Guests at MGM Springfield’s Roar! Comedy can expect “Spanish with an Irish accent,” conversation about immigration and to be “emotionally traumatized” during Saturday night’s performance. But none of it will be scripted.
“I get distracted pretty easily,” Irish comedian David Nihill said. “So, if someone tells me or asks me a question, and then we’re off down a different rabbit hole depending on where people are from at the show, or how I’m feeling emotionally at that particular time.”
Nihill is one of multiple comedians MGM Springfield is bringing to the city. He’s performing Saturday at 8 p.m. And it’s just one of his stops in New England during his latest comedy tour.
He performed Friday in Stamford, Conn. and will be returning to New England on Sept. 29-30 for a show in Burlington, Vermont. Many of the shows on his tour are sold out, he said.
He credits his recent success to social media.
“I’ve done a 56-city tour in the U.S. with the majority of that all sold out. And pretty much all of those ticket sales come from social media in one form or another,” he said.
Having the ability to reach people on social media has “dramatically changed” his career, Nihill told MassLive Friday in a phone interview from Connecticut. Some of his videos have received millions of views on TikTok and Instagram, with at least one video reaching 4 million views on Instagram.
This has led to more ticket sales and new opportunities. But Nihill, who has won San Francisco Comedy Competition, wasn’t on social media before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Irish Comedy Festival he was set to perform in, along with restaurants, in-person school and everyday life, came to a halt.
“So I decided to put a few videos online and the impact has been astounding, to be honest,” he said.
He released a new special on YouTube called “Cultural Appreciation” earlier this year. But his shows won’t include that material. Instead, he’s trying out new things. And it’ll be different every night, he said.
His biggest inspiration right now is books and hard facts, which he also likes sharing in the comment section of his social media posts.
“Facts, trivia, books and hard information is usually my biggest influence and things I find interesting,” he said. “And trying to communicate those in a way that I can stick them and join them with something they might necessarily not go together with to get people to think about something a little bit different.”
- Read more: TikTok ‘dramatically changed’ David Nihill’s career — places like MGM Springfield are noticing
He doesn’t call what he does a routine or jokes but rather sharing ideas.
“The ideas I have and the things I want to talk about typically come from life experience bouncing around the world, being frustrated with immigration in America, or books that I read,” he said.
And while he has “impromptu moments within stand up comedy,” it won’t leave you feeling “warm, fuzzy” like going to an improv show. Instead, stand up comedy often comes from a “darker place, and tackles raw topics.”
Expect there to also be a lot of “F-bombs,” something he’s previously warned crowds about. But the use of the word is also one of the things he appreciates most about “massholes.”
“I think it’s something you might have inherited from Irish people,” he said.
For more about Nihill’s performance, click here.
