After a successful run in Los Angeles, Actor David Dean Bottrell felt it was time for New York audiences to hear his stories of love and dating, while navigating a life in the world of acting.

In 2019, David had the NYC premiere of his new one-man show David Dean Bottrell Makes Love at Dixon Place. Those three performances have now led to not only a new run of the show, but to a live recording of the show for Penguin Random House as a forthcoming audiobook.

In this NEW interview, David once again answered my call, but this time around he shares:

• How his previous performances will now inform this run of David Dean Bottrell Makes Love
• Why he wanted to record this show as an audio book
• What was the hardest story for him to tell in front of a live audience
• How David Dean Bottrell Makes Love could help someone navigate the world of dating
• So much more

David Dean Bottrell Makes Love is 75 minutes of brutally honest, utterly hilarious tragic internet dates, ill-advised love affairs, the world’s worst divorce & a family who knows how to put the fun back into fundamentalism. After sold-out runs at New York’s Dixon Place & the Comedy Central Stage in LA, David Dean Bottrell brings his hilarious, critically acclaimed solo show to the Triad for a limited engagement. David returns with a new, rotating roster of totally true “love stories.”

David Dean Bottrell Makes Love will play at the Triad Theater (158 West 72nd Street) February 12, 19, 26, 2020 all at 7pm.

David Dean Bottrell Makes Love will also be in Los Angeles at ACME Comedy Theatre (5124 Lankershim Blvd, Los Angels, CA) March 6, 7, 8, 2020 all at 7pm.

Connect with David: Website, Facebook, Instagram

David Dean Bottrell Makes Love collage
Photo Courtesy of David Dean Bottrell

1. We last spoke about David Dean Bottrell Makes Love in 2019 when the show was making its NYC premiere at Dixon Place. Now, the show is coming back for just three performances at The Triad. What did you learn from last year's run that will now inform this upcoming run? Although the show (which is made up of very funny, totally true "love stories" from my life) had been hugely successful in Los Angeles, last year, was the first time I'd performed it in New York.

I was thrilled at the response it got, but I also treated those first New York shows like a workshop. I shuffled several new stories in and out of the show until I found what felt like the right mix.

For the upcoming shows at the Triad, I'm going to try to shuffle the stories at every show so no two performances are ever exactly the same (God help me!). I guess you could say I like a challenge (or you could say I'm insane).

2. What was the hardest story for you to tell in front of an audience? In some of the shows, I tell a story called SOUL MAN. It’s sort of like my own personal Mount Everest. It's about this unbelievable chain of events that came raining down on me a few years ago. 

At the time, if felt like it was going to kill me; like I was being ambushed from every direction. But the big takeaway was not only did I survive, but I finally understood what I really wanted, and found the courage to go forward with or without a partner. 

3.Why was that story so hard to tell? While it's not easy to talk about that time in my life, that story does what I want all my stories to do -- which is make people laugh one minute and feel heartbroken the next. 

Truthfully, I almost didn't include it in the show because it's a hard chapter to relive, but I'm so glad I did.

4. How do you feel this show will help others navigating the world of love? In my humble opinion, the only way to tell a love story (or any story) is to tell it honestly. When you suck up your guts and manage to tell a little more truth than you intended to tell, the audience knows. They can sense it. They recognize that risk and immediately trust you. Once that happens you can all all relax and laugh together, or cry together and maybe even forgive ourselves together.

I've done a lot of performing in my life and I've never had an experience like this. Strangers hang around after the show, not because they want to tell me how funny I am, but because they want to tell me stories from their life. That's very humbling. I'm always honored.

5. In addition to the show's run at The Traid and then LA in March, you have also recorded this show for Penguin Random House as an audiobook. Please tell me about that process.

• What made you think this particular show would make a good audio book? How did you pitch the idea to audible or did they reach out to you? It actually wasn't my idea. Penguin Random House came to see the show and approached me with the idea of an audiobook. I was floored. I never thought about it. My only request going forward was that we record it in front of a live audience. Although they don't usually do that, they agreed. It was an adventure for all of us.
• What was the recording process like with a live audience? Recording it was quite a bit different than performing in front of a regular audience of ticket buyers. It was an invited audience who didn't really know what the hell they were walking into and I think they were a little surprised by the first line of the show. Fortunately, I've been performing in front of live audiences for decades, so I'm a fast learner. I managed to win them over pretty quickly and between the two shows, we were able to capture a really great version of the show. I'm very proud of it!
• How do you feel the show sounds as opposed to being seen? When I heard the final mix, I kept thinking "Wow, this is very different, but it's very cool. The engineers and the mixers really captured what it was like to be sitting in the theater. There is a real intimacy to the experience. It creates this very personal connection between me and the listener which works beautifully. I can't wait to see how it's received.

6. What is something about your love life that you do not reveal in this show that you would like to tell me now? Ironically, I'm currently in love with a great guy that I've now been with for two years. He is easily the most unexpected event of the last decade. When he first appeared, I tried very hard to get rid of him, but he wouldn't go away. And now I'm deeply grateful for that, because we make each other very happy.

Love is one of the most studied, written about subjects of the last few centuries, and yet nobody really knows anything about how to find it, how to keep it, or what to do when it goes away. What my current situation has taught me is this: If you're heart tells you to take action; to move forward; you'd be stupid not to do it. Just stay in the present, and try to be the best human being you can be.

More David Dean Bottrell Interviews:

2025 (Read Here): TEENAGE WASTELAND: Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen
2019 (Read Here): Making Love with a Working Actor
2013 (Read Here): The Life of a Working Actor

David Dean Bottrell
Photo Courtesy of David Dean Bottrell

More on David Dean Bottrell:

After studying with the legendary New York acting teacher, William Esper, David began his career on stage performing everything from Shakespeare, to off-beat new comedies to edgy experimental work. His east coast theatre credits include productions at The Second Stage, The Manhattan Punch Line, La Mama, The Long Wharf Theatre, Joe's Pub at the Public Theatre and The Actors Theatre of Louisville’s Humana Festival. On the west coast, he conceived and co-founded the critically-acclaimed Sci-Fest LA: The Los Angeles Science Fiction One-Act Play Festival.

One of his first TV jobs was a small part in HBO’s historic drama And the Band Played On. Known for his quirky characterizations, he’s since played many major guest star and recurring roles on such shows as Modern Family, The Blacklist, Rectify, Mad Men, Justified, True Blood, CSI, NCIS, Castle, Bones, Ugly Betty, Criminal Minds, iCarly, Longmire, and Days of Our Lives. But he is probably best known for playing the creepy and homicidal “Lincoln Meyer” on season three of Boston Legal (a character created for him by TV icon, David E. Kelley).

David is also a produced screenwriter (Fox Searchlight’s hit comedy Kingdom Come), a columnist, a popular spoken-word performer and an award-winning short film director (Available Men). His critically acclaimed one-man storytelling shows consistently play to sold out houses. 

Since 2008, he’s taught seminars and private classes for professional actors, and when time allows, he serves as a part-time adjunct faculty member with the Professional Acting Program at UCLA and at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (both the New York and L.A. campuses).