Comedy coming to American Legion
Bill Bauer won’t be dropping any f-bombs at the Albert
Lea Legion Hall on Saturday, but those in attendance won’t confuse his act for
a G-rated comedy set either.
“I can’t pretend I have a ghetto background,” said Bauer, who uses the
moniker Wild Bill. “I do very adult material, but I don’t curse or use
profanity.”
Bauer headlines a comedy event on Saturday at Post 56 and will follow acts by
his son, Patrick Ryan and fellow comedian Rox Tarrant.
Bauer didn’t even recognize his act lacked profanity until eight years into
his comedy career. In addition to his lack of ghetto experience growing up in
Anoka, Bauer credits the development to his family, which is extremely devoted
to its Catholic faith. Bauer’s brother is a priest and his sister is a nun.
But it doesn’t stop Bauer’s son, Patrick, from mixing in some racy
four-letter words.
“It’s not always a good match,” Bauer said of their comedy relationship.
“He doesn’t have the same language boundaries, and it makes me a little
uncomfortable to watch when he drops the bombs.”
Bauer said his routine focuses on making light of things
that make people miserable — their dysfunctional families and funerals, to
name a couple.
“If you’ve had a bad Christmas come see my show,” Bauer says, “My family
beats yours.”
He speaks of the time his uncle was too drunk to drive
home, so he slept in his snowmobile. And his grandmother who had financial
problems her whole life, filed for bankruptcy at age 85, and won’t be able to
buy a home until she’s 92.
Those examples, while mild by his standards, reflect the type of humor served a
la Bauer.
By contrast, Ryan’s takes are on more current issues. Bauer said his son does
a 10-minute bit on meth, which makes Bauer a bit uncomfortable while the
audience loves the act.
“The parental stuff kicks in,” Ryan said.
Bauer started his career in military intelligence and followed it up with a few
years as a paramedic. In addition to thousands of jokes, he’s delivered three
babies. He entered the comedy business, became friends with Midwest stars Louie
Anderson and Tom Arnold and moved to Los Angeles, where he became “almost
famous.”
He made appearances on Roseanne, Evening at the Improv.
After 6 1/2 years on the West Coast earning a six-figure salary as part of the
Writer’s Guild of America, Bauer came back to Minnesota.
“If you’re not going to be tremendously wealthy or famous, it’s not worth
it,” Bauer said of the Los Angeles lifestyle, adding he could barely afford a
house on his income.
He now makes trips around Minnesota performing nearly every weekend and holds
regular slot on the nationally syndicated “Bob and Tom” radio show.