Comedian has July 27 gig lined up at DTE

By Jennie Miller
C & G Staff Writer

SOUTHFIELD — When Southfield resident Dave Bell went to see Sinbad live in concert, he never imagined he’d wind up on stage as the comedian’s opening act.

He showed up armed with a packet of information and a videotape of his comedy act, hoping to score just a minute with the manager of the Soaring Eagle Casino in Mount Pleasant and eventually land a gig one day down the road.

His ambition paid off when the headliner was over an hour behind schedule, and management turned to Bell to save the day by entertaining the crowd of 2,500 fans.

“I said, ‘No problem,’” Bell remembered, although the way he saw it, if he wanted his shot at stardom, he didn’t have a choice. “I didn’t have a chance to breathe. They got me up there, and I look to my left, and there I am on a big ol’ TV screen. I look to my right, and there I am again. It blew my mind. I was trippin’. But I had a good set. I had a ball. I met Sinbad and got paid for the gig.”

Despite being thrust into the spotlight early on in his comedy career, Bell still gets star-struck and overwhelmed about his opportunities, but he tries not to let it stress him out.

“If I had hair, I would be losing it right now,” laughed the 41-year-old, anticipating a July 27 Earth, Wind and Fire concert at DTE Energy Music Theatre, of which Bell is the opening act. “This is surreal to me. It’s like a dream. Bill Cosby’s going to be calling me up any minute.”

He hails comedians like Cosby, Sinbad, Richard Pryor, George Carlin and Sam Kinison as his comedic idols, but assures that his act stays on the cleaner side.

“It’s adult material, but it’s nothing graphic; nothing vulgar,” Bell said. “I talk about my upbringing; I talk about my kids; I talk about relationships; I talk about race. I talk about gas prices … although that’s getting less and less funny.”

The Detroit native and graduate of Henry Ford High School spent 12 years working in construction. He married his wife, Cynthia, 15 years ago and began a family with sons David, 12, and Aaron, 9. He and his family moved to Southfield. And then Bell decided to try his hand at comedy.

“I’ve always been a fan of comedy,” he said, adding that he used to go down to Bea’s Comedy Kitchen in Detroit to watch local greats like Mike Bonner, Downtown Tony Brown and Karen Addison. “I never even thought about becoming a comedian myself, I was just such a big fan.”

He considered trying it out when a new club opened up and offered open mic nights, where amateur comedians could test their material before a crowd, and if it didn’t fly, listeners would shake their keys at the comedian on stage. This was a little intimidating for Bell.

“That wasn’t something I wanted to do,” Bell said, laughing. “I wasn’t funny at the time. But it piqued my curiosity. I started paying attention to whether or not I was making my friends and family laugh. I kept hearing, ‘Dave, you crazy!’ a lot, and I thought, ‘maybe I can do that.’ After giving it serious thought and procrastination, I signed up for classes at Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle in Royal Oak.”

That was nine years ago. Bell said the experience gave him the motivation he needed to get writing and start coming up with material. He has since done the Sinbad gig and participated in festivals and competitions in Las Vegas and San Francisco and takes local jobs in Livonia, Royal Oak, Ann Arbor, Clinton Township, Grand Rapids, Flint and Caseville.

“He’s very relatable,” said Mark Ridley, owner of Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle in Royal Oak, who said he often sits in the back of the crowd during gigs to watch and listen to the audience’s reaction. “Dave really gets the crowd going. I like that he talks about his family — about his kids and his wife — he’s very down to earth and relatable, and people like that.”

Although he has sought after big-time gigs, such as in auditions for “Saturday Night Live,” Bell has no immediate plans to move to Los Angeles or New York to pursue his craft on a larger scale.

“I’m just trying to be a good father, a good husband and be around for my kids, and make sure they experience all the things they should experience and that I’m there to experience it with them,” said Bell, who also works as a building inspector for the city of Detroit. “Basically, I’m just going to be the best comedian I can be in metro Detroit.”

He’s thrilled to have discovered the world of comedy and to have found a modicum of success doing something he loves.

“Hearing people laugh at something that came out of your mouth, it’s just such a big rush,” Bell said.

Bell will have quite the crowd to entertain at DTE later this month.

“He’ll do well,” Ridley said. “The people there will really like him. I wish him luck. I’m sure he’ll do a great job.

For more information about Bell, visit www.davebell.net. Tickets to the Earth, Wind and Fire show can be purchased through Ticketmaster. For more information, visit www.palacenet.com.