ARTS The Michigan Daily Friday, April 11, 1986 Page 5 Comedy Jam returns to Ann Arbor By Alan Paul T he Comedy Jam returns. After 5 years of annual Detroit Comedy Jams, a hit HBO special, and two Ann Arbor sellouts in the fall, the Ann Ar- bor Comedy Jam is back in town tonight. The show will be hosted by Bir- mingham native Mike Binder, who created and produced both the original Detroit shows and last summer's mer's HBO special. At 27, Binder is considered somewhat of a wun- derkind among show biz types. After high school, Binder enrolled at Oakland Community College but found that the scholastic life wasn't for him. "I went to OCC for two days," Bin- der said. "One of these days I do plan on going back to finish the week." So in 1976, at the age of 18, Binder neaded off for Hollywood to make a name for himself. Though Binder has been in California for ten years, he has hardly forgotten his hometown. In 1981, the first Detroit Comedy Jam was held and the project started rolling. A few of years later, he raised $200,000 from Detroit area investors for the Comedy Jam film project. However, Binder ran into heavy skep- ticism on the west coast as almost all the behind-the-scenes people were Detroiters. "Everyone said, 'Fine, you raised the money. Now why don't you get this (Hollywood) guy to direct it?' " Binder recently recalled. The young comic shopped the film around Hollywood with no intial suc- cess. However, George Carlin then saw the show and urged HBO to make the purchase. They did, and the show aired last summer to favorable ratings and reviews. Another HBO show is being planned. Dave Coulier, a star of the Comedy Jam special and his own cable series Out of Control will also be featured tonight. Coulier, a St. Clair Shores native with movie-star looks specializes in warped childhood memories of mom and dad and possesses a subdued stage persona. Also on the bill are Joe Nipole, Tony Hayes, and Detroit soul band Domino. Nipote, a Southfield native who has appeared on TV's Happy Days, his own cable comedy specials, and is now the WRIF morning show comic host, has a much different style than Coulier. "He's a clown, real upbeat and kin- da wild. A Howie Mandel type," ac- cording to Binder. Hayes is a Detroit comic discovered by Binder at a local comedy club. "He's like a young Bill Cosby. He's got great ability to be warm and ob- servational, yet still do cutting black humor," Binder said. Though previous comedy jams have featured people such as Rich Hall of Saturday Night Live, Howie Man- del of St. Elsewhere, and Paul Rodriguez of Norman Lear's A.K.A Pablo, this edition does not boast any big name talent. "We wanted to do something dif- ferent,'' stated Binder. "We're trying to establish the Jam itself, to show that it's funny without needing national talent." "I could have gotten anyone with the right money," Binder said. "But big stars tend to overshadow the Jam. "We wanted to get away from the Rich Hall show or the Howie Mandel show and make the Jam in itself a star. People should think that it's always good, always funny, but never the same." So, as Binder et.al. try to establish their niche in the world of comedy, why should you come out to see the show? As the Comedy Jam motto says, "Because life is good." The Ann Arbor Comedy Jam, "'The Sequel, " is tonight at the Michigan Theatre. There are two shows, at 7:30 and 10:30, and reserved seats are $10.50. Comedian Mike Binder hosts tonight's Comedy Jam at the Michigan Theatre. 1. Glee Club sings at Hill By Nolan Feintuch ON SATURDAY, at 8 p.m., the University of Michigan Men's Glee Club is going to take to the stage at Hill Auditorium and perform their 12th Annual Spring Concert. The second oldest glee club in America, it is highly respected among men's choirs. Director Dr. Patrick Gardner has led these gifted young men around the world to show off their talent and en- hance the image of the University of Michigan. During the summer of 1985, he took the club on a tour which in- cluded stops in Greece, Italy, Austria, Yugoslavia, West Germany, France and Great Britain. According to Michael Osborne, Publicity Director, "The club was highly received and performed well, especially in France, Austria and Germany. We were so well received that we are contem- platipg another tour of Austria and Gerrmany." This Saturday, listeners will be in for a treat as the ensemble performs works of Debussy, Earnest, and the late great Duke Ellington, as well as a rousing selection of spirituals. In ad- dition, not only will those ever- popular Michigan songs will be per- formed, but the Friars will also ap- pear to perform in their light-hearted and spontaneous style. "I have been practicing all week for this concert and I am real excited. The song selection is great and we will perform them with a lot of energy," said club member Eric Robinson. Take it from him and do not miss this performance. Tickets are on sale for this musical tradition at the Hill Auditorium Box Office. It is open on April 7-11 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and April 12 from 8 a.m. to 8 