Earlier this year we caught wind of a New Year’s Eve video from Downtown Salisbury’s NYE Ball Drop that had gone viral locally, with over 2000 hits in just 24 hours. The video featured self-proclaimed news anchor, Rick Danger, hitting the streets of Salisbury to hilariously promote the NYE event. We had to meet Rick Danger…
After finding a few more clips of Danger on the scene, including outtakes of an upcoming promotion for the Salisbury Festival staring local children, we decided to schedule our own interview with the illusive newscaster and his die hard news team. The meeting place? Salisbury of course, where we quickly learned that while the Rick Danger persona started out as a comic pastime, the notoriety of the character has quickly snowballed, leaving the creative team with the perfect vessel for conveying the somewhat hidden charms of Salisbury to area residents and visitors.
We met with Danger, who is really a Salisbury local and entrepreneur named Blair Carey, as well as his “news team,” which consists of the founder of Vizion Creative and several employees. Maurice Waters, 
Matt McIver and Jesse Campbell are the creative force behind the Rick Danger phenomenon, with Carey essentially serving as the talent in front of the camera. The team explained that the idea to create an Anchorman-esque video came to fruition just three-days before NYE, as they brainstormed ideas for a humorous way to promote Downtown Salisbury’s first NYE Ball Drop. Within 24 of hitting the web, the video already had 2000 hits.
After realizing the success of their first video, the team decided to give Rick Danger a permanent voice, situating the character as the unofficial, official representative of Downtown Salisbury. “We want Rick Danger to be the voice of Downtown Salisbury,” said Campbell. It wasn’t long before the team was contacted by the Chamber of Commerce in Salisbury to help promote the Salisbury Festival, to be held April 25-27.
While the Rick Danger persona is set to be an ever-evolv
ing, organic concept, the team agreed that the under-riding theme will always be to promote Salisbury and change some of the negative connotations associated with the Eastern Shore metropolis. “I think Salisbury is on the rise, honestly,” said Carey when asked what he makes of the slow transformation of the downtown area. Campbell pointed out that Salisbury, particularly downtown, is finding its identity, and as Salisbury residents and business owners, they have a vested interest in helping to shape that identity. “Rick Danger is all about Salisbury, he’s about good news,” added Waters.
Of course Salisbury is not the only town they hope to feature, with hopes of being “on the scene” all over the Eastern Shore. “We like to think of promoting Salisbury as a way to unify the greater Shore. It’s about making the Eastern Shore a destination,” said Campbell.
So where can you find Rick Danger? Well for starters, on Facebook; however you can also spot him all over Salisbury, whether it’s at the upcoming Salisbury Festival, at the Salisbury 3rd Friday art strolls, or cruising Downtown Salisbury to help promote a local business. You can’t miss Rick Danger, as he is typically donning his finest suit (again, think Ron Burgundy) and has his news team in tow. Comedy typically ensues as Rick Danger conducts his interviews, playing on his disarming charm and comic improvisation to win over audiences.
Intrigued yet?
