Jim Breuer Gears Up For Village Residency
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Long Island native Jim Breuer is scheduled to perform in the second show of his recently announced residency at The Paramount in Huntington on March 3. Photo/Tracy Ketcher
By Connor Beach
cbeach@longislandergroup.com
Long Island native Jim Breuer got his first real taste of live comedy as a Valley Stream Central high schooler auditioning for the role of Noah in the school’s rendition of “Noah’s Arc.”
“I did him as Eddie Murphy,” Breuer said.
The performance made him an overnight star at the school.
“This is what I’m doing forever,” he said to himself.
“By the time I was 16, I had my mind set on being a comedian, but I just didn’t know how to go about it,” Breuer said.
Breuer, now 50, landed his first stand up gig after graduation. The performance, part of a Sunday open mic night at Governor’s Comedy Club in Levittown, eventually led Breuer to make a move down to Florida in 1989 to “put my head down” and really focus on becoming a professional actor.
Breuer joined the cast of “Saturday Night Live” from 1995-1998, and in 1998 he starred in the movie “Half Baked.”
His ensuing career has brought him back to Long Island, however, and more specifically Huntington, where’s he’s performed 11 sold out shows at The Paramount over the last few years. He’s now been signed to a monthly residency at the New York Avenue venue.
He’s excited about that opportunity.
“The first time I performed at The Paramount I knew that I wanted to film my next comedy special there,” Breuer said.
The residency will allow Breuer to combine all the ideas that he has had for multiple shows onto one stage where he feels comfortable enough to try them.
“I can do videos on screens, I can do stand up comedy, I can do story telling sets and I can do the rock stuff that people always ask me to do at the very end,” Breuer said.
Breuer dismissed the idea that performing at one venue so often might become repetitive.
“I would have never done it if I knew I didn’t have the versatility to do every single show differently,” Breuer said. “That’s what excites me even more.”
Breuer said he is ready for a two-hour comedy special, but instead of doing the special he plans to use all the material he has for different shows at The Paramount.
He said, “There is so much different, fun stuff that I’m going to do.”
Breuer performed the first show of his residency last weekend, and he has another show scheduled for March 3.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for the 8 p.m. show. Tickets are $29.50-$200 (VIP) and can be purchased at the box office or online at Paramountny.com.
