I wanna be like Mike Dave
David Letterman’s show is the pinnacle for any stand-up comedian. Only the best perform there. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to be on his show. But only one reason.
It’s Personal
I can relate to Dave. I remember watching his old NBC show late at night and thinking I was kinda like him. Johnny Carson’s guests all seemed like Hollywood stars.
Good looking movie stars.
Celebrities.
Dave looked like a guy I’d see at the hardware store in my hometown of Hanover Park, Illinois. He was goofy looking. He had a gap in his teeth. Dave wasn’t perfect. I could relate.
Similar Backgrounds
David Letterman is from Indiana. I’m a mid-western boy too. If he could get up on stage and make people laugh, why couldn’t I? Dave’s mom was always on his show and she looked like my mom’s friends. I really felt like there was someone on TV like me. Weird, awkward and with a sarcastic, dry, silly sense of humor.
David Letterman Broke New Ground
Plus, David Letterman started showcasing a whole array of stand-up comedians on his show. Comics that would never have been on Johnny Carson…at least not until Dave showed the world how funny they were. Guys like Andy Kaufman, and Sam Kinison.
The comics on “The Tonight Show” were all great, but you seldom saw something out of the ordinary. On David Letterman’s show you knew it was going to be something original. It made me like Dave even more, and it made me want to be a stand up comic.
A stand-up coming that got to be on David Letterman’s Show.