David Pryde
began referring to himself in the third person in 1997, shortly after
earning a journalism degree in Halifax. During an in-depth investigative
piece on post-grad unemployment David discovered stand-up, which he
found refreshingly different from journalism in every way save the
microphone and filtered point of view. After returning to his hometown
of Montreal, David turned heads in 1999 when he won the first prize
at the Comedy Night in Canada Competition at the Just for Laughs Festival.
The slight bump in notoriety made David prone to brief, ego-centric
spasms of speaking in the first person, which he now has relatively
under control, but I digress.
Since then he
has appeared in two galas at Just for Laughs, had his own special
on CTV’s Comedy Now, and has made numerous club and theatre
appearances across the country. He’s also branched out beyond
stand-up by joining the Montreal improv troupe On the Spot and taking
on numerous acting gigs. These include a production of “Glengarry
Glen Ross”, “The Envelope Plays” at the Wildside
Theatre Festival and a run at the Montreal Fringe Festival in “Never
Surrender: Centaur, Centaur, Centaur!” where he played the
title role of “the Centaur.” He made his television
sitcom debut as a powerfully awkward tobacco magnate in “The
Festival” (which aired on IFC in the U.S. and The Movie Network
in Canada) and recently dabbled in referring to himself in the second
person which you really don’t want to go into.
David
has written for numerous comedy specials and series like CBC’s
“This Hour has 22 Minutes”, and is negotiating the production
of a series he created which he would describe in the third person
subjunctive passive voice...if he were allowed.
David lives in
Montreal with his girlfriend, an English teacher (who knew?), and
with a Scottish terrier who, in contrast, uses grammar as her personal
hydrant. David’s ambitions are to enjoy comedy to the fullest,
have a happy home life, and try to speak in predominantly self-referential
imperative sentences.
Go, Dave, go!