On Your Level.org
On Your Level
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Read MoreBy Charles Sutphin Nuvo Newsweekly Blair Karsch cares about kids. He wants to help them make good decisions by utilizing the media in a positive way. On his public-access television program On Your Level, Karsch raps with adolescents and inspires them to thing about the BIG issues of life: sex, race, crime, the media, education, family values. He believes that, if given the opportunity, he can make a significant difference in the lives of thousands of children. But therein lies the run – if given the opportunity. Who out there in corporate America, or the dens of the philanthropically-inclined, will give Blair Karsch a chance to show the city how much he can do to improve the lives of its most precious resource? Who will invest in Blair’s cause and help the lad reach the pinnacle of his desires? After three years of knocking on more doors than Imeida has shoes, including Disney, MultiMedia and King World, after years of determined pestering of everyone he knows (and doesn’t know), the answer remains nada (as in nobody, no one, not on your life). Rightly or wrongly, for better or worse, Blair remains a hoarse voice in the wilderness who is, however so slightly, beginning to doubt the outcome of his own zealous efforts. So who is this man named Blair, and why should I care? Karsch is a 39-year-old self-taught poet, one-time Hollywood star, former entrepreneur and current substitute teacher whose primary claim to fame is a television show that appears weekly on public-access channels of Comcast and American Cable (Carmel, Zionsville and Noblesville). On Your Level is an amateur production produced on less than a shoestring budget (more like a thread). What makes the show noteworthy is the honesty and spontaneity exhibited by the participating students. In a phrase, the kids dig Uncle Blair, who, in turn, is a passionate advocate of their needs in a world where their best interests are frequently overlooked. “Why do we sell kids down the river when we could sell them up the river?” asks Karsch. “The answer is because it’s easier’ there’s more profit involved. Who do you thing is pushing Ricki Lake? It’s not the YMCA or Young Life; it’s a...
Read MoreBy Brad Kovach Topics Newspapers Born and raised in Washington Township, Blair Karsch wants to give something back. Karsh, 37, attended North Central High School where he was out going, involved and breaking the norms as a student. “I was pretty much like I am now.” Karsch said. “Labels were around then, but I crossed them. I hung out with the hippies, preppies and jocks.” Always a “doer,” Karsch was involved in several after school activities, notably tennis and student council. Karsch found inspiration in the alternative learning program and the career center at North Central. “These were hands-on people, people who where real, people who were applying themselves to the outer world,” said Karsch. Karsch decided he wanted to study “something relevant to the world.” With this in mind, he enrolled at Indiana University to study political science. After graduating from Indiana University with a degree in political science, Karsch moved to Los Angeles to chase a new dream, acting. “I was on ‘Dynasty,’ ‘Dallas,’ ‘The Love Boat.’ I was an extra and I had some speaking parts,” he said. However, he soon grew dissatisfied with the actor’s lifestyle. “I was getting up at six in the morning and playing cops and robbers or drinking fake beer and eating peanuts. It didn’t offer me the depth,” said Karsch. “My soul searchs for depth. This is what I wanted.” Karsch wants his students to search for and find the depth within themselves. “I don’t want to sound like a preacher, but I believe in 30 minutes I could casually share with these kids that there are other perspectives. I want to let them share with me what’s going on. I also want the kids to have the guts to tell me I’m wrong. “I want resolution. I want conclusion. I don’t want to exploit kids; I want to be honest. That’s why I’ve worked for $45 a day for two years. I just want to share my struggle for honesty through writing, through television, through media. Get it to the people,” said Karsch. “I don’t want to believe that kids are crying out for help. But, I do believe that there are ramifications to divorce, the media and fast-paced...
