Some call him a journalist. Others call him a freak. But no one can deny that Scott “Tattooed Guru” Andresen is a local celebrity.

In a town he loves to hate and hates to love, Andresen is dealing constantly with people who do not wish him to succeed and people who don’t think he can.

“They tell me that I’m going to fail because I have long hair, an eyebrow ring and a pierced tongue,” Andresen said. “These same people who tell me this are the same ones who are afraid to take a chance — to take a risk. They are afraid to try something different.”

Andresen is not afraid. He has flirted with the outer limits of free expression for years.

Today, Andresen will take quite possibly the biggest risk of his career with the debut of his monthly newspaper Sideshow.

Beyond the call of duty

“I’ve gone beyond the call of duty to produce this paper,” Andresen said. “I’ve done everything myself out of my little one-bedroom apartment.

“When I get the first issue out,” he explained, “they’ll see that it really is a success story because I actually did it all by myself and it is really good. It is going to be a fun thing that people are going to enjoy. But then again, that’s me in a nutshell — fun.”

The 16-page Sideshow will feature a section dedicated to local artists, CD reviews (both national and local), a calendar of events and a complete listing of drink specials for every Ames area “watering-hole.”

The back section of the paper will contain Andresen’s latest comical creation “Firestarter.” Similar to the Wisconsin-based Onion, the section will be a view of Ames, the nation and the globe written entirely in satire.

Greek bashing

“It is equal opportunity humor,” Andresen joked. “I’ll rip on anybody who says something stupid. In the past, I’ve had a reputation for picking on the greek system. I still will if they irritate me. But my reputation as a greek-basher was blown way out of proportion.

“I really didn’t make fun of them that often,” Andresen claimed. “I’d just write one sentence about them and I’d get this huge reaction. But I’m not going to shy away from anybody. After all, everything I write is a made-up story that is fun to laugh about.”

Other topics that Andresen likely will cover are the conservatism of Ames, the privatization of Iowa State, President Martin Jischke’s “ridiculous policies,” Mayor Larry Curtis and the insane drivers who commonly are found careening down the road.

“I’m going to do a story about how the cops keep coming into the bars,” he said. “That irritates me more than anything. Don’t they have something better to do than patrol the bars? Are they really that bored?”

A void to fill

Despite the drawbacks of Ames, Andresen still insists he likes it here. “Ames is a fun town and it deserves a fun paper,” Andresen said. “I try to make everything fun.”

Andresen said Sideshow is designed to fill what he believes is a void of entertainment coverage in town.

“The Daily has its own perks when it comes to covering local bands,” Andresen said. “But they aren’t really geared at the bar crowd. The Campus Reader has no decent music coverage at all. And let’s face it, Cityview has dropped the ball when it comes to the Ames music scene.”

Andresen plans on fixing the problem by running music-related features that focus on the real-life stuff that makes every band tick. Sideshow will examine what makes bands work and will try to broaden its readers’ knowledge about the vast amount of music that can be found in Ames.

Building a resume

Andresen’s opinions on the strengths and weaknesses of the various publications in central Iowa spawn from his experience either working for or competing with them.

He spent two years building a notorious reputation at the Daily as the “Tattooed Guru,” which actually originated as a sports column while Andresen was the sports editor.

Andresen went on to create the “currents” section for the Daily, of which he was editor.

After he graduated in December of 1995 with a history degree, Andresen moved on to the Kansas City New Times, where he became an entertainment reporter, an editor and the paper’s layout designer.

But Andresen wasn’t happy being so far away from Ames. He soon packed his bags and returned home.

He relocated to The Campus Reader and carried it through its initial stages with his obnoxious alter-ego and enlightening band interviews.

Owned by The Ames Daily Tribune, Andresen completed the paper’s goal by becoming the student voice of Iowa State.

But differences concerning the direction the paper was going led Andresen to resign early last summer. Within weeks, Andresen landed what looked to be the perfect job.

He would be the entertainment editor for Kristen McCuen Wells much anticipated Des Moines weekly, The Metropolitan.

“I thought it was a great opportunity to advance myself as a journalist,” Andresen said. “I put a lot of time into finishing the first issue of that paper.”

Unfortunately, the first issue was as far as the paper got. The day after the first issue hit the stands, McCuen Wells was arrested for writing countless bad checks, including payment to the paper’s printer and all of its employees.

McCuen Wells recently pleaded guilty to four counts of theft and is facing a lengthy prison term.

“I never saw any of my money,” Andresen said. “I worked so hard for so long to get that paper off the ground and it turned out that I got scammed. But I learned a valuable lesson out of the whole ordeal. I learned that I could put together a paper by myself.”

‘It hasn’t been easy’

That is exactly what he did with the debut of Sideshow. But is Ames ready to receive another paper?

“I think that there will be enough support for this paper to survive,” Andresen said. “All of the local bands, advertisers and students I’ve talked to think that there is. This paper is different because it is humorous. It isn’t just another corporate paper that is designed to garner money.”

Andresen said he is not creating the paper to make money. “More than likely, I won’t make a single dime off of the first couple of issues,” he said. “I’m holding down two jobs right now so I can make this work. I’ve worked my ass off. Let me tell you, it hasn’t been easy.”

Andresen has learned some difficult lessons along the way, aside from his troubles with The Campus Reader and The Metropolitan.

“I quickly learned that the mighty dollar rules,” he said. “I’ve also learned that printers won’t necessarily print you even if you have the money. I think there must have been something about the appearance of the paper that scared them away,” he said.

Sideshow will be distributed today in various Campustown locations, including all of the bars.

Anyone seeking to join the Sideshow staff can direct their inquiries to [email protected].