David Cross on Extending Tour and Why Arena Shows ‘Sound Terrible’
Two months into his first stand-up tour in six years, comic David Cross announced the addition of 15 dates Monday morning to his busy schedule of 53 cities. Already Cross’s biggest and most ambitious run of shows, new dates of the Making America Great Again tour will allow the comedian to do the show as much as possible before his planned taping at the Moontower Comedy Festival in April finds a wider release.
The idea for the show, which began its run on January 26th at Observatory North Park in San Diego, came to Cross when he knew he would be laid up in New York after a planned shoulder surgery. After collecting bits he’d performed at festivals and one-off shows, he went in front of small crowds to ensure he had a full hour of material. “I was initially a little anxious about how this would go,” Cross tells Rolling Stone. “It was one thing to do warm-up shows in front of a small, intimate audience, very informally, and another to go in front of 1,500 people who paid $35.”
The veteran stand-up, whose albums include 2002’s Shut Up, You Fucking Baby! and 2010’s Bigger and Blackerer, picked things up fast. These additional dates are as much a reflection of demand as they are of the feeling that Cross hit his stride on the road. “I was a little rusty [during the first show], not that people in the audience could tell,” says Cross. “By San Francisco — that was my third show — I had my first, ‘Holy shit, this is amazing,’ kind of response. Now, I’m quite happy with the set. It’s got a nice mix of easy, inoffensive, silly, observational shit and then harsher shit.”
Cross’ hardcore fans revel in this rougher material, which deals with prickly subject matter — often politics or religion. The The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret and Mr. Show star is loathe to give away punchlines, but reviews of the tour refer to a bit about the kids of NRA spokespersons becoming victims of gun violence. As expected, there have been walkouts. “I don’t get offended by that kind of behavior, but it’s also not a point of pride,” says Cross. “I’m not G.G. Allin. I’m not one of the guys who’s like, ‘Fuck you, man. I’m gonna walk the room!’ Once you get into these kind of numbers — 1,100 or 2,200, whatever it is — there are going to be a couple people who just aren’t interested.”
The comic has also asked to be booked in somewhat smaller theaters not much larger that 2,000 seats. “I hear about people playing Madison Square Garden and I think, ‘That sounds terrible,'” says Cross. “It’s a feather in your cap and it’s good for the ego, but I’d rather do four shows at a small theater. You might as well just watch the set on a streaming service. You’d experience it more intimately than if you’re a quarter of a mile away.”
All new dates go on sale March 9th except for Cross’ Beacon Theater show in New York, which goes on sale March 11th.
David Cross Tour Dates (New dates bolded)
March 8 – Denver, CO @ Paramount Theatre
March 9 – Boulder, CO @ Boulder Theatre
March 10 – Lincoln, NE @ Rococo Theatre
March 11 – Kansas City, MO @ Midland Theatre
March 12 – Minneapolis, MN @ Skyway Theatre
March 13 – St. Paul, MN @ Fitzgerald Theatre
March 15 – Milwaukee, WI @ Pabst Theatre
March 16 – Chicago, IL @ The Vic Theatre
March 17 – Chicago, IL @ Park West Theatre
March 18 – Grand Rapids, MI @ Fountain Street Church
March 19 – Buffalo, NY @ UB Center for Arts
March 20 – Troy, NY @ Troy Music Hall
March 22 – Englewood, NJ @ Bergen Pac
March 23 – Red Bank, NJ @ Count Basle Theatre
March 25 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Academy of Music
March 26 – Mashantucket, CT @ Fox Theater
March 27 – Boston, MA @ Wilbur Theater
March 29 – Boston, MA @ Wilbur Theater
March 30 -South Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground
March 31 – Northampton, MA @ Calvin Theatre
April 1 – Port Chester, NY @ Capitol Theatre
April 2 – New Haven, CT @ Lyman Center
April 3 – Philadelphia, PA Merrlam Theatre
April 4 – York, PA @ The Pullo Center
April 13 – New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre
April 14 – Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Live
April 15 – Tampa, FL @ Ferguson Hall at the Straz Center
April 16 – Fort Lauderdale, FL @ Parker Playhouse
April 18 – New Orleans, LA @ Orpheum Theater
April 20 – Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live
April 22 – Austin, TX @ Still Moontower Comedy Festival
April 23 – Dallas, TX @ Majestic Theatre
April 24 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Farmer’s Market
April 28 – Des Moines, IA @ Hoyt Sherman Theatre
April 29 – Sioux Falls, SD @ The District
April 30 – Fargo, ND @ Fargo Theatre
May 1 – Bismarck, ND @ Belle Mehus Auditorium
May 3 – Fort Collins, CO @ Lincoln Center
May 4 – Santa Fe, NM @ Lensic Center
May 5 – Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theater
May 6 – Chandler, AZ @ Wild Horse Pass Casino
May 7 – Las Vegas, NV @ The Joint – Hard Rock Hotel
May 8 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kingsbury Hall
May 9 – Boise, ID @ Egyptian Theatre
May 10 – Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theater
May 12 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater
May 13 – San Luis Obispo, CA @ Historic Fremont Theater