Meet David Laws | Actor, Writer, Director, Producer, Educator, Podcaster, Dungeon Master, & Classic Overachiever

We had the good fortune of connecting with David Laws and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi David, do you have a favorite quote or affirmation?
How you do what you do is who you are. This phrase has stuck with me since I was 10 or 11 when it was introduced to me by my first acting teacher, Alec Volz. I’m not sure where the quote comes from, I think he attributed it to Nietzsche, but whether it’s a usual idiom or something stitched together from various ideas, it quickly became my most powerful tool as an actor and my defining truth as a person.

It’s so simple, as capital T “Truths” often are. Because what am I if not a product of the things that I do, think, feel, say, and create? No one is one thing. There may be defining moments, characteristics, or traits, but there is always more to do, be, and become. It’s a phrase that speaks to the reassuring impermanence of choice; if I’m having a lazy day, that’s okay. It doesn’t mean I’m a lazy person, it just means I’m maybe making lazy choices today, but tomorrow I can make different choices and be a better person through the doing.

Runner up for my favorite quote is definitely “Go to the edge of the cliff and jump off. Build your wings on the way down.”, attributed to Ray Bradbury. But it’s the secondary because sometimes I’m a cliff jumping person and sometimes I’m not. Depends on how I’m doing what I’m doing on the day. Either way, there’s so much more to come.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
The risk of being a multi-hyphenate creator (actor/podcaster/Dr Pepper enthusiast, etc.) is that I never quite know how to approach questions like this. I’m an actor, and I’ve been in a super-funny off-Broadway show that I’m very proud of. But do I want to do bigger things? Of course I do! I’ve hosted a number of insightful and well-received podcasts. But do I wish they had a larger reach? Of COURSE I do. But for completely different reasons and to completely different ends than I once did.

I don’t want to be the center of attention anymore, like I did when I was a child. I want my podcast (Learn A Little, a Stupid Podcast for Smart People, available wherever you get your podcasts) to be on in the background while you’re making dinner. I want you to follow me on Instagram and comment with your favorite Pokémon when I post about another failed Nuzlocke run. I want to start a family and support them while only doing the things I want to do, and not having to also be a babysitter, dog-walker, barista, and Times Square Spider-Man. (I also want to be an enlightened enough person not to look down on those kinds of job, as they’re all pretty essential. ((Especially Times Square Spider-Man, which I absolutely used to be))).

I just want to make a living through my passion. And I know so many people for whom that is exactly and entirely the case. I want the phrase “Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life” to be accessible to me and to people like me. To everyone, really. I want to create, fearlessly and without constraint. I want to learn and grow and mentor.

We were promised a future in which, if we followed our dreams and worked hard, we could be anything we wanted to be. But it turns out there were a lot of terms and conditions there that no one read to us. The ratio of “aspiring artists” to “working professionals” in my industries is staggering. It sometimes makes me worry that I should quit. That a lot of us should. That we should move on to something more consistent, more lucrative, more like a “real job”.

But, of course, you can’t. Because your soul keeps you on course.

So throughout my career, I’ve sought opportunities to not have to wait on permission from others. That I suppose is the lesson I have learned: do what you want to do now, not when someone asks you to. Because if you wait for someone to give you permission to do the things you love, you could be waiting for a while. Maybe forever. And that’s a long time to wait.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Ooh! Considering the introverted extrovert I am, this would consist of a healthy mixture of going out and exploring as well as hanging out at home with good food, drink, and games. Checking out the local bookstore (Bruised Apple Books) and comic shop (The Rift), ice cream (Hudson Creamery) and tacos (Taco Dive Bar) down by the river. And with good friends, it’s wonderful to just cook and laugh the night away. I’m big into board games, my recent obsession being The Red Dragon Inn, so anyone willing to play a few rounds of that is a friend of mine.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Too many people. I started writing this and it became paragraphs long. Suffice it to say, I have always been surrounded by tremendous communities of friends, family members, peers, colleagues, instructors, directors, and cast members without whom I would never have achieved what I have and what I know I will. My phenomenal wife Megan and phenomenally-handsome bulldog Archie are always at the top of that list. Folks from Walden Theatre, Carnegie Mellon, Hamlet Isn’t Dead, Dimly Wit, Drunk Shakespeare, Developing Artists, The Vineyard Theatre, Seize the Show, and so many more have been instrumental in helping me become who I am today.

Website: www.davidandrewlaws.com

Instagram: @davidnotandrew

Twitter: @DavidANDREWLaws

Facebook: www.facebook.com/dandrewlaws

Other: Hamlet Isn’t Dead — www.hamletisntdead.com Dress for the Podcast You Want — www.dimlywit.com/dressforthepodcast Learn A Little — www.dimlywit.com/learn

Image Credits
Valerie Terranova Angie Speranza