Jim David - Stand-Up Beginnings

Stand-Up Beginnings

Growing up in North Carolina, David played Phyllis Diller and Jonathan Winters records until they were ruined and voraciously read Mad Magazine, even creating his own comedy magazine entitled "Icky". He made his stage debut at age 9 as a Munchkin in The Wizard of Oz, and by college had appeared in over 50 plays.

After attending Furman University and Southern Methodist University, he moved to New York, appeared in several Off-Broadway and Regional theater productions, and did commercials and voice-overs. His New York theater career led him to remark, "I came to New York to be in the theater, but the theater said, 'we don't see you as an actor, we see you as an usher.'" However, he did appear on Broadway in the musical The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public in 1994, directed by Tommy Tune and Peter Masterson.

He became a director and directed plays (among them Candide, The Skin of Our Teeth, Waiting for Godot, Dark of the Moon, Noises Off, Jesus Christ Superstar and Molière's The Learned Ladies Off-Broadway) and taught theater in high schools and community theaters. In 1986, he became a stand-up comedian full-time.