We recently connected with David Britton and have shared our conversation below.
David, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One of our favorite things to hear about is stories around the nicest thing someone has done for someone else – what’s the nicest thing someone has ever done for you?
When I was about a year into standup, my friend Mat recommended me for a bigger show. It was opening in a small theater for this comedian Erin Foley. She had been on Conan, and Curb Your Enuthasim, and a bunch of other stuff so it was a big deal for me.
The night of the show I went out on stage and… bombed my ass off. Like epically. Like when comedians talk about bombing, they usually mean people didn’t laugh, or barely laughed. I mean people were booing. Actual booing! Loud booing! At one point a woman in the back said “He needs to get off stage!” and everyone applauded. It was insane.
I was supposed to do like 25 minutes and they started lighting me at 10. I finally wrapped up and introduced Erin, who shook my hand and said something nice to me. I got off stage a broken man! I went to the green room and called my daughter, of all people, who assured me I was both funny and a good person.
Erin ended up having a great set and afterward, she was very gracious and sweet about me bombing so hard. I thought my friend Mat would be mad, since he recommended me and I blew it so hard, but he just laughed and said it happens to everyone (which is not true by the way). My friend Ben, a comedian I really looked up to, told me “Hey if you’re not gonna quit it doesn’t matter.” And I didn’t quit! I think most people would have. I think anyone in their right mind would have! But I didn’t and I’ve had a great career since then. I actually ran into Erin at a festival years later and we laughed about it.
The whole story is about people being kind to me (I mean except for the audience). My. friends, my daughter, this famous comedian who didn’t know me, everyone was really kind to me when I felt HORRIBLE. Now that it’s been over a decade I love telling that story because I find it so funny, but at the time I don’t think I could have gotten through it without all the kindness of the people around me. What a night! Also, I don’t really blame the audience. I sucked that night.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’m a comedian, writer, actor, and general werido. I’ve been doing comedy professionally, in one form or another, for maybe… 15 years? The number changes every time I try and count it. Unprofessionally I’ve been doing it for a lot longer than that. Ever since I first made my brother and sister laugh. There’s something about making other people laugh that feels so good! It’s like a nice thing you can do for someone, that feels good for you, and it doesn’t cost anything! Which is good because I’m pretty broke.
Currently, I’m doing a lot of standup and writing and directing a new play called “Rodney and Juliet” with my friend Tom. For the past three years I’ve also been selling “Mystery Boxes”. I basically spend all year gathering up weird and interesting little things from thrift stores, yards sales, and friends attics. Then in November I sell boxes of what I like to refer to as “tiny delights” to people. It started out as a bit of a lark, but sales have more than doubled every year so I guess I have a business now? I’m going to start selling them year round now because they’ve been so popular. It’s amazing what you can stumble into when you do things just because they seem fun.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
When I had been doing standup for about three years I was invited to work at a club in Dayton Ohio for the weekend. The place provided a room (which ended up being a leaky basement with astroturf floors but hey, it was free). I was so broke at the time I was basically surviving on the one free meal I got every day from the club. I don’t know why I didn’t think about this, but after the late show on Sunday they handed me a check and I realized there was no branch of my bank nearby to cash it. I had $10 left in my wallet and I had to either put it in my gas tank and drive home with no food, or buy something to eat and hope I could make it home on half a tank of gas. Luckily the headliner that weekend pointed out that there was a cabinet in the little apartment we were sharing that had free chips and granola bars, so I took a bunch of those with me and used the $10 to buy gas. I remember really questioning what I was doing though. I thought “Is this what my life is gonna be like now?” but I knew I didn’t wanna quit. I’d had a great time on stage all weekend. That’s really what it comes down to for me. The hours and hours in the car, the worries about money, all the hard scary stuff, were always worth it if the time I spent on stage was fun.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
This is so tough. I mean I don’t want people to support me just because they want to support me. I want them to find value in what I do. Things have shifted a lot for performing artists. I used to get paid for a show, and that would cover my expenses, and then I’d sell CDs afterward and make a profit. Now you can’t sell physical copies of your music. I mean Spotify and the like are amazing and I use them myself, but musicians, comedians, etc., used to make half their money selling their music. Right before I started answering these interview questions I checked my bank account and I saw I had a deposit for $68. That’s from three months of streaming! Not exactly a good way to make a living.
I guess my best answer is: support the stuff you love. There are lots of local artists who do amazing work. Buy a print from them instead of a poster at Target. You’ll have something unique and you’ll help ensure that there’s cool art in your town.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://davidbrittoncomedy.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lazersaurus
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheDavidBritton
