We recently connected with David Nieker and have shared our conversation below.
David, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
I just attended a preview of a feature film I’m in called “The Next Big Hit,” which is scheduled to be released later this year. I play a theater owner who rents his venue to the main characters so they can produce a Martial Arts Musical. I have two nice scenes, and director Pat Battistini gave us some freedom to do some wild lines and add our own jokes. In previews, my scenes got some pretty good laughs, so I’m proud of my performance. It was really an amazing pleasure to work with the entire cast and crew, the kind of fun movie-making and great attitudes and efforts you hope will happen every time. I’m very happy that I’m able to have contributed to it. And it’s my biggest role yet, so it was truly a learning experience and a real landmark for me in terms of my work as an actor. Of course there’s also my first stand up album, “Unshavable,” which is meaningful because it’s my first, and because I recorded and released it in 2019. The pandemic hit just as I was planning to tour it. It’s still funny and it’s still out there anywhere you stream music if you’d like to listen, but mentally I’ve moved on to other topics and now I’m talking about other things onstage.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Like everyone today, I am working three jobs all the time. Mine happen to be as an advertising and marketing copywriter, SAG actor, and standup comedian. So my “dayjob,” which I have been doing for 300 years, is I write ads and marketing materials. I solve different problems around “how do we communicate why people need our product or service?” I still enjoy copywriting, and work hard at it. Along the way I’ve developed certain skills that are ideal when acting and writing jokes, which was always like my dream career when I was younger. So now I’m finally able to make it happen.
I was an English major in college, but as a Junior at UIC I was cast as Goon #2 in Goldie Hawn’s “Wildcats.” My agent sent me to study improv with Del Close and Charna Halpern. One of the first improv games we played was “advertising agency,” where you come up with increasingly ridiculous ideas to sell products. It was the first time I realized that I could use my writing skills and my sense of fun to pursue a job, and one that would benefit any acting and comedy I might be able to do. Chicago had more need for copywriters than actors, so I got into advertising, and it kept me busy and creatively occupied for a very long time, and I lived all over the country doing it. But the dream was always there to do stand-up comedy and act, and I knew the three could fuel each other in terms of creativity and expression.
I finally took a chance and moved to Los Angeles where I could pursue all three. When writing ads, there’s a lot of creativity involved, but I can’t write what I want. I have to write “what works,” which is all about capturing whatever emotions you’re trying to get at, to sell whatever it is, toothpaste or emollient creams or whatever. But I wind up with a lot of funny ideas along the way. And writing jokes is a lot like writing ads, You’re finding the best way to say ideas, only jokes have a different ending. So, as I work, I can scribble down joke ideas and write jokes. But you only know if your jokes are funny if you tell them. You have to stand up on stage to find out. And to tell jokes well you need acting skills to convey emotion with your physical expression. So, when I’m acting, and rehearsing lines, and crafting jokes, I’m thinking about feelings and emotions. And these are the same kinds of things I think about when writing ads. And they’re all extensions of the same skills I’ve been honing for years. Acting and comedy give me other avenues for creativity than writing does, and better places for expressing my own ideas, the ones I want to explore.
So, I’m able to tap a constellation of skills that are all based on the same natural interests and abilities, as well as on things I’ve been learning my whole life. They say that’s the only way to be truly happy at work, to incorporate what you want to do, what you can do, and what you’re good at doing. I’ve got a few freelance clients, I’ve had small roles in a few things you may have heard of, and I’ve performed stand up comedy across the U.S. I’ve been working since I was 13, and I’m finally starting to love it. My jokes aren’t just well-written, they’re good times!
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
When I was younger, it was looking back and seeing what I’d created, judging it, and either celebrating or learning from that judgement. In that way, creating is like a neverending way to satisfy yourself with your own accomplishments. It’s corny but creating something is its own reward. (Even mundane creations can be stimulating and provide a sense of self-reward. The proof of this seems self-evident almost everywhere, really.)
In advertising, you’re always trying to get someone to like something, but “like aint love.” And even if it were, you’re creating love that really has nothing to do with you. You’re just a guy who’s real good at recognizing feelings lots of people might have about toothpaste. I wanted to do something besides try to convince people into liking something. I wanted to create things people just liked out of their own experience and judgement. And this constellation of skills I can use are the most simple, ancient means of expression; basic human stuff—just me and my opinions. It helps me feel like I’m appreciated not just by my family and friends, and not just for my ability to crank out ad possibilities. But by other people, in general, just for being myself. Another terrific reward is I’ll always have the good, funny memories of people I’ve met whom I’ve been able to share laughs with. Laughing with friends is one of the greatest feelings in the world. So, to know I can say, or write, or act out something that can make people laugh, maybe uncontrollably (it’s happened, I promise!), gives me the self-satisfaction not just of the job well done, but that I am doing something I should be doing. As a human. It’s way better than just being proud of something you created, or even having other people like toothpaste. And it’s not that I’m the most award-winning writer, or the funniest comic in the world, or an actor that outshines Streep as Chemelwitz. It makes me a better person, a happier person, and a more connected person. I’m using humankind’s oldest technologies to create things that both myself and other people can enjoy being alive from. For me that’s the greatest reward. I feel as if it’s the same reward people have always felt from that stuff, and knowing that is itself a great reward, too.
Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)
About the same as s*x robots. Just because a technology is capable of performing a task doesn’t mean its desirable to have it do so (witness the radium clockface!). NFTs, as most people think of them, are a joke now because nobody wanted to pay money for art that could copied and distributed anywhere but only be verified on the blockchain. However, NFTs actually have tremendous industrial value. I bought four tickets to a Dodgers World Series game when they almost made it in a couple years ago. They were expensive but I figured If they went, I could keep two and sell two and probably make most of my money back. The tickets were delivered as what were essentially NFTs. They had codes on them and seat numbers and looked like paper tickets but they didn’t exist on paper and weren’t sent to me in a physical form. They were in my name on the cloud somewhere and only me putting my password into the MLB ticket site could open them up. I would show my phone on game day, But they weren’t actual things, they were just licenses. If I wanted to fungible them, it could be easily done, but only electronically. You’d need my actual device and my maternal great aunt’s dog’s name, and other family secrets though, so they were very secure. The Dodgers didn’t make it into the World Series that year. Right after they lost the final playoff game, like 5 minutes later, I dialed up my tickets to see what would happen to them and they were gone. Just disappeared. It had only been a day or two since the purchase. No credit card transaction ever showed as having gone through, no charge ever seemed to have been made, no refund needed to be processed. It was like it never happened. So it was fast, accurate, secure, and reduced cost and errors for everyone involved. Perfect use of an NFT! But so millionaires can show other millionaires cartoons they bought on their phones? It’s a creepy vibe.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://theinternetiswastingmytime.com. http://ushavable.com http://popcopy.com
- Instagram: @DavidNieker
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/david.nieker
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidnieker/
- Twitter: haha
- Yelp: i make better pizza at home, dough from scratch!
Image Credits
Photo by Dennis Gubbins Work Sample Courtesy Brandathon, 2023 Courtesy FOX NFL Sunday ©2023 Images LightRow Productions, LLC, Albert L. Ortega Photo by John Alexander Decena
Picture of me onstage which was Photo by Reece Cross,