David is not sure a “traditional life” exists and believes he has had a nontraditional one. David grew up in Joplin, Missouri and was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in first grade.While ADHD, is often called a “learning disability,“ David views it as a “learning difference.” He was always capable of—and loved—learning but struggled mightily within the model provided by a standard American, public school, education. He feels fortunate his parents had resources and from an early age he spent many, sometimes most, of his afternoons after school working one-on-one with a tutor to learn all of the things he was incapable of learning in a traditional classroom.
David also feels fortunate to have found soccer which served as a creative and physical outlet from childhood through his young adult years. For most of his young life, a soccer field was the only place things made sense, and he practiced obsessively. Following two late high school injuries and surgeries, he still managed to get recruited at the collegiate level. He believes, had he not had the opportunity to continue playing soccer, he might not have gone on to pursue a college education.
In college, David stumbled into an improvisational acting class where he did a few wild and creative things in front of the head of the theater department. This person took interest in David and one day pulled him aside after class and asked, “What are you going to do with your life?” After some reflection, David replied, “I have no idea.” The Department head was aware David’s father was a successful local businessman and asked, “Do you think you’re going to be a businessman like your dad?” When David said, “Maybe.” He nodded and said, “That sounds like a normal path to follow, but I hate to break it to you, you are not normal.”
With the head of the department as his mentor, David threw himself into theater. Following graduation from college, he auditioned around the country, for various acting programs and professional theaters. Among several offers, he chose to pursue a Master of Fine Arts in Acting at the Actor’s Studio Drama School, in New York City.
At the Actor’s Studio Drama School, David studied acting with teachers who had performed and directed on Broadway, and in film and television, and who regularly provided acting coaching to famous, lauded, professional actors. After graduating with his MFA, he auditioned for, and landed, some roles and good reviews in some respected theaters. Then a funny friend moved to town, and convinced him to take a class with him at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater.
At the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, he fell in with a group of talented young comedians and they formed a sketch comedy group. This group performed for a couple of years in theaters all over New York City. Following one of their shows, a film director offered to film, and direct, a couple of their shorts.
After filming the group’s shorts, the director put three sketches on the internet. In a matter of months, the sketches had accrued hundreds of thousands of views and the group was approached and represented by the prestigious Creative Artists Agency. For the next few years, they pitched ideas on both coasts, to internet and TV executives, sold videos to television shows, and internet show concepts to major studios. They also produced internet commercials for big ad agencies. Due to various life changes for different members of the group they separated. Following the dissolution of the group, David was at a crossroads. He was no longer sure he wanted to pursue acting and began working a series of odd jobs.
He worked teaching improvisational comedy to kids, photographing children and adolescents in schools, and transporting adolescents to treatment programs. Following some intense experiences transporting, and bonding with, adolescents en route to treatment, he decided to return to graduate school for a Masters in Social Work. As a Social Worker, David has worked with adolescents via the Brooklyn public school system. David is thrilled to be joining The Kinetic People where he feels his diverse life experiences and personal struggles make him uniquely capable of helping and empathizing with others. He is excited to expand his skill set into consulting and assisting young people and their families through these transitional periods of their life.