When I spoke with comedian David Cross, who is currently out promoting his stand up comedy show "Oh Come On," I quickly realized that I was talking to a man who takes the art of comedy very seriously.
This is not, I must emphasize, a bad thing. Quite to the contrary, it's refreshing to know that someone who promises to make people laugh recognizes the weightiness of that responsibility. Whether we stream a Cross stand up special on Netflix or plunk down our money to see him in a movie or live, we are investing in him — as in all of our entertainers — our time, our resources and our desire to either escape from or develop better insights into our world. Talking to Cross, I quickly realized that he strives to do both of those things — that is, he uses his comedy as a way of taking a breather from reality and simultaneously offering his own distinct perspective on it. And he puts a lot of thought into what that means and how he practices his craft.
Read Matthew Rozsa's full interview on Salon.com