The Surprising Adventures of Dylan Sullivan
December 14, 2021
Dylan Sullivan
Being likeable affords a person the ability to make mistakes (maybe not murder or defacing your friendly public library…please don’t do either of those) and still maintain a likeable reputation. The worst thing that might happen if you make a social faux pas, if you’re a likable sort, is having to deal with wet carrots.
This is the fate of our guest Dylan Sullivan. In the story arch of his life since discovering the comedy profession, Sullivan has thrown himself fully into the art. I intentionally say “discovering the comedy profession” because that’s how it all began for Sullivan. It’s an incredible story, and we’ve heard a lot of incredible stories here at Comedy Wham.
The way Sullivan explains it to Valerie Lopez, it started when he answered an ad for an assistant in Los Angeles, and headed to 8433 Sunset Boulevard for his interview. The psychological games began immediately: from seeing the person being interviewed prior to his scheduled interview time; to being presented with… checks notes… a bowl of wet carrots; to the interviewer being surprised that he wasn’t immediately recognized by his eager, but likeable candidate.
I can reveal now that, having watched Sullivan on stage a handful of times since his move to Austin in early 2021, it makes perfect sense that he landed the job because of his likeability (and an impending film school credit from Chicago). Between his friendly nature and his inimitable laugh (you’ll hear plenty of both throughout the conversation), it’s easy to see why Pauly Shore interviewed Sullivan from his main office at The Comedy Store and gave him the job. Being unflappable by a bowl of wet carrots can pay off!
From there, it would be easy to say the rest is history, but it isn’t, Sullivan is still quite young in his chosen profession of comic, but that role as assistant to Shore helped him achieve the level of studying he never felt inspired to achieve in traditional school or even at film school. After returning to Chicago for his last semester at film school Sullivan threw himself into studying. But not for his film school classes.
Instead Sullivan studied everything he could about comedy, whether it was books or Steve Martin’s Master Class (a Master Class I am personally fond of), after which he high-tailed it back to LA to begin the task of putting his self-study into action. Did he leverage his work with Shore to land gigs? “You know, talk yourself up at all costs even If you’re untalented and under qualified.…which I was,” he admits. But that likeability and his hard work eventually started getting him noticed. That and landing a job as one of the Comedy Store’s “door guys”, a position he is quick to point out was not a gimme from his role as Shore’s assistant. He had to interview for it just like any other door guy (he was silent on the role of wet carrots).
As things started clicking for Sullivan on and off stage, he got more and more opportunities, including one incredible opportunity given his time as a performer. He was invited to perform on David Spade’s Lights Out, a show that was too short-lived in my humble opinion. He loved the attention, but wasn’t mentally prepared for the haters. As someone who is likable, he relishes knowing that people like him, so when the inevitable online haters started surfacing, he wasn’t prepared for it. His introspection about this incredible credit comes out as he reflects “comedy has a really magic way of just, whenever you feel like you’re the shit, of just smacking you down in your place again.” It wasn’t just the online vitriol. It was that his appearance on Lights Out occurred in January 2020, and we all know what happened in March 2020. The global shutdown due to Covid-19.
After languishing in LA, Sullivan decided to pursue what Brian Redban (recent transplant from LA to Austin, and producer of some of the world’s most famous podcasts) had been encouraging Sullivan to do: move to Austin, with assurances that Redban could offer stage time. It’s important for me to urge you to listen to the harrowing tale of Sullivan’s move from LA to Austin, it’s the kind of visual storytelling that Sullivan is so good at and why it’s so easy to like him both off and on-stage.
As a transplant from LA, I asked Sullivan about the division in the scene between the recent transplants and the old guard comics, the comics who hung back from performing out of a sense of loyalty to protecting the comedy scene and audiences. Sullivan is quick to point out that he understands both camps, and in a nod to unity, thinks that what both sides want is “a basic respect, I think is the key because it would benefit everybody if everybody’s benefiting from each other’s shows and spots. Everyone just wants to get on stage and be funny, right? So it’s a balance. I think the answer is a balance of respect and helping out people that you wouldn’t normally go out of your way to help out.” It’s a very thoughtful response to a very complicated issue. Or maybe it isn’t. If comedy is what you want to do, then the new reality of the brimming Austin comedy scene, is there’s a stage for almost every taste and experience level. Find the one that brings you the respect you deserve.
Turning back to Sullivan, I for one am glad he chose to follow the siren call of Austin. He’s a fantastic comic, he adds to the diversity of the LGBTQ+ comedy scene, and for heaven’s sake, he’s so damned likeable. He may just be the LA to Austin comic transplant that we need to bridge the Austin comedy divide.
Follow Dylan
- Twitter — @dylanraysull
- Instagram — @dylanraysull
- Do 512 — Do512.com/DylanSullivan
Dylan can be seen and heard:
- Podcasts Hosted — Pork Butt with Cooper Lyden
- Lights Out with David Spade — Youtube/LightsOutDavidSpade/DylanSullivan
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Valerie Lopez
Valerie Lopez