How comedian Dave Burd is surviving self-isolation, and how he came to be in his career
Comedian Dave Burd is self-isolating but unlike the rest of us, he is doing it alongside an audience of five million people – virtually that is, thanks to his show Dave.
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Just like the rest of the globe, comedian Dave Burd is self-isolating.
Unlike most of us, however, he gets to hang out with close to five million others, virtually that is, thanks to his show Dave.
“I know this a tough time for everyone … but I’m so thankful to be spending it with all 4.8 million of you every week,” he said.
“It doesn’t feel as isolating when I have you guys. Or when I’m this proud. Thank you everybody for making @DaveonFXX one of the biggest comedies in FXX history.”
It’s certainly more than he ever dreamt of when he was studying in Australia more than a decade ago.
While Burd already knew he wanted to be a comedy superstar, he had absolutely no idea how he was going to do it.
And he certainly had no clue that he would return less than 10 years later as comedy rapper Lil Dicky and play some of the biggest shows in career to that point.
“I always expected I was going to achieve something but I did not expect to go back and perform as a rapper,” Burd said.
“But I expected my movies to be played there some day. (Coming back in 2018) felt very much like coming full circle.”
Burd’s star has been on the rise ever since he threw in his career in advertising and uploaded the song Ex-Boyfriend to YouTube, then watched it clock up a million views in a day.
Two years ago, his collaboration with controversial rapper Chris Brown, Freaky Friday, was a global hit – peaking at No. 4 in Australia – and he last year corralled a who’s who of the pop world for his music video, Earth, which featured Ed Sheeran, Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber and Shawn Mendes.
Now he’s taking his career to another level and bringing lockdown laughs when they are most needed with his semi-autobiographical comedy Dave, which is now streaming on Foxtel.
With Kevin Hart as an executive producer, it follows its title character who is trying to turn viral video success into a long-term music career and swinging wildly between blind optimism and crippling self-doubt.
“That sums it up very well,” Burd said. “That’s how I am as a person. I have the confidence that a rapper has but the self-deprecation and neuroses of a Larry David or a Woody Allen, you know what I mean?”
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Dave has proved to be a critical and ratings hit for FXX in the US, and Burd’s Twitter feed is full of fans especially grateful for putting a smile on their face with all the grim tidings of the coronavirus pandemic.
Indeed, comedy – when sensitively and respectfully done – seems to be more important than ever right now as a coping mechanism for the endless bad news, and also as a way to connect with each other.
Laughter, as they say, is the best medicine.
And with streaming services proliferating and regulations mandating more and more time indoors, it’s a perfect time to seek out some of the quality shows of recent years.
For Burd, the comedy benchmark is his hero David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, which he admits shares a few similarities with his own show.
“Curb might be the best show of all time,” Burd said.
“I am obsessed with it. The similarity is that me and Larry are both people who relish the opportunity to hold people socially accountable.
“I live for those confrontations – even in real life I love getting into an argument with a waiter about why I can’t have this burger with more tomato.
“I live for that conversation. I think that’s where the similarities are – and we’re both curmudgeonly, neurotic, Jewish men.”
DAVE BURD’S TIPS TO ISOLATION
Climbing up the walls and going slightly crazy from self-isolation? There’s plenty of options to put a smile on your dial in these testing times from the comfort of your own home.
GAGS FOR GROWN-UPS ON NETFLIX
Dave Burd believes Curb Your Enthusiasm might be the best show of all time and there are plenty of others who agree.
Seinfeld co-creator Larry David – also playing a fictionalised version of himself – has provided some of the most hilarious (and cringe-worthy) moments of this century, with all ten seasons of the Emmy-winning series now streaming on Foxtel.
Not far behind in the grumpy man stakes is Ricky Gervais, as a grief-stricken widower in After Life.
The second season – which airs on Netflix on April 24 – is a little more uneven than the first, but still masterfully flips from hysterics to heartbreak in an instant.
Another British and similarly sweary masterclass in blending light and shade is Phoebe Waller-Bridges’ awards favourite Fleabag.
Both shockingly good seasons are currently available on Amazon Prime, which is also home to the Marvellous Mrs Maisel, about a sheltered 1950s New York housewife who embarks on an unlikely career as a stand-up comedian.
HAVE SOME FAMILY FUN
For teens and up it’s hard to go past the loveable lunkheads of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, with all seven seasons of detective Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg) and his comedy cohorts in the fictional New York police precinct on SBS On Demand.
In a similar vein is the beloved political satire Parks and Recreation (on Foxtel, Stan and Amazon) with Amy Poehler heading an all-star cast that also included Rashida Jones, Nick Offerman and pre-buff Chris Pratt.
Critics are also in raptures over the last week’s US finale of the delightful Schitt’s Creek, about a once wealthy family forced to relocate to the small town they once bought as a joke. We’ll have to wait until May 14 for the final season to drop, but in the meantime, the first five seasons are on Netflix.
STAND-UP STANDOUTS
It seems cruel in a time we need laughs more than ever, the best people for the job can’t give them to us. But with this year’s comedy festivals around the country cancelled and performers wondering how the hell to work coronavirus into their next routine, stand-up aficionados can still get their fix from the comfort of the couch.
As Celia Pacquola – one of a number of stand-ups including Tommy Little, Judith Lucy and Tom Gleeson, whose routines have just dropped on Amazon Prime – said: “Comedy will always exist – and this is all material eventually because we all want to talk about it. I can’t wait to get to a point where we are like ‘geez, wasn’t it funny when ….’. All I want in the world is for this to be Y2K, that’s all I want.”
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Compatriots Wil Anderson, Sam Simmons and Tom Ballard are also showcasing their wares in Stan’s One Night Stan.
And ABC iview has come to the party too, with Denise Scott hosting the Melbourne International Comedy Care Package, featuring past performances from some of the biggest and best names in the game.