Meet Dave Luca

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dave Luca a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Dave, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.

I can only attribute my confidence and self-esteem to my mother. My mother was an absolute viking when it came to voicing her opinion against all criticism. Growing up, I watched my mother thrive in a very negative world. I was raised in Woodbridge, Ontario. At the time, it was a incredibly insular community, both in culture and in attitude. The culture was Italian, and the attitude, especially for women, was quiet and guarded. My mother, who was raised by thankfully loud-mouthed parents from the east-coast, was anything but. She always spoke her mind and was always the odd one out in the crowd. I watched her voice her opinion and face the consequences all my life. Not only did she did she do it with no self-filtering and with absolute bravery, she did it with humour.

And over the course of my childhood, many people in the community that saw her as a crass outsider, not only learned to love her, but actually looked to her as a leader in my community, because she proved to everyone around her that she can be trusted to speak her mind intelligently and without filter,

Watching my mother own her “fish out of water” situation in my community with a sharp wit, a rebellious honesty, and. loving levity, inspired me to feel the same way. She taught me that other people’s view of you should never dictate how you view yourself. She was always my biggest cheerleader, always my biggest supporter, and did everything she could to remind me that I am what I do and what I say, and even if people disagreed, it’s my own self. belief that can dictate my destiny.

With a mother like that, I’ve never had the chance to lack confidence, or self esteem.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

Professionally, I am solely focused on the performing, writing, and directing of comedy.

For the last seven years I have performed standup comedy throughout the city of Toronto, and in the last two years I have had the privilege of taking my act across Canada and the USA.

I was used to work in Film and TV as a Camera Assistant, but after the pandemic I left that line of work to focus solely on performing and producing comedy. Since then I have made my living not only performing comedy, but also directing comedy specials for amazing acts such as Kyle Lucey and John Hastings, and producing and online content for viral personalities such as Graeme Barrett (@audioopera).

My entire career is solely based on understanding the world of comedy in terms of writing, directing, producing and performing.

I also have recently began producing live comedy with a good and talented friend of mine, James Cummins, We run a show called Wheel of Comedy, every other Monday at Comedy Bar West (945 Bloor Street West). This show is a very 0ff-the-wall live experience, where get comedians to throw their material out the window, and lean into their natural comedic abilities by improving their sets based on challenges that come from spinning a wheel.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

1) Confidence, There is absolutely no reason why someone would want to hear me talk. No one is going to ask you to step on stage and give your take. You have to feel that you have something to say that is worth hearing. Everyone has something to say, the difference between those that keep it in and those that shout it out to the masses is simply the confidence to choose to express it.

2) Storytelling. I grew up in a family where having a new story to tell around the dinner table was everything, Knowing the beats of a story can take you a long way. Have a weird idea? Put it into the perspective of a main character, and have them discover that idea through trial and tribulations. Story is the ultimate teaching method of humanity. Where simple facts fail, story succeeds.

3) Fearlessness. I know this may sound quite extreme, but you don’t have to skydive to be fearless. Fear is in everything we do everyday. The fear of being offensive, of looking dumb, of being embarrassed, of being too vulnerable. There is fear everywhere. Never be afraid to voice how you feel. The audience will always, ALWAYS, forgive ignorance, anger, naivety, bad grammar, etc. But they will not forgive fear. Everybody in the world has enough fear already.

Don’t be afraid of what you don’t know. Nobody likes a know it all, but everybody loves someone who is obviously trying their best despite their lack of experience. When someone with a pure heart tries their best and fails, it is always funny.

Do you think it’s better to go all in on our strengths or to try to be more well-rounded by investing effort on improving areas you aren’t as strong in?

In this world today, I don’t think creatives have the luxury of going all in on one strength. Specifically, as a standup comedian, you cannot simply focus on your on-stage act. You must also learn the art of sales, marketing, content producing, etc.

We are no longer in a world where some foreign figure will recognize your raw talent and give you a shot. You must divide your effort between the art, and the marketing of the art. Some people see this as a curse of the modern age. Personally, I see it as a newfound freedom for artists. 10-20 years ago, if you were given an opportunity you had to deal with outside publicists and producers who may not understand you and completely corrupt who you are as a creative being. Now, all of the power is in your hands. And don’t separate your publicity work from your art, as the effort into one may positively effect the other. We are in a world where the dialogue between the artist and the audience is immediate and ongoing. We have the privilege of listening to them and figuring out the best way to let them in to our development, without compromising our creativity.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @davelucacomedy