Feature: The Days Of Cabaret Gratitude - Day Fifteen - The Yarn Spinner

The Days Of Cabaret Gratitude

Day Fifteen: The Yarn Spinner - David Dean Bottrell

David Dean Bottrell has been a storyteller all his life.  He has done that unimaginable thing - he has made it as an actor.  He started as an actor, here in New York City, trying the tools of his trade to make it on the boards, obtaining the training, making the contacts, and plying his craft in his attempts at the business of show, in everything from Shakespeare to experimental works on the church basement circuit.  When he took that arsenal of skills to the West Coast, though, David Dean Bottrell found film and television or, more accurately, film and television found David Dean Bottrell.  The quirky young man with an insatiable lust for the limelight found himself cast in one-off roles on hit TV shows, most notably in a story arc on Boston Legal that remains one of the most memorable in the entire series, and in the Emmy Award-winning After Forever.  That acting career is still going strong, as evidenced by a guest spot on the current FRASIER reboot, but somewhere along the way, David Dean Bottrell discovered that his words were just as good as those being written at the studio… in fact, his words were even better.

David Dean Bottrell is one of the many artists working in the storytelling community.  As unbelievable as it seems, there are those out there who do not know that there is a storytelling community… but there is.  It isn’t to be confused with standup comedy, though the stories are often quite funny (especially David Dean’s), and it shouldn’t be thought of as a one-person play, although the stories told and the shows produced have a structure similar to that hailed as theatrical playwriting.  No, the art form of storytelling is unique, and it is an art form all its own, and David Dean Bottrell is one of the most prevalent purveyors of that art form.

When it comes to storytelling, DDB has a style all his own (a surefire way to success) that is flashy but sincere, wicked but heartfelt, theatrical yet down-to-earth, and always originating from a place of honesty.  The stories are his.  He talks about his family, his work, his loves, his life, and he always has a quizzically raised eyebrow over an eye with a tear waiting to fall.  There are dimples and grins, there are poses struck, and there are glances cast upon the faces of his rapt audiences.  But first, and most importantly, there are scripts.  That which is the foundation of all great storytelling has been meticulously charted and planned, then executed, polished, and presented, with storytelling beats, stand up comedy timing, and the conviction of a man who was there and an actor who knows how to tell that man’s stories.  David Dean Bottrell is on fire for every performance, and it is showing in the full houses he plays on both coasts, though his current storytelling residency is right here in New York City at Pangea, where he has been switching off with two different shows. 

It is vastly important to have the storytelling art form represented in the cabaret and concert industry because that industry is about more than The Great American Songbook and people singing their faces off.  Cabaret is designed to include song, dance, comedy, burlesque, drag, magic, storytelling and so much more.  Many of the storytellers out there are keeping to themselves, staying local, choosing the exclusivity of the storytelling community.  David Dean Bottrell has brought storytelling to the cabaret rooms and he is doing it with the greatest of ease… and the most impressive of styles.  On two coasts.  In packed houses.  And THAT is a story you can really sink your teeth into.

Read a Broadway World Cabaret review of David Dean Bottrell HERE

David will appear at Pangea through the end of the year with his new storytelling show THE DEATH OF ME YET.  Information and tickets are HERE.

David's episode of the new Frasier on Paramount + is episode number five, titled The Founder's Club.

David will play Los Angeles at Rogue Machine with THE DEATH OF ME YET starting mid-January.

David’s pronouns are he/him/his.

David can be found online at the following links:

Website:  HERE and HERE 

Instagram:  HERE 

Facebook:  HERE  

Photos by Stephen Mosher

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