Photo by Harry Long
David Lynam perform stand up comedy at Velma's in Trussville. The longtime musician is chasing his dreams in comedy.
David Lynam secretly wanted to try standup comedy for a long time.
Despite playing drums in front of thousands of concertgoers over the years for the band that bears his last name, the 1994 Hewitt-Trussville High School graduate remained fearful of the stage.
“Here was my mentality, and it still is,” Lynam said. “When you are having a bad night in a band — and Lord knows I’ve been through hundreds and hundreds of bad nights in a band, where we’re just not clicking — it didn’t matter who you’re on stage with, you can always divvy up that guilt. But when you go on stage to do standup comedy, there’s nobody to blame. It is you and you alone.”
Lynam founded the hard rock band Lynam in 2001, in Birmingham. He had booked a show, and the day before he had no lead singer. Jacob Bunton was someone Lynam met that day, working the door for another show. They played the next night without a setlist, playing whatever folks shouted at them. They were so well received that they got booked again and again. And the band name?
“I was like, ‘Oh, there is no band name,’” Lynam said. “We’re not a band.”
They both thought it was temporary, with Bunton showing up to sing and play guitar and Lynam booking the shows and playing drums. So, without a band name, venues just put down the drummer’s last name. Lynam was born.
“When we decided to record a record, Jacob was like, ‘We’re going to call the band Lynam.’ And I was like, ‘I don’t want to call it that,’” Lynam said. “And he’s like, ‘You’re a terrible drummer, David. So, we’re going to call it Lynam, and you’re either going to get better or you’re going to be forced to drag your family’s name through the mud.’”
After 22 years of playing drums — and getting significantly better — on July 1, 2023, Lynam, who’s also the owner of a landscape company, made the decision to step on stage alone, behind the microphone as a joke teller.
“And buddy, when I start on something, kind of like it was with music back in the day, if I’m passionate about it, it’s every day of the week,” Lynam said. “And it is every day of the week I’ve been going up. If I’m not going up, I’m at somebody else’s show, hanging out and networking. I’ve been for a solid year going up at least five times a week, sometimes eight times a week.”
He has spent nights at Velma’s in Trussville or driving everywhere from Montgomery to Huntsville to Atlanta. He recently flew to Austin, Texas, and put his name in the bucket for a potential minute of comedy on “Kill Tony,” a popular comedy podcast.
“There are no shortcuts,” Lynam said. “Everything you do takes 10,000 hours to get good at it, right? I’m just doing it in as short amount of time as possible. I’m trying to grind and learn as much as possible.”
When he made the announcement of his intention to do standup comedy, members of the bands Lynam had toured with over the years reached out with support. They were thankful he was finally stepping into something they thought he should have already been doing. He had the right personality, as evidenced by Bunton introducing him to fans as the band’s mascot, not its drummer.
“So, yeah, I’ve always been putting in conversation,” Lynam said. “I came to the table to do standup, armed with the knowledge that I’ve always been funny in conversation. But I knew that was people that already knew my personality. They share a dark sense of humor that I do. That’s always been natural.”
Photo by Harry Long
David Lynam performs at Atomic Johnny's in Gadsden. The Trussville troubadour is looking for laughs these days.
After a couple months of telling jokes at open mics, experienced comics — often called “old heads” — advised Lynam that if he wanted more stage time, the natural progression was to start his own open mic. Lynam created Comedy Break-In, a series of traveling open mics and showcases across Alabama. He’s been at it ever since, traveling the state to showcase not only himself but other aspiring comics. He wants the production to be on point and the comics to be the focus of any venue.
“When you come to a Comedy Break-In show, I want people to associate Comedy Break-In with quality and funny comics with slick production,” Lynam said. “They just know they’re going to get that when they come to a Comedy Break-In. As far as me, I don’t care about being famous as much as I care about wanting to get booked and killing in the rooms that I kill in. So if I don’t ever get to theaters, I don’t care about that. It would be nice to do one in my life at some point. And I will if I keep doing it, I’m positive, but I just want to kill in the rooms I do. I want to have people just barely clutching their heart, about to die laughing.”
Find out about upcoming shows at facebook.com/davidlynam.
