All the world’s a stage for Jonathan Zarov

If it is 8 a.m. on a Friday, you’ll find Jonathan Zarov behind a microphone at community radio station WORT, discussing politics or interviewing a local artist. If you want to find Zarov on Sunday evening, try looking on stage at the Harmony Bar, where he may be pretending to be a talking dog or a piece of furniture, as he performs with the improvisation comedy troupe Spin Cycle. And if his week hasn’t already included enough performances, Zarov may slip out Tuesday night to join Gomeroke, a weekly live-band karaoke party with music by the Gomers.

The list goes on. Zarov sings and plays guitar in a local rock band, Yammer. He also produces a quarterly politically themed variety show, The Entertainment. You might have caught Zarov dressed as a giant Tigger at the Slipper Club cabaret, or seen him at the Weary Traveler, planning Bike to Work Week with representatives of the Wisconsin Bicycle Federation.

Between acts and activism, Zarov somehow manages to work full time as student services coordinator for University Health Services. His duties fall into two major categories: marketing health services to students — making sure they know what types of medical and counseling care are available to them and how to best access that care — and helping plan outreach campaigns to address the biggest public health problems on campus, which Zarov lists as “high-risk drinking, smoking, stress, depression and sexual assault.”

The most challenging and creative aspect of this work is finding ways to reach the students without turning them off to the message, says Zarov. These are “problems that require multifaceted approaches, including education and policy changes. You really have to turn the culture around, which is a big ship to turn.”

To turn that ship, Zarov and his colleagues have organized events from alcohol-free parties to Pet Therapy, in which the counseling staff brought their dogs to Library Mall to play with (and be petted by) students. For the Great American Smokeout, students were invited to trade cartons of cigarettes for pizza and condoms. In another popular project, UHS set up “Stress-Free Zones” on campus at the end of the semester. Although few students actually took health services up on the suggestion to nap in public, many came to check out information on stress reduction and enjoy free massages.

To succeed, Zarov has learned to promote issues in ways that are entertaining and pique people’s curiosity. When Bob McGrath, director of counseling programs for UHS, suggested the Pet Therapy program, Zarov saw the idea’s potential and jumped in with both feet.

Similarly, for one of his variety shows last December, he organized a “Bed-in for Peace” benefit concert to oppose the Wisconsin concealed-carry handgun bill. “It could have just been a John Lennon tribute, but being a ‘bed-in’ was a great way to pull in more media,” he says. “For me it’s often a whimsical or unexpected hook that gets people.”

Unsurprisingly, Zarov sees many parallels between his performance roles in the Madison community and his university work. In both settings, he is always looking for ways to engage an audience in serious topics they might otherwise ignore, he says, and in both he hopes to spur others to take action. In art, in activism and in public service, he believes, baring universal truths encourages others to be more introspective and make changes in their own behavior.

“Art is about revealing yourself,” he says. “It requires being fearless. If you go in and find the thing in yourself that’s true, that everyone else is afraid to say, if you really hit it, if you really find it, chances are you’ll find something that’s universal.”

Three factors drive Zarov to devote himself to activism and performance: joy, guilt and a love of the limelight. The joy of creativity comes first, when he gets a chance to let his imagination run wild. This is followed by guilt, which arises from having a sense of social responsibility and a desire to work for societal change even though he has learned he seldom enjoys the labor that activism entails. “I really admire people I know who are going to [activist] meetings 24/7 and constantly attending other city meetings, and being out there for causes, doing lit drops and things like that,” he says. “But what makes me happy is to write, create, perform.” These creative projects give him an outlet to be political on his own terms.

As a political artist, Zarov is always wary of becoming overly didactic. “If you’re going up there in front of people, you should work to entertain them,” he says. “Good politics is no excuse for bad art. In one of the folk songs he has written,” Earnest Protest Singer,” Zarov gently mocks himself and the dangers of becoming too preachy:

“We will fight this very good fight
while we sing this very bad song.
Though our hearts are in the right place,
the words may come out wrong.
We will sing this very bad song
while we fight this very good fight.
So cover up your ears and see the light.”

Through his music and writing, Zarov has found a way to tackle issues that concern him. One of his greatest and unexpected satisfactions of performing comes when he motivates others to take action themselves. This element of community building is a strong thread that runs through his university work and his performances. “Madison is almost another organ in my body,” he insists.

So what’s next for Zarov? He has a long list of spectacles he would like to perform, and admits that he prefers to try things he’s not qualified to do.

“I’d love to choreograph a ballet,” he says. And broadcast an on-air aquatic parade across Lake Mendota. And stage his own funeral ceremony. If a funeral proves too difficult, he concludes, he’ll settle for a performance-art bar mitzvah. He hopes you’ll be watching.