Interview: Lil Dicky Talks Love, Touring, and 'Dave' Season 3
Dave Burd, aka Lil Dicky, was surprisingly sincere in an interview about the new season of his show 'Dave' on FXX.
Lil Dicky just wants to be loved.
“I’ve always been a hopeless romantic,” he told Sling days before the premiere of the third season of his FXX show Dave. “I’ve always had dreams of, just like, falling in deep love and I can’t remember a time when it wasn’t a priority in my brain. So for me to convey that part of me in this [season]...because we’ve had seasons where, you know, I had, like, a girlfriend, but you’ve never seen the start of things. You’ve never seen me as a single guy, like, pursuing love. So I love that we showcase that this season.”
Love isn’t the only thing Dave is showcasing this season…and no, we’re not just referencing his butt. With Lil Dicky heading out on his first major tour, the new season explores new territory, both geographically and creatively.
“I never want to do the same thing over and over again, so I thought, ‘How can we change it up?’”, Lil Dicky – aka Dave Burd to his parents – says. “We’ve got one episode in Texas, then we’re in Philly, then we’re in Atlanta, then we’re in Wisconsin. So it’s like, all these places are so different and it allows every episode’s tone to be so different. And as a filmmaker, boy do I welcome that opportunity and that challenge to, like, come out with a whole different short film, every single time.”
If you’ve seen the first two seasons of Dave, you know the show takes wild swings with its tone, sometimes within a single episode. More specifically, the show has been insightful about mental health; Burd’s costar Gata is bipolar, and some of the series’ best episodes have touched on his diagnosis and how it affects his relationships with his friends and family.
“All credit goes to Gata,” Burd says. “This is his story, this is his life. I’m honored that he’s allowing us to share that raw truth in our show. And like, man, it really does connect with people. There’s so many times where I’m out with Gata and people come up to us and are like, ‘That episode changed my dynamic with my family, and the way they saw my mental health!’ And that’s such…what a dream come true.”
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For an artist whose name is a pun about genitalia, Lil Dicky is surprisingly sincere throughout our interview. Consider his response to a question about the source of his comedic courage:
“I just think the best form of art is such that it’s based in truth,” he said. “I’ve had insecurities my whole life that I would never tell anybody about. And I knew that I wanted to put them front-and-center in the show. Because it’s liberating to have these things that you worry about [out there]. And then I think everyone has their own insecurities. All I want to do with my art is inspire people to be their best selves. I’m sure my insecurities are way different than what other people might have their insecurities about, but everyone can relate to the common theme of being insecure about something. So if people are seeing me handle a certain thing in a certain way on the show and it gives them courage to handle their thing, like, what better use of my platform? So that’s my dream: it’s to connect with people. It’s not hard to be courageous when you know that it will just inspire everybody else to be courageous.”
The fearlessness of Burd’s performance may indeed be contagious, but it’s also risky given that he’s playing himself. And while the lines between fiction and reality may be blurred for the audience, Lil Dicky relishes the chance to play around in a new persona.
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“There are times when the plot will require me to be a little bit more of a jerk than I ever would be in real life,” he says. “But those times when I’m like, ‘Oh man,’ it’s for the better good of the season, because without those jerk moments, the moments where I undo the jerkness wouldn’t be as cathartic and as emotionally satisfying.
“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t fun,” he continues. “I get to be a little bit more hyperbolized, a little bit more over-the-top than my actual personality is. In the real world, there’s, like, social rules that I’m very strict to adhere to. On the show, I can kind of throw them out the window a little bit and be the most absurd version of myself. And it’s very fun.”
Making fun of himself to inspire the rest of us to live our best lives by sharing our own vulnerabilities? Lil Dicky deserves all the love we can give him.
Season 3 of Dave premieres with back-to-back episodes Wednesday, April 5 at 10pm ET on FXX. To watch, use the link below to subscribe to Sling Blue with Hollywood Extras.
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