Stanton starts show as segue to ‘late-night debauchery’

With a constant “what’s next?” attitude and a genuine zest for life, Aimee Stanton is not afraid to try new things.

Although the 25-year-old admits that her generalized anxiety disorder and depression have been deeply rooted in her fear of her identity and ambitions, the fear has not held her back.

Though nervous about her admission status, Stanton aspires to attend IU in the fall to study journalism as a freshman. She wants to be in front of the camera, eventually as a late-night talk show host like her favorite, Conan O’Brien.

But for now, she has “The Aimee Stanton Show,” which covers everything from robots to politics, on Bloomington’s public access TV station, to keep her occupied.

Stanton, a Bloomington native, said her first love was television. She grew up watching “Ren and Stimpy” and “Blossom.” These shows served as her escape during what she called her parents’ “toxic marriage.”

Stanton was 13 years old when she watched her first late-night talk show.

“I was watching a skit on Conan on New Year’s Eve with a friend,” she said. “He was trying to make it to the central time zone to see the big ball drop in Times Square. It was so wacky, and then I realized, ‘Hey! That’s how I am!’”

She became a fan of the show thereafter, identifying with the “Walker Texas Ranger lover” character, thus carving out a space in her brain to remember her first love.

“There’s a place for that kind of wackiness,” she said. “People really seem to love his show, and I thought, ‘Why can’t I?’”

Stanton took several detours before finding her niche, however.

Upon graduating from Bloomington High School South, she wanted to become a chef
because she was a “foodie,” interested in learning everything about strange and “normal” foods.

“I wanted to make Emeril Lagasse look like a short-order cook,” she said. “I was good at what I did.”

Stanton said she was fine with starting small and building an expansive culinary career, but the realization of its high-stress environment didn’t mesh well with her anxiety and depression.

“I felt like chefs had more stress than brain surgeons,” she said. “Or at least they have the erratic hours and pressures. Being yelled at for the mistakes you made was typical of the job.”

She said what she feared even more than outright failure was exiting her bubble of comfort in Bloomington and “pushing the envelope to experience new heights.”
This made wanting to be on television seem impossible.

“Flying to the moon with Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny seemed more possible,” she said. “It was like I had to put my dreams of television on the back shelf in my brain to collect dust.”

Food was all Stanton knew. She admits feeling incredibly lost, which led her to pursue many different interests.

Working with developmentally handicapped children helped her realize she didn’t have “a personality that easily fits in a box.” For her, there was a definite clash of will and what was needed to maintain the job.

She tried studying nursing for a few months, taking introductory courses at Ivy Tech Community College. She was enrolled in “Anatomy and Physiology 2,” studied all night for an exam and got a 4 percent on it.

Next up was day care.

“I didn’t exactly know how to interact professionally with children,” she said, laughing. “And I was afraid of their parents.”

Upon driving back to her apartment after quitting the day care job, she had what she calls her “aha!” moment and started thinking about television, her first love.

The next day, she went to the Bloomington public access station and worked for an hour and a half figuring out how to produce her own television show, “The Aimee Stanton Show,” which she said will act as a platform for another stage in her life to aspirations of late-night debauchery.

They’ve yet to air, but she’s produced two shows thus far that she’s given to the station: one about gender and sexual discrimination and another about diet and exercise. Stanton’s pending plans are to propose the show to IU Student Television upon acceptance to IU and the journalism program.

Though Stanton said she wants to cover issues of importance, she wants people to know she is fun.

Ironically, this has come from learning not to take herself so seriously and to have the desire to press on in spite of her fears.

“People are funny,” she said. “I’m just learning by doing. Obviously, that’s what my whole life has been about.”

Stanton's show can be watched at www.myspace.com/theaimeestantonshow