Meet David Wilk | Comedian and Funny Entrepreneur.

We had the good fortune of connecting with David Wilk and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi David, can you share a quote or affirmation with us?
I’m a big believer in “Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right”. When we started Four Day Weekend, we never thought “well, this is stupid”, or “no one is going to come to a show at 11pm”. We just wanted to do it so we did. I think if we weighed the pros cons of the odds of it working, we wouldn’t have done it. We probable would’ve talked ourselves out of it. Improvisation is all about the philosophy of “yes, and” It’s a positive mindset of agreement and collaboration so we never once thought about “what if this doesn’t work”.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Four Day Weekend is at its core an improv comedy show. I think what sets us apart from other improv troupes is the customer experience of the entire night. When you come to a comedy show, your expectation is that it’s going to be funny and you’re going to laugh. Four Day Weekend understands that it’s not just a $25 dollar ticket. It’s dinner, a babysitter, parking, drinks, etc. This may be the only time in a month or two that this person goes out and out of all the things they could’ve done, they choose to come to 4day. We consider that an honor and a huge responsibility to make sure they have a $200 night and not just the ticket price. (and the show is fall down funny) I think another thing that sets us apart is we try to “have fun with” and not make fun of” Anyone we interact with in the audience, we try to make them the hero. I have no desire to tear someone down and it makes me proud that we’re able to elevate them.

I love to see someone two weekends in a row. You know the show resonated when they come back the next week. We have people who attend 10-15 times a year. I’m proud that we have that kind of impact on our audience.

How did we get here? We’re 7,000 shows into this run. We took a million baby steps. It doesn’t seem like you’re making any progress until you finally look back and see how far you’ve come.

The biggest lesson we learned was perseverance. We just showed up every weekend for 25 years, delivered a consistently funny show and the audience followed. Also, the fact that in the beginning, we didn’t know what we didn’t know. We never thought, Oh, you can’t do that?. We just did it. On paper there’s no way this show should be still selling out both theaters and doing 200 corporate dates a year. But we are.

What i’m most proud of is whether you’re a college student or an 85 year old grandparent, our show is funny to you.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We’d have breakfast at John’s Cafe on Lowest Greenville, grab lunch at a food truck at Clyde Warren, ride bikes around Whiterock Lake, nap, pregame at Truckyard and then go see Four Day Weekend.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
To many to mention. If this were an Oscar’s speech, I would have to call some people in the morning to apologize for leaving them out. First, my father was my biggest fan. When everyone else in my life was saying finish school so you have something to fall back on, my dad said “Go for it!. Those learning institutions will always be there.” I have two teachers who made an impact on me that changed the course of my life. One I will name, Martin DeMaat. He was the only teacher who truly reached me. Marty was the Creative Director at The Second City and he taught me so much more than improvisation, he taught me how to be a better person using the tenets and philosophies if improvisation. The other will remain nameless. In 7th grade I was learning to juggle and my teacher walked by and said “that and a dime will get you a cup of coffee Mr. Wilk. Do you want to be a fool your whole life?” I was crushed but did wonder hmmm, I wonder what that pays? Now I know!
Also, must shout out to my beautiful wife who calls herself the “Comedy Widow”. She gave up every Friday and Saturday night and all that goes along with that so I could follow my dream. Love you Amy!

Website: www.fourdayweekend.com

Instagram: fourdayweekendcomedy

Linkedin: David Wilk

Twitter: @4daywkd

Facebook: david wilk and Four Day Weekend Comedy

Image Credits
Four Day Weekend Amy Zumwalt