Audience gets comic bonus when Bauer, Carrett perform

By Amy Kimmes
Wausau Daily Herald
akimmes@wdhprint.com

RIB MOUNTAIN - Comedian "Wild Bill" Bauer was a paramedic when he fell into stand-up comedy, but once he got his first taste of life on stage he was addicted.

If you go Who: Comedians Lord Carrett and "Wild Bill" Bauer When: 9 p.m. April 8 Where: Cali's Grille Room & Lounge at Best Western Midway Hotel, 2901 Martin Ave., Rib Mountain Cost: $8 Contact: 842-1616

His cohort Lord Carrett said he has been obsessed with satire since he cut his teeth on one-liners in his father's bar - at age 4.

Despite their different backgrounds, Bauer and Carrett both have a huge following thanks to their appearances on the "Bob & Tom" radio show, and on April 8 the comedians will come together for one night of comedic mania at the Cali's Grille Room & Lounge Best Western Midway Hotel in Rib Mountain.

Chances are, the audience won't know what hit it.

"It'll be like getting attacked by a bear and a ninja," Carrett said in a telephone interview from his Branson, Mo., hotel room while on tour earlier this month. "Bill is big and loud. I'm more sarcastic and subtle. My approach is more passive-aggressive."
While both comedians have built strong followings across the country in the more than 20 years they each have been in comedy, it was their work on the syndicated "Bob & Tom" show that boosted their careers.

"If they listen to 'Bob and Tom,' they've almost certainly heard of one of us," said Carrett, 43, who describes himself as Wayne Newton on a bender.

Each comedian has a different approach to making people laugh.

"I enjoy a certain amount of shock value," Bauer, 54, said in a telephone interview from his Minneapolis home. He has more than 25 national television credits to his name and was a writer on the hit TV show "Roseanne."
"If you're not deeply offended at least once (at the show), then you didn't get your money's worth," Bauer said. "Religion, politics and pro football, I leave them alone. I won't touch Brett Favre. But everything else is fair game."
And Carrett's approach?
"I'm very slick and polished," Carrett, who lives in Los Angeles, said. "Because I'm so smooth, people love it when I mess up. Those things that are unexpected, I handle well. People go crazy."
In addition to the "Bob and Tom" show, Carrett's comedy has aired on XM Satellite Radio, Sirius Satellite Radio and All Comedy Radio. He has been praised for his compact disc "Lord Carrett: Unsweetened," which is a recording of one show done in one take with the asinine heckling left in.

The audience won't catch a break at the April 8 show.

"I ride the audience the whole show," Carrett said. "I don't single out one person. That's not a fair fight. ... I figure that if I insult the audience as a whole, it's a fair fight."
Carrett and Bauer are like to two peas in a pod, but with very different brands of humor to offer the audience.

"It's pretty hard to not be satisfied when you have this varied of an approach," Bauer said. "We each pull in our own audience. If they're there to see me, Lord's the bonus. If they're there to see Lord, then I'm the bonus."