Wade Marshall is the superintendent of Independence Stadium.

Wade Marshall, music maker and stadium manager

Everyone has a story.

Periodically, 318 Forum’s Tony

Taglavore takes a local person to lunch — someone well-known, successful, and/or influential — and asks, “What’s Your Story?”

The Carolina Reaper is one of the world’s hottest chili peppers.

Mad Dog 357, a combination of cayenne peppers, habanero peppers and pepper extract, is one of the world’s hottest hot sauces.

Combine the two, clean your plate and your Saturday quickly becomes very unpleasant.

“It would have been fine, but I didn’t eat anything that day. So, it went straight to my stomach. It tore me up. I almost had to go to the ER. It was pretty bad.”

How bad? “I went into a fetal position in my bed for about two hours until (the feeling) passed.”

That was after a visit — make that visits — to the bathroom.

“I busted a capillary in my eye just from throwing up.”

Thankfully, 45-year-old Wade Marshall, who may be the most interesting man in Shreveport, told me that story and his story after I had finished lunch. Wade suggested we dine at Abby Singer’s Bistro. He had the Get Shorty Chicken Sandwich with sweet potato fries. I enjoyed the large Strawberry Blonde Salad and added grilled chicken. We both drank water.

Wade’s brush with death, or at least an upset stomach, was not out of character. Just check out his YouTube channel.

“Maybe I need to go to therapy for this, but a lot of (his affinity for hot foods) has to do with it being almost like an addiction. A lot of ex-drug addicts (Wade says he’s not one) get into hot sauce because it’s like a rush for them. It releases endorphins in your body, to a point where it feels good.”

Wade is a member of Pepper Pals, a group of people who probably wear coats in August.

“When you eat something super spicy, I’m talking ‘knock you on your floor,’ there’s a release of your body that goes into something euphoric. You’re on a whole other level. It will come down. It’s a drug, let’s be honest. But it’s safe.”

It would be one thing if torturing his body with hot peppers and sauces was Wade’s only hobby. But it is one of many, in addition to his full-time work as superintendent of Independence Stadium for the city of Shreveport.

Music composer. Filmmaker. Unofficial film liaison and advocate for Shreveport.

Foodie. “Everyone is capable of learning something new and trying new things.

I’ve gotten into the mentality of ‘Why can’t I do this or that?’”

For example, Wade, who says he was “a fat kid,” may only eat at a restaurant once. There’s no need for him to return.

“Walk-On’s has a dish called Cajundillas. They take jambalaya, andouille sausage, pepper jack cheese, a bunch of other stuff, and put it into a tortilla. And then they have this jalapeno ranch dipping sauce. I said, ‘I can make this at home.’ I’ve never gone back to Walk-On’s, because I make it at home. It’s much cheaper.”

Wade may not return to Abby Singer’s Bistro, either.

“Even this chicken sandwich I could probably make at home. I can make a Chick-fil-A sandwich. I can make Cane’s. I can make Cane’s sauce.”

What can’t Wade do? But his craving for food takes a backseat to his craving for music and movies.

“I always loved ‘Movie Magic.’ The spectacle of it. How it makes you feel emotion. How a movie can change you after watching it.”

After graduating Centenary College of Louisiana on a musical scholarship and with a degree in music composition and theory, the then-21-year-old loaded up as much as his SUV would hold (he took a cell phone with an antenna his mom had given him) and moved to Los Angeles. Wade had high school (Evangel Christian Academy) friends in the movie business who said they could help get his music onto the big screen.

“It was like Tom Hanks in ‘Big.’ You grow up and go to this big city and you don’t know anything about it. There are sirens and gunshots. It was craziness. It was definitely a culture shock.”

Wade worked different jobs to make ends meet, including being the guy who called celebrities when their home alarm went off. Wade remembers one day when a particular name flashed on the computer screen.

“It came up Johnny Williams. I was like, ‘Surely that’s not THE John Williams (who composed the music for the ‘Star Wars’ movies).’ Sure enough, a lady answered the phone, and I could hear her talking to John. She said, ‘Well, we’ve got to get to the studio. You need to do this piece. We have to finish it today.’ I was like, ‘Oh, my God, it IS John Williams.’ He was kind of rude to me on the phone. He didn’t know who I was, but I was like, ‘Wow, I got to talk to John Williams.’”

Wade’s music found its way into some movies and video games, but after seven years in Tinseltown, the oldest of two brothers got wind of the fact that his hometown was starting to be a player in movie production.

“I was kind of to the point where I had done my time. You kind of know. I missed my family. I see this film industry growing in Shreveport, and maybe I can go back and get involved.”

Wade did. He managed Millennium Films’ warehouse, which stored props and set decorations. Later, he became manager of Millennium Studios, where more than 60 movies were produced before and after Wade’s arrival.

But when the studio closed, Wade, who was then working for the city’s economic development department, needed a job. He was offered the opportunity to manage Independence Stadium. That certainly wasn’t in his wheelhouse, but Wade applied his always-positive attitude and his love for Shreveport.

“I don’t even like football. I was a band nerd. But I liked the fact that it was a big asset for the city, and it would be nice to run something that big and do something cool with it.”

The twice-divorced father of two is busy working on two of his hobbies: writing music and making films. He is producing his first short film for the Louisiana Film Prize competition called “The Soundtrack of Our Lives.”

“The overall message of the music is that art, or any kind of creative process anybody is involved in, is to never give up on that dream. It’s always going to be there. It’s always going to be in your head. … It’s always going to be there reminding you that you can do it.”

With Wade doing so many things — he interrupted his work helping set up a downtown festival to meet me for lunch — I figured it was time to ask my final question. As always, what is it about his story that can be influential to others?

“Going through everything I’ve gone through, especially two marriages and kids, I had to reflect on myself. What is it about me? Maybe I need to look at me and see how I can change myself. I realized maybe I wasn’t being authentic enough. Maybe I wasn’t being my true self. … Don’t hold back. Be honest with people.

Tell them how you feel. Be someone that is recognized as being genuine, and guess what? Everything starts working the way you want it to work, without even asking. The Universe. God. Whoever people believe in. It starts happening for you. It’s weird how that happens, but it’s just the way you put out that energy, and you get it back.” Sound advice from perhaps the most interesting man in Shreveport.