I have been a fan of Jim Breuer since his days on SNL. He has a show in Sirius Satellite Radio called Friday’s with Breuer that is a true definition of “Reality Radio.” The biggest mistake that Raw Dog Comedy made was not letting him continue with his daily show “Breuer Unleashed” from remote locations as he toured. I had the opportunity to see him in Stamford recently and as I read more about his career choices it dawned on me that he is a great example of Faith in Culture. It inspired me to write this piece which was read on the Busted Halo show (The Catholic Channel, M-F 7-10pm Eastern). They do a segment called Faith in Culture Thursdays (Sirius 159, XM 117). Give a listen to the show, it is not what you would expect.
_______________
Jim Breuer. Here is a guy who was a major player on SNL for a number of years and who was posed to have a major career in comedy/entertainment but walks away from it (for a while). Why would anyone do that? According to Jim it was to take care of his family – he said something like “Hollywood will be around forever but my kids will only be young once.” So he puts the career on hold, helps raise his kids, and helps to take care of his ailing father. How many of us would have the strength to do that? In the go go go world of Fairfield County, CT it is clear that Jim is the exception, not the rule. In our social circle, fathers (and many times mothers) are not around to spend time with their kids; sacrificing these special years for higher income, bigger titles, and (consequently) emptier lives.
Now Jim finds himself building his career back up, hitting the road doing stand-up, doing voiceover work in movies and planning a new stand up special for Comedy Central. It takes faith to make a move like that; to put professional aspirations on hold realizing that ‘you can always go back.’ In short, Jim’s story encompasses two themes; the importance of embracing family life at the expense of worldly aspirations and having faith that “it will all be alright.”