Read MoreBlair Karsch, a substitute teacher, has created “On Your Level,” a television show that will be put on major cable networks soon at around 8 p.m. He has been taping Wednesdays after school in the carpeted cafeteria and about 20 people attend, but “they all seem to be white and regular… We need to mix it up,” said Karsch. He is sending the tapes to JEL to be edited and have graphics put in. Karsch said, “I want to try to find corporate sponsorship and especially find a director that makes us look super polished and hopefully pick me or the concept up.” The problem of not having a diverse enough audience he tried to fix by meeting in Kathleen White’s study hall two weeks ago; ten kids agreed to be in it, while many watched. He talked with the kids and had those who wanted to be in move to the front where the camera could see them. Karsch then started discussion to start a topic, in this case, it was gangs and drugs. The general idea was the kids are growing up too quick and Karsch tries to provide answers and insights. The song “Cop Killer” by Ice T was brought up, and Karsch explained how they have the right to publish the song under the First Amendment and the students tried to think of ways to see how these “bad images” are publicized in songs and the media. Karsch has filmed shows at various other places also such as Borders bookstore. He concentrates on all teens, not just North Central students. For one show he had five students from Washington Township, five from IPS and five from Carmel. During the shows he tells the students not to mention North Central because he doesn’t want to let the audience know where it is; he wants the audience to think these are just regular teenage kids. The shows are being filmed because Karsch, “see(s) the kids crying out for more; so I have to use the current media to take advantage of these kids and how they are feeling. I want to be the Ricki Lake for teens except with a positive images.” He has contacted Comcast, American,...
Read MoreTopics Newspapers From television to poetry – a local author/speaker releases a new motivational poetry book. North Central substitute teacher and after-school television talk show host Blair Karsch has published the book, Bigger Than Cool: Motivational and Inspirational Thought Provoking Poetry.” “Kids need a connection to why they’re in school,” said Karsch. “Hopefully, this book will give them some sort of connection.” The 236-page book contains more than 500 poems ranging from learning to family to race relations. Karsch thinks kids need a tie to the real world. “I think I speak in the kid’s language,” he said. Karsch hopes to reach kids through the rhythm and beat of his poetry and to put a “positive perspective on the issues to facilitate a positive outcome.” Although he has sent copies of his book to publishers, Karsch is currently publishing and marketing the book himself. The book is now available for $15 at Chapters, Borders, Barnes & Nobles and Treehouse bookstores, as well as Grateful Threads and PAK Mail stores. The book can also be purchased by mail by sending a check to 9425 N. Meridian, Suite 152, Indianapolis, IN 46260 or calling...
Read MoreBy Ed Stattmann Indiana Jewish Post & Opinion One of the other weeklies in town has a classified ad category labeled “Shameless Promos.” The P-O has no such heading, but if we had, it might be appropriate for mention of Blair Karsch. He has pounded on our door, so to speak, for many weeks, seeking some publicity. We surrender. Karsch is telling anyone who’ll listen that he deserves a chance at becoming a national television personality, because he’d be a lot better for child viewers than some of the trash talk shows now available. Being right and being marketable are two different things, he concedes, but he says he’s even willing to cut his ponytail and dress conservatively if he can hold onto his show. Karsch, 37, has a cable show in which he gets youngsters to express themselves about how school, adults, and life in general are treating them. This writer has no pretensions to being a critic of television or any art form. The Indianapolis Star & News TV critic, Steve Hall, recently gave a dollop of praise and a few verbal bruises having mostly to do with technical flaws. He granted that Karsch seems to get kids to say on camera what’s on their minds. Karsch is a graduate of North Central High School and Indiana University. He has done professional TV acting in Los Angeles. Now he’s a substitute teacher in Zionsville, Carmel, and Pike and Washington townships. A self-published rap-style poet, Karsch sometimes wins children over by plugging their names and their interests into instant verse. If Hall is correct, there’s some truth to Karsch’s boast that he’s a magnet for at least some kids. Some kids in North Central High who stayed after school to be on his cable show; some African-American kids in Tarkington Park, for example. He’d like to find some backup help that would lead to taking his concept national with good production equipment. “I’m an optimist. I believe the world can be a better place,” he says. “I believe TV can do as much to correct everything as they’ve done wrong.” Karsch says he’d like to combine TV talk with help for kids who need it – with toll-free...
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