The audience applauded, as they have the heart to do for novices, but Darling didn’t bomb like a lot of first-timers; he got just enough laughs to tide him over until the next time.
“I remember being so nervous, man,” Darling said. “My whole goal going up there was to just remember the material, to get through the entire set.”
But that was then, when his nerves made for the opposite of whatever a tight five is. Now, six years later, after paying his dues at the mics, then moving through hosting, middling and featuring on every bill he could, Damon Darling is headlining a tour across the country.
Darling’s social media presence is “pretty massive” (his words, though true), likely helping lead to his headlining so early. On TikTok alone, the comic has over 906K followers, 26 million page likes and innumerable views. His numbers on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram are also significant, with no signs of plateauing.
He mostly posts videos of crowd work, sketches and pranks. The pranks are mainly filmed in drive-thrus (a locale he’s trying to get away from) and retail shops, with gags that are mostly harmless. But the origins weren’t so much.
Take one of his stunt videos from January 2021. Darling, solely in underwear and a vest, leaps on top of a shopping bag carousel and dumps an entire jug of milk all over himself while yelling profanities about quitting his job at Walmart — which he didn’t have — to go work at Target.
With the jug empty, Darling, dripping with dairy, sprints out of the store realizing that he’d taken it too far.
He was charged with a misdemeanor for the stunt, but the case was eventually dropped with the help of an online follower who represented him in court. All that for a joke that didn’t land.
But take more recent prank examples — like paying for peoples’ groceries with a card that always declines — and see how the comment sections have changed their opinions on the comedian.
“It’s just love,” Darling said. “In this area — Dayton, Springfield — every time I step out, I run into someone who knows or recognizes me from my videos. It feels good to finally be in that space after gaining so much negativity.”
His viral series of “got a dollar?” videos have shifted his pranking oeuvre from the mean-spirited to the wholesome. If the prank subject declines giving Darling a dollar after the ask (i.e. “you got a dollar, bud?”), he offers them a crisp one dollar bill. The results are awkward, cringy, surprising and hilarious, and his improvisation improves with each new bit.
Great content gauges how well a comic can fill a room, though Darling’s chops are also paramount to his appeal. This year, his tour takes him from Atlanta to New Jersey to Seattle. Some of those rooms sell out.
Darling is also very vocal on his recovery journey on social media, now clocking almost nine years of sobriety. Shortly after high school, he moved from Ohio to San Diego with his mother, a travel nurse. In between his exit and entrance back to the Midwest, Darling had picked up a drinking habit that eventually landed him “on the streets.”
He was 29 when he decided he needed to make a life change. Then, as a result of his newfound clarity, he became a comic.
“Honestly, I’m able to do comedy because I’m sober,” Darling said. “My mind is clear. My memory is sharp. I’m in the moment, man.”
He’s open about his personal life — on stage and online — even if he’s generally known for playing a character, or at least a heightened version of himself. In Darling’s words: “Even if you don’t love my videos, you kind of fall in love with my story.”
Darling said he’s burnt out on open mics, so he works most of his material out on the road, on a tour that seemingly never ends. He humbly no longer considers himself a local comedian, and he no longer goes on stage with the sole goal of remembering material — he does it for the laughs.
And he’s good at getting laughs.
Darling’s comedy is observational. At times, physical and slapstick. His crowd work is a newer addition to his sets, but he’s clearly adept at content creation and there’s no denying the work ethic.
Damon Darling is now a full-time comedian who’s looking for the next opportunity — a comedy special, a TV show, a movie — something that’s going to catapult him to another level. Until then, it’s more stage time in bigger rooms with bigger crowds.
That’s what he’s working towards and that’s what he’s going to get, out there on the road.
Tour dates for comedian Damon Darling can be found at damondarlingtv.com.
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