," he

recalls.
"I moved to Los Angeles after col-
lege, and started waiting in line as an
open miker, the way all standups do.
Three minutes on stage went to six
minutes and later 15 minutes, and I
got on a few talk shows.
"All the while I was doing standup, I
was writing TV shows and movies. In
my spare time, I would pitch TV ideas.
I still do standup and will never quit:'
Young attended Southfield-Lathrup
High School and the University of
Arizona, where he was a TV and film
major. Although bar mitzvah studies
began at Temple Israel, his comedy
moved him out of class and into stud-
ies with a private tutor.
"My comedy is edgy realism," he
says. "I talk about real-life subject
matter, family and friends. I put
myself in the middle of a situation and
think it's not only personal but also
relatable:'
Young, scheduled for a September
run at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas,
is prepping for another movie in New
York. It's about a criminal who goes
into witness protection and starts
doing standup, becoming popular at
the worst time for his own safety.
"The lead character in My Man
Is a Loser is a Jewish guy played by
Rapaport, but there are no real Jewish
references in the production," says
Young, who lives in Los Angeles but
frequently visits Michigan. "We've got
a couple of Jewish jokes.
"I did not want to play up any reli-
gion. I wanted it to be relatable to
everybody — real people with real
problems. It is not about a Jewish man.
He just happens to be Jewish with the
same problems other men have:'

❑

My Man Is a Loser is scheduled
to open in AMC theaters on
Friday, July 25, and comes out
On Demand the same day.

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306 S. Main Street
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(248) 651-2266

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a.,

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JN14

July 24 • 2014

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