By Joseph Knoop
Popular stand-up comedian and Bob & Tom radio regular Dave Dugan will perform at Bub’s Burgers & Ice Cream restaurant at 210 W. Main St. in Carmel, IN on January 16.
Dugan, known for his voice work on Bob & Tom as the Gruff, short-tempered Bart McAllister, has long been a fan of developing both his comedy and voice-acting chops.
“I deliver the bulk of voice-over from my closet-sized studio, and this is also where I finalize writing a great deal of the comedy material,” Dugan said. “I like this setup because it is very isolated and allows me to focus on the project at hand. I also like, and need, the live comedy performances, whether they are on stage or at an event somewhere or as a guest with Bob and Tom, just to see if I have any social skills left after spending so much time in the isolation of a soundproof closet.”
Dugan’s unique brand of stand-up comedy has landed him onstage at numerous corporate events and comedy tours, including appearances on Comedy Central, HBO, FOX and the Arsenio Hall Show.
Dugan avoided kindergarten after his parents moved to Carmel, where children weren’t required to attend before moving into the first grade, unlike most Indianapolis schools. He attributes a large portion of his comedy influences to his parents.
“It’s inbred,” Dugan said. “Wait, I don’t mean to say I’m inbred, and I have the non-webbed toes to prove it. I guess I’m trying to say what I do is a hybrid of both my mom and dad’s humor. Dad with his clever, dry and twisted humor and my mom with her humble, yet expressive, self-effacing humor, never thinking she was being funny, but often hilarious. She preferred others being in the spotlight and was the perfect audience with her distinctive, contagious laugh. I think down deep, she was always in it for the laughs.”
Though he’s appeared on many shows and lived as far as Los Angeles, Dugan says he always missed being away from Carmel.
“When coming back for visits, I can’t describe how excited I would get to see family and friends that still lived here, to see what changes in town had occurred,” Dugan said. “I kept moving back here, so obviously it must be very close to my heart. It will always seem like home. Now there is always something for me to do. Non-stop laps on a roundabout is one of my favorite pastimes. Maybe I should have gone to kindergarten.”
Dugan is currently part of the “Cabin Fever Comedy Tour,” which makes its first stop at Bub’s Burgers & Ice Cream in Carmel. Dugan hopes for as enjoyable a tour as his most recent stops performing for company Christmas parties.
“One was at a large company in Northern Indiana and most of the employees were Amish,” Dugan said. “15 minutes into the show, one of the gentlemen approached the stage and asked if I would read a note describing a vehicle that was illegally parked and blocking the catering truck from leaving. Midway through reading the note in front of these 600 people, I realized it was my car, and as a reflex said on mic, ‘Oh, that’s mine.’
Dugan is also currently working on a new comedy album, saying he hopes to have it released before the end of winter.
