Comedian Steve Medley makes his return to Bloomington

Steve Medley, a former IU Student and current traveling comedian who has opened for such comedy headliners as Jay Leno and Dennis Miller, will be returning to campus this weekend to perform five shows.\nMedley has worked as a comedian for almost 20 years, while simultaneously doing morning radio in Colorado Springs, Colo., and Dallas. He compares his radio program to the "Bob and Tom" show, for which he writes comedic bits and parody songs. \nWhile at IU, Medley wrote comic strips for the Indiana Daily Student from 1979 to 1983, including "Third Floor," a student lifestyle comic. He has toured 38 states and seven countries and sites in the Cayman Islands. Mexico and St. Martin are some of his favorite locations. However, Medley said he will always consider Bloomington home. \n"The people there are just tremendously nice, and there is just so much of my life that I can trace back there," he said. "I learned to play golf at Cascades Golf Course. I have so many great memories there. I loved to go to the Trojan Horse. The campus is just beautiful -- it was just a very special time. Every time I have been there, the shows have been just great."\nMedley also said he appreciates the audience in Bloomington and its love of comedy. \n"They're a knowledgeable audience," he said. "You don't have to dumb anything down, and they just love comedy. In my mind, there is absolutely no downside to Bloomington whatsoever."\nMedley was also the entertainment act for the 25th anniversary Super Bowl party in Tampa Bay, Fla., in 1991, where he told jokes for many of the NFL players -- such as Deacon Jones and Mike Singletary, who played in the football game later that week.\nMedley said even though he has been working in radio for the last ten years, comedy is his true love.\n"The enjoyment you see on people's faces, the fun of being up on stage ... It's a lot different than radio," Medley said. "In radio, you can come up with what you think is the best joke in the world, and you don't really know because it just goes out there. When you're on stage, people let you know, one way or the other. The only way that you really know is to get the reaction of the crowd. When the crowd is into it and you're into it, it's just a tremendous feeling. It's just too much fun."\nAlthough he admired many comedians growing up, such as Bill Cosby, Medley didn't think about telling jokes as a profession until he got to college. \n"I really did not even consider a career in comedy until I was at IU," he said. "They had one of the first IU campus comedy competitions, and one of my friends told me, 'Hey you ought to get in that. You write jokes all the time.'"\nMedley resisted at first, but his friends convinced him to enter the contest. \nMedley did a two-minute bit and ended up winning the contest. He came back the next year and won again. After he won the second time, Tom Sobel, who places comedians for Comedy Caravan, convinced Medley to try to make a living in comedy. Medley began performing comedy routines on the weekend while going to school during the week. He decided in the summer of 1984 to make comedy his summer job and said he absolutely loved it.\n"After a couple of months, I said, 'You know, I'm really enjoying this. I'm doing well at it. I don't really see any reason to go back to school. I've found what it is that I love to do,'" he said.\nMedley has only recently gotten back to comedy full time as a result of losing his job at the Dallas radio station because of the station's reorganization. Medley was still under contract with the station and had to be paid but soon became bored with doing nothing.\n"After a week of sitting on the couch, it was just driving me nuts," he said. "So I called up Tom Sobel and asked him if he had anything for me to do."\nAfter the phone call, Sobel found Medley a couple of weeks worth of work, and now Medley is back on the road performing. \nBrad Wilhelm, an employee at Bear's Place who arranges its comedy acts, said he thinks Medley's show will appeal to a variety of audiences. He said when you start your comedy career as young as Medley did, you never really grow up. Since Medley is a former IU student, Wilhelm predicts there will be a lot of IU-centered material at this weekend's performances. He said his act will also incorporate all of his life experiences and should appeal to all adults.\n"He's a pretty damn funny guy. He's bright, his comedy is sometimes silly, but at the same time very intelligent and thoughtful," Wilhelm said. "I just think that his act would appeal to everybody."\nAccording to the Indiana Memorial Union's Web site, Medley will be performing one show at 10 p.m. today at the Market located on the Mezzanine floor of the IMU. Admission for the Market performance is free. He will also be performing two shows -- one at 7:30 p.m. and 10:15 p.m. Saturday and Monday at Bear's Place. The cost for Saturday's shows is $7, and the cost for Monday's shows is $4, according to Bear's Place manager Jim Reef. Bear's Place is located at 1316 E. 3rd St.\n-- Contact staff writer Jamie Swhier at jswhier@indiana.edu.