Bill Barr's Milestones
...( fun stuff that happened on the way to getting funny!)
9 yrs old- a very quiet child but during his 9th year, he was hit on the
head while playing catch with a large rock (ok, it was the first throw)
and thereafter, talked non-stop, ... later that year his teacher sent a
note home attached to his report card asking if he was being raised to
be a comedian. ...little did they know!
13 yr-old - At six-foot two inches tall, he placed second in a-city-wide
Detroit News' paperboys new subscription contest, the top ten winners to
be in a commercial with some of the Detroit Lion's professional fooball
team but not allowed to be in the commercial because he was taller than
the defensive-back who was the spokesman in the commercial...but he got
free Lion's tix!
October 1980 - Performed part in play in Coventry, England- dressed only
in a diaper...in trade, he got to perform comedy for the first time
onstage ... in a theater!
February 1981 - First Open Mic night - at Mark Ridley's Comedy Castle, Detroit.
July 1986 - Comedy became the major source of his income.
August 1987 - began an improv-comedy show run of over 500 performances...
then created & produced sketch shows for a run of an additional 200
performances.
December 1989 - began specializing in Corporate Comedy and private
shows as an "after dinner" speaker.
December 1992 - Performed 36 private shows during the holiday season
... slept through January.
June 1997- while performing in the filming of a Detroit Red Wings
Stanley Cup video production where the script called for Bill and
his 'gang of cut-throats" to kidnap the Red Wing's Octopus mascot
from a boat on the Detroit River, he was detained by police at gunpoint
for four hours... but he got free Red Wings Tix!
Bill Barr's Education, Training and otherwise, relevant employment:
Eastern Michigan University - Bachelor of Science - English
Language Major/ Creative Writing & Journalism Minors, Certification in
Technical Writing.
Univerisity of Warwick - Coventry, England. Creative Writing with Andrew Davies.
Writer's Digest Magazine -Creative Writing Series, Cleveland, Ohio
The Second City, Detroit - Improv classes.
Detroit Institute of Arts, 1997- 2005 - Art to the Schools,
education dept. speaker for the Detroit Institute of Arts, the
fifth largest collection of art in the USA.
Comedy Scene Magazine, 2000-2002 - Managing editor, feature writer.
Short-lived e-zine and magazine about "Everything Comedy".
Corporate Comedian Bill Barr & Club Comic Jimmy Rascal
Bill is one of the few comics performing regularly in the corporate
and private show market,
most of his shows are repeats or referrals, (some companies he’s
performed for up to 9 times).
Over five years ago, Bill adopted a new, additional name for
his performances in comedy clubs: Jimmy Rascal,
(where, by his original name, he first headlned in 1990-
including Detroit’s 400-seat Chaplin’s Comedy Club since ‘96)
while continuing to build his reputation as Bill Barr in the corporate show market.
Two names = two acts - each one designed with it's specific audience in mind.
Bill's act can be clean enough for even clergy to enjoy.
Bill's also got appearances from Vegas to New York, England, Cayman Isles,
Canada:
in Casinos, comedy clubs, concert halls & private country clubs
with audiences from two people to over nine thousand.
He also appears in "the legitimate theater" performing a monologue in a
one-man show format.
Here are some unusual ...but “FUN” credits:
He was seen on Good Morning America (in a segment spotlighting Soupy Sales’
hometown concerts).
In 2001, he was the replacement comic for an ailing Tommy Chong
(of Cheech & Chong)
at two sold-out shows at Chaplin’s in Detroit (nobody asked for their money
back!)
He once had lunch with Ted Nugent and Soupy Sales… at the same time...
Chinese food!
He was almost arrested on the Detroit River, while filming the World Champion
Detroit Red Wings 1998 Playoffs video, “kid-napping the Octopus mascot", for
a “Joe-Vision” Stanley Cup series video.
He was the first stand-up comic to appear in the main showroom at the Casino
Windsor.
When he was growing up as a comic” he worked with TV stars: Dave Coulier
(Full House) Tim Allen (Home Improvement), Bruce Baum (Babyman on Make
Me Laugh)
and movie stars: Bobcat Goldthwaite and Michael Winslow (both of Police
Academy)
and plenty of Bob and Tom radio show comics, including Sean Morey, Bob Zany
and
Heywood Banks.
He was in concert in front of approximately 9,000 people with the 60’s
rock bands: the Animals and the Yardbirds on their 1996 reunion-tour stop
in Detroit, and at Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek
with the first “boy band” All 4One ("I Swear"- their top ten hit) and also
in-concert with 2 Live Crew.
Bill Barr is called Michigan’s Premier Comedy Improv Artist, his show is
audience-friendly, politically correct, non-offensive, Improv-based, fast paced
and fun…
And Soupy Sales said: “Bill’s one of the funniest guys I’ve ever worked with.”
