10. Dave Hill | The Iowa Idea

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“Be kind. Work hard. Have fun. Entertain yourself and be a hero to your fifteen-year-old self.”

In this episode of The Iowa Idea Podcast, I sit down with Dave Hill.

Dave and I talked about his approach to his various creative endeavors. From a design perspective, I really appreciated how context matters for each medium he’s working in and how Dave will iterate on new comedy bits. When it comes to music, Dave likes to think of scenarios involving fictional bands to help him write new material. I was also impressed with the number of collaborators Dave involves in his projects and how he strives to create genuine moments on stage when he blends comedy and music.

A quick note about language. As Alex Dezen described in Episode 1 of the podcast regarding curse words. Iowa Writers’ Workshop instructor Ethan Canin, said well placed curse words are like a cherry on a sundae. Well listeners, there’s a few delightful cherries in this episode.

Dave was very generous when my nerves got the best of me and I failed to remember the differences between death metal and black metal. We exchanged stories, about Husker Du, Cheap Trick, Neil Hamburger, and our love of hockey, including the sub-genre of hockey player socks. I hope that we can get Dave to Iowa City for a show at The Mill or to enjoy Mission Creek in the not-too-distant future.

I’d like to thank Dave for joining me for this discussion. I hope you enjoy the episode.

About Dave

Dave Hill is a comedian, writer, musician, actor, radio host and man-about-town originally from Cleveland, Ohio, but now living in New York City in a totally sweet apartment with a party deck and everything. He is the author of three books, Tasteful Nudes, Dave Hill Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, and his most recent, Parking the Moose (available in soft cover next month). He has written for The New York Times, GQ, Salon, The Paris Review, McSweeney’s, The New York Observer, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, VICE, Guitar World and a bunch of other places. Comedy legend Dick Cavett called Dave “a major figure among American comic writers, past and present,” which is pretty much the coolest thing that has ever happened as far as Dave is concerned.

Dave has appeared on such TV shows as Inside Amy Schumer and Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, hosted for HBO and Cinemax, and performed live comedy around the world. He hosts The Goddamn Dave Hill Show on the WFMU radio station in Jersey City every Monday night. Dave is a frequent contributor to public radio’s This American Life. He is also a musician who currently sings and plays guitar in the psych/garage rock band Painted Doll, the extremely extreme Norwegian black metal band Witch Taint, and the power pop band Valley Lodge, whose song “Go” is the theme to HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.

Credits

Thank you to Dave for taking the time to join the podcast.

Dave’s Books – https://www.davehillonline.com/books

Dave’s Music – https://www.davehillonline.com/music

Dave’s Podcasts – https://www.davehillonline.com/podcasts

The Pride of Cleveland – https://800pgr.lnk.to/DaveWE

The Black Metal Dialogues – https://www.theblackmetaldialogues.com/intro.html

Dave’s music and comedy on this episode used with permission from Dave himself.

Valley Lodge – “Go” from the album “Use Your Weapons”

Witch Taint – “Interlude: Black Metal vs Death Metal” from the album “Sons of Midwestern Darkness”

Dave’s Message for My Mom – https://v.cameo.com/mbL1lZHeM6

Episode produce by Spark Consulting Group (www.inspiredbyspark.com) in Iowa City, with support from Executive Podcast Solutions (https://www.executivepodcastsolutions.com/)

The Iowa Idea Podcast music written and performed by Paisley Bible.