p. m. The prices for tickets are $6, $5, $4, and $2 for students. New Talent: The University Department of Dance will present its Young Choreographers Concert tonight and Saturday at 8 p.m. The concert offers new dance pieces by the department's gifted students. Admission is $3.00. Campus mags house student writing By Per Hoffman y ou are walking through the fish- bowl and notice two lonely, ignored individuals yelling at studen- ts. They are selling something and your conditioned response, the result of countless solicitations, is to block them from your minds. As you ap- proach, their pitch grows louder and you hear they are selling a magazine - a collection of student writing. You think "Oh, just another one..." though you haven't read any of them, What you didn't buy could have been Barbaric Yawp, Blue Noise, Ar- temage, or a number of other student- run and written magazines. Te yield of a long winter's work has hit the campus and they have arrived en masse, with entries as far-ranging as interviews and essays, poetry and photography. Categorizing the publications can be difficult.: "The theme of our magazine is art," said Bonnie Garmisa, an editor of Artemage, which in only its first year is already the campus' most mispronounced publication. (pr. Ar- tema-gay) "We don't have a set for- mat of what we print, as long as it adheres to the theme of our magazine. Our goal is to provide a showcase of art in and around the university community, and to be a source of in- formation about art outside of the arts community." Garmisa and the editors of Ar- temage believe that many students feel helpless by the inaccessibility of the art community. Their magazine helps lighten this feeling by offering a preview ofthe Diego Alivera art ehibit at the DIA, an interview with student- artist John Kerr, a poem, a prose piece, and other articles covering almost every field in the arts. Another first-year magazine, Shaking Through, showcases a variety of student creativity. There are stories, poems, photography, and even a comic strip in the magazine. Shaking Through is widely read, with of circulation of 1100, which must somewhat satisfy Peter Stuck, a founder and editor of the magazine. Struck feels that though there are many student publications, few are ever read by the student-body. Shaking Through has a definite pur- pose, to "bring high-quality writing to the campus on a frequent basis." Barbaric Yawp emerged three years ago because "there was no real campus literary magazine" accor- ding to Robert Salkin, one of its editors. It was a well-needed concep- tion, for in its first year the magazine received 250 submissions. This year, though, competing with other magazines, it received almost 350 submissions. Deciding what will go in is the most difficult aspect of putting this together," Salkin said. "The editors individually read all the submissions and rate them. Then we discuss our choices and sometimes there will be arguments." Deciding what will be printed is also the hardest decision for the editors of Blue Noise, the Honors literary magazine, which is also in its third year. "There's a lot of talent here and many writers," a Blue Noise editor explains. "We decide by using a strict rating system, and printing the submissions that receive the highest scores." Though Blue Noise is published as the honors magazine, it receives and prints poetry and short prose from all university undergraduates. One of the more obscure campus productions, possibly because it tries VAN DYCK DOBOS PHOTO STUDIO * Graduation * Weddings * Passport-Immigration " Resume Application " Portraits REASONABLE RATES 663-6966 407 E. WILLIAM c. Division - Ann Arbor its best to defy categorization, is Blister, a longtime "underground" gazette that has only recently sur- faced to present "printed and recor- ded matter," as Tom Morgan, organizer of Blister describes. It not only offers a collection of student poetry and prose, but also a 90-minute cassette tape featuring music of un- sung student composers and ohter audible concoctions. The 'whole package comes in a manila envelope, along with a piece of "found" art, and is free, but because high production costs only 100 copies will be made. All these magazines will be availablesin the fishbowl during the next few weeks, except for Blister, which can be picked up at the East Quad food co-op by the 25th of April. POEMS W~ANTED Major anthology now seeks poems: love, nature, haiku, song lyrics, reflective, free verse, religious - all types! Beginners are welcome! Our editors will reply within 7 days. Send ONE POEM ONLY, 21 lines or less, to: WORLD OF POETRY PRESS Dept. AP a 2431 Stockton Blvd. * Sacramento, Calif. 95817 MUiI X14 HERB DAVID Guitar Studio 302 E. LIBERTY 665-8001 The University of Michigan Gilbert and Sullivan Society presents! Back By Popular Demand WIQB After2 Sell Out Shows Last Fall welcomes Sales - Lessons - Rentals - Expert Repairs Repair Bows - Repair Violin 9 Cello * Bass *A N..A.* O f ~ ~,4 LA7 RLASP- :. . I " k- ' Gilbert and Sullivan's, The Pirates of flr,,,CQOXV E'I W w~v~ K ~ W~W~W~ w ~ I