Talent agency GL Berg finds success focusing on family-friendly entertainers

Thirty-five years ago Gary Berg started a talent agency in St Cloud with a basic premise create opportunities for performers that didn t involve bars and drinking I focus very much on the whole concept of doing non-offensive really professional to minute shows that can be done after dinner at fairs at stages or colleges and fundraisers he declared Berg got his start as a musician playing in bands in high school and college Later he d become a road manager for his friends bands as a side gig apart from a career in college admissions Eventually Berg decided to focus full time on entertainment At the time he d had enough of dealing with drunken people at parties There were lots of accidents and a lot of really crazy bad stuff going on Berg stated People weren t responsible Going from a business based in St Cloud to a million dollar business based in the Twin Cities where they moved years ago GL Berg Entertainment represents a broad base of entertainment from jugglers and trivia hosts to dueling pianos comedy and cruise ship acts We ll have about people intonating and dancing on ships all over the world on seemingly different cruise lines Berg recounted me in an interview And that s common for us year round One entertainer on the G L Berg roster is C Willi Myles a comedian with a thriving career both here in Minnesota and nationally Myles doesn t consider himself a writer Instead he thinks of his comedy style as storytelling I do observational humor he reported I don t do the exact same show every night Originally from Mobile Alabama which is a whole big story all by itself Myles came to St Cloud State University to play football He worked as an assistant football coach basketball coach and recruiter after he graduated and began doing comedy on a whim I inevitably thought I was a pretty humorous fella he stated His first gig was in a banquet hall above a restaurant his friend owned He commented I don t need you to do nothing Just get up and be the house emcee and then tell a few of those funny stories about how St Cloud State tricked you into coming to school up here Myles recalled Myles worked as an emcee for two years before moving to Minneapolis to take his career to the next level In the early s he signed with a record label that had him touring with different bands he s performed with Fleetwood Mac Aretha Franklin Earth Wind Fire and the Temptations and has toured both nationally and internationally He s also done cruise ships but he got tired of touring so much as his kids got older Twenty-three years ago he signed with GL Berg with the aim to do more corporate events He longed to do more theaters and have more time to spend at home He also felt he had gotten to a point in his career where he requested to be able to pick better higher paid gigs rather than performing every night The bottom line is this I chose success over fame Myles declared Success lasts a lot longer than fame So in this industry I required to make sure I had longevity Doing clean comedy has also helped his endurance practice If you don t do profanity if you don t do political humor if you don t do anything that s going to be divisive your career is just gonna last a little bit longer he announced Another entertainer who works with G L Berg Entertainment Tim Harmston has been doing comedy since starting his comic career at about years old Performer Tim Harmston Credit GL Berg Entertainment It s pretty much a young sort of scene in the Twin Cities and so I was relatively older but I also got sort of a head start because I had specific life experience to write about he described me Harmston s first gig was at the Mall of America doing open mics at a club called Knuckleheads That s where he met his wife comedian Mary Mack It was through Mack that Harmston got connected to G L Berg entertainment As I developed my comedy routine it got to where I had an hour of clean material that I could go out and do at private events and things like that Harmston noted For Harmston doing clean comedy means he thinks about whether a joke could be done in front of someone s grandma You don t swear or get political he stated You just do your show in a clean fashion Harmston has performed for churches at the Minnesota State Fairs and other fairs in the midwest The great thing he announced is there s a lot of variety of venues That might mean that you would be at a county fair or a state fair one night and then the next night you might be at a performing arts center you might be at a theater you might be at a private corporate function of a pact show It opens up a huge variety of show opportunities versus just being in the comedy club circuit Harmston also does work outside of his clean comedy gigs through GL Berg He performs at ACME Comedy Club the premiere club in the Twin Cities and he s done clubs in Chicago Des Moines Florida and more There s also a comedy boom going on right now with podcasts and TikTok which has paved the way for more opportunities at places like breweries and other non-typical spaces Everybody seems to want comedy right now so it s kind of a great great time to be a comedian he stated Harmston declared he enjoys the regular everyday audiences he performs for through the agency I do a lot of conventions for agriculture and I grew up in a small town in Wisconsin so when I step onto a stage at an agricultural convention let s just say it s a tractor dealership I come in and a lot of my life experience growing up in a small town in Wisconsin is relatable to the people in that audience which really excites me because my experience doesn t inevitably throw the clubs in Los Angeles reported the comic Kasano Mwanza got started with G L Berg as talent but in recent weeks shifted to the agency side of the business An actor singer and writer Mwanza was born in Zambia where his first experiences with music were watching his father s band perform He moved to Minneapolis when he was years old and has worked as an actor at places like Chanhassen Dinner Theatres where he s currently performing in Grease As a performer Mwanza reported he was drawn to work with G L Berg because they authentically care G L Berg doesn t only help its artists It s so real For instance Mwanza reported the agency offered a variety of different contracts and flexibility so it isn t a one-size fits all approach Kasano Mwanza Credit GL Berg EntertainmentThrough G L Berg working with agent Katie Partridge Mwanza has gotten work in the cruise ship industry and now supports the cruise ship side of the businesses finding work for other entertainers For Mwanza the work fits into his overall career path one that includes his creative endeavors What it feels like to me is that I ve come upon a path that I m very happy about he stated I m very happy with where I am because I m essentially able to do the gamut of my passions which is I think the goal for majority of artists to be able to work and feel like it is part of your passion Minnesota may not have the same level of star-making opportunities as a place like Los Angeles or New York but there are folks who are able to be based here make their homes here and earn a living in the entertainment industry The post Talent agency GL Berg finds success focusing on family-friendly entertainers appeared first on MinnPost