...( fun stuff that happened on the way to getting funny!)
9 yrs old- a very quiet child but during his 9th year, he was hit on the
head while playing catch with a large rock (ok, it was the first throw)
and thereafter, talked non-stop, ... later that year his teacher sent a
note home attached to his report card asking if he was being raised to
be a comedian. ...little did they know!
13 yr-old - At six-foot two inches tall, he placed second in a-city-wide
Detroit News' paperboys new subscription contest, the top ten winners to
be in a commercial with some of the Detroit Lion's professional fooball
team but not allowed to be in the commercial because he was taller than
the defensive-back who was the spokesman in the commercial...but he got
free Lion's tix!
October 1980 - Performed part in play in Coventry, England- dressed only
in a diaper...in trade, he got to perform comedy for the first time
onstage ... in a theater!
February 1981 - First Open Mic night - at Mark Ridley's Comedy Castle, Detroit.
July 1986 - Comedy became the major source of his income.
August 1987 - began an improv-comedy show run of over 500 performances...
then created & produced sketch shows for a run of an additional 200
performances.
December 1989 - began specializing in Corporate Comedy and private
shows as an "after dinner" speaker.
December 1992 - Performed 36 private shows during the holiday season
... slept through January.
June 1997- while performing in the filming of a Detroit Red Wings
Stanley Cup video production where the script called for Bill and
his 'gang of cut-throats" to kidnap the Red Wing's Octopus mascot
from a boat on the Detroit River, he was detained by police at gunpoint
for four hours... but he got free Red Wings Tix!
Bill Barr's Education, Training and otherwise, relevant employment:
Eastern Michigan University - Bachelor of Science - English
Language Major/ Creative Writing & Journalism Minors, Certification in
Technical Writing.
Univerisity of Warwick - Coventry, England. Creative Writing with Andrew Davies.
Writer's Digest Magazine -Creative Writing Series, Cleveland, Ohio
The Second City, Detroit - Improv classes.
Detroit Institute of Arts, 1997- 2005 - Art to the Schools,
education dept. speaker for the Detroit Institute of Arts, the
fifth largest collection of art in the USA.
Comedy Scene Magazine, 2000-2002 - Managing editor, feature writer.
Short-lived e-zine and magazine about "Everything Comedy".
Corporate Comedian Bill Barr & Club Comic Jimmy Rascal
Bill is one of the few comics performing regularly in the corporate
and private show market,
most of his shows are repeats or referrals, (some companies he’s
performed for up to 9 times).
Over five years ago, Bill adopted a new, additional name for
his performances in comedy clubs: Jimmy Rascal,
(where, by his original name, he first headlned in 1990-
including Detroit’s 400-seat Chaplin’s Comedy Club since ‘96)
while continuing to build his reputation as Bill Barr in the corporate show market.
Two names = two acts - each one designed with it's specific audience in mind.
Bill's act can be clean enough for even clergy to enjoy.
Bill's also got appearances from Vegas to New York, England, Cayman Isles,
Canada:
in Casinos, comedy clubs, concert halls & private country clubs
with audiences from two people to over nine thousand.
He also appears in "the legitimate theater" performing a monologue in a
one-man show format.
Here are some unusual ...but “FUN” credits:
He was seen on Good Morning America (in a segment spotlighting Soupy Sales’
hometown concerts).
In 2001, he was the replacement comic for an ailing Tommy Chong
(of Cheech & Chong)
at two sold-out shows at Chaplin’s in Detroit (nobody asked for their money
back!)
He once had lunch with Ted Nugent and Soupy Sales… at the same time...
Chinese food!
He was almost arrested on the Detroit River, while filming the World Champion
Detroit Red Wings 1998 Playoffs video, “kid-napping the Octopus mascot", for
a “Joe-Vision” Stanley Cup series video.
He was the first stand-up comic to appear in the main showroom at the Casino
Windsor.
When he was growing up as a comic” he worked with TV stars: Dave Coulier
(Full House) Tim Allen (Home Improvement), Bruce Baum (Babyman on Make
Me Laugh)
and movie stars: Bobcat Goldthwaite and Michael Winslow (both of Police
Academy)
and plenty of Bob and Tom radio show comics, including Sean Morey, Bob Zany
and
Heywood Banks.
He was in concert in front of approximately 9,000 people with the 60’s
rock bands: the Animals and the Yardbirds on their 1996 reunion-tour stop
in Detroit, and at Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek
with the first “boy band” All 4One ("I Swear"- their top ten hit) and also
in-concert with 2 Live Crew.
Bill Barr is called Michigan’s Premier Comedy Improv Artist, his show is
audience-friendly, politically correct, non-offensive, Improv-based, fast paced
and fun…
And Soupy Sales said: “Bill’s one of the funniest guys I’ve ever worked with.”
Bill Barr Comic
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