American actor, stand-up and director David Cross comes to Dublin to play Vicar Street with his new tour, Oh Come On. Below, we discuss his stand-up, early influences and the importance of voting.
As an actor, David Cross has cultivated an impressive filmography ranging from American sitcom Arrested Development and parody slasher Scary Movie 2 to cult classic Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and the family-friendly Megamind.
As a comedian, the Atlanta native has a more concentrated ambition - one that aims to cross lines at every opportunity. Tackling the most politically charged topics, his 2016 tour Making America Great Again! covered police brutality, the NRA, immigration and, of course, Trump - most of which caused multiple walks outs.
Oh, Come On is the comedian's first full tour since 2016 and fans can expect the stand-up to be as contentious as ever. The jokes are brutal, unapologetic and, now, they're coming to Dublin.
"There will be dark humour, absurdist humour and silly, pithy, throwaway jokes, dumb little lines, meatier stuff... it kind of runs the gambit. I try to mix it up so it's not too much of one type of comedy," Cross told RTÉ Culture.
On #MeToo: "it's tougher for older people like myself but it's really good for anybody raising kids - raising boys - to understand that this is not acceptable behaviour"
Following his stint at Vicar Street, David will be visiting Ireland's iconic Trinity College.
"I'm going to do a thing at Trinity where I'll give a speech and a Q&A and then have a lovely dinner with some folks and do a tour so that's what I'll be doing with my day off," he said.
Early Influences
With an Emmy, two Grammy nominations, and a successful career on both screen and stage - it would seem that Cross was made for the entertainment industry. Something that, he says, he knew from an early age.
"I clearly had no skills in anything else. I had no discernible skills in anything else," he laughed. "I knew pretty early on that I wanted to do stand-up or be in the arts, as it were.
"I don't know where I got the opinionated, 'not afraid to say it' thing - I don't know where that came from, there's no one in my family with that kind of trait but it's just there. As you get older, you get more confidence," he mused.
"Stand-up wise, I had a bunch of comedy albums when I was a kid; Andy Kaufman, George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Jonathan Winters, Steve Martin - they were big influences. I loved silly comedy too like Monthy Python, even though I didn't get half the references."
Twitter controversy
While Trump will no doubt be on the agenda, it is possible that Cross will address some of his own issues during his upcoming appearance.
Last October, comedian Charlyne Yi accused Cross of making racist comments toward her ten years previously.
Although he apologised, insisted they were "both misremembering" and explained that the comments were made while he was in the character of a redneck, David's wife, actress and #MeToo activist Amber Tamblyn, admitted that her husband was right to be called out on his behaviour.
"He was rightfully accused of doing something racist to the comedian, Charlyne Yi," she told NPR's Sam Sanders. "You know, I think the jokes that work for white guys and their white guy comedian friends don’t work, always, for women of colour."
Following this, while promoting Arrested Development, Cross made headlines again when he defended Jeffrey Tambor - an actor who was accused of berating co-star Jessica Walters.
He has since apologised 'unequivocally' to the actress.
#TimesUp
As someone who makes a living in the entertainment industry and whose wife has strong ties to #MeToo and Time's Up, Cross says he has seen a slow but persistent change.
"There's certainly a discussion almost daily about it [#MeToo] so that's a good change and people are being called on their s**t - not nearly enough, not even close to cracking 1% probably but, you know, it's a start.
"You're raising a generation with a consciousness that you can't treat people this way and get away with it and that's a good thing.
"It's tougher for older people like myself but it's really good for anybody raising kids - raising boys - to understand that this is not acceptable behaviour.
"It's a start. Historically, this is in its infancy - this movement. A lot of it is going to depend on the tone and tenor of this country and the upcoming elections.
Comic timing
Despite any controversies that may follow him, Cross believes that comedians are a necessary part of the political spectrum - a catharsis to the public.
"I have my opinions and takes on things but I think there some shows -The Daily Show, in particular - that have a half hour at their disposal. They can go in-depth nightly and have a whole staff but I'm just making commentary.
"Some of it is informative but I think people are just sort of using it to decompress at the end of the day, especially since the election.
"Every day there has been a varying degree of horror and at the end of the day, it helps to see somebody direct the things that you've been listening to or reading tweets about that are just awful and somebody puts a funny spin on it."
David Cross plays Vicar Street with his Oh Come On Tour tomorrow night, October 2nd. Tickets are on sale here.
