Today we’d like to introduce you to Dustin David.
Hi Dustin, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was born and grew up in Maine. I always wanted to be a stand-up comedian and after High School, I started performing professionally when I was 19 in 2003. After a few years I eventually moved to Los Angeles. I had some issues with depression and alcoholism that had progressively got worse after moving to Los Angeles.
I thought they were just keeping from succeeding but in reality, it was keeping me from enjoying life at all. I got sober in 2013 and also started going to therapy a few years after that. Things were going well until the Pandemic when I had to stop performing for safety. Time away from the stand-up scene allowed me some space to really look at the stand-up culture as a whole, the people I worked with and how I was operating from a place of privilege. If I even wanted to continue doing comedy, I would have to reevaluate the kinds of shows and people I wanted to work with. Life got pretty dark when I was in isolation. I continued to stay vigilant about my sobriety and mental health. I went to therapy every week online and stayed connected to my sober community. Things really began to shift for me when I was watching some art documentaries and got inspired to start creating again. I took a bunch of online classes for graphic design, figure drawing and photography. I had identified as a comic for a long time but I really began to see myself as an artist and comedy could be a part of that but it doesn’t need to be the whole thing. Today I am really enjoying photography / art as a medium of expression but I have also been feeling drawn back to stand-up.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Growing up I struggled with feeling different and fitting in. Which is just the whitest of privileges. I thought it was just that I knew I wanted to be a comedian and that made me different but when I got older I thought it might be something else. After some years of sobriety and the patience of my therapist, I had the realization that I am bisexual. I think I might have known for a while but couldn’t accept it to be true. I feel like that was a contributing factor to my drinking and also serious suicide attempt right after High School. I think my solution at the time was “Maybe if I kill myself I won’t have to tell anyone.” I have come to accept and even cherish this part of myself. I think a much funnier answer would be “Yes, the road has been completely smooth. No struggles!”
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I do art, photography and comedy. I would say that I am most known for comedy and hope to someday be seen as an artist as well. I am planning on having an art show in 2023. Right now I am most proud of my comedy special “Something Pretentious” on my website www.dustindavidcomedy.com. What sets me apart from most other comedians and artists is that I am fucking hilarious.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
What I like most about Hollywood is the acceptance of being weird. I really used to resent being called or seen as “weird” but after spending a good amount of time alone, I feel like I came into my own in that way. Hollywood is kind of the perfect place for me to be weird in a community with other people doing the same thing. Sometimes it feels like a bunch of people from different places having the realization like “Yeah, I have to get out of here. I’m too weird for this place.” What I like least about Hollywood or maybe it’s the part that I find so baffling is how a city can have so much money but can’t allocate enough money to adequately care for the city’s most vulnerable citizens. I’m sure there is a lot of ignorance on my part as to why things are the way they are but it’s really heartbreaking to see people really trying to get help and leaving empty-handed.
Contact Info:
- Website: Comedy www.dustindavidcomedy.com / Art www.dustindustries.co /
Photography https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/1-dustin-david - Instagram: dustindavid_
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@dustindavidcomedy/featured
Image Credits
Dustin David, Alex Steed, Amber Carter-Laflamme, Dare Williams, Elise Alves
