Today we’d like to introduce you to Dallas McLaughlin.
Dallas, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I grew up in Clairemont and wound up on a basketball scholarship to Horizon High School (later Horizon Christian Academy) when in 9th grade two things happened: I started getting very interested in performing and I sustained a knee injury skateboarding that derailed my basketball career and resulted in Horizon pulling my scholarship. My mom, being my biggest champion, transferred me to San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts and it changed my entire life. I also started performing after school with Christian Youth Theatre and acting became my sole passion. After graduating, I performed around San Diego for a couple of years before deciding to produce the first live sketch comedy show in San Diego. Along with my best friends we wrote, directed, and produced every show and even wound up showcasing for Comedy Central. After the group split, I became a DJ at FM94/9, while also starting a band called Bad Credit. We released three albums and toured the country several times over before calling it quits in 2008.
In 2003 Bad Credit met The Aquabats, we both started working on a pilot for a TV show called Yo! Gabba Gabba! which was picked up by Nickelodeon and quickly became one of the popular children’s shows on TV. From 2003-2014 I worked on several different television shows and developed shows for Walt Disney Animation, Nick, Jr, and Fox Sports. In 2010, looking to fill the time, I began performing standup comedy and have gone on to perform with legends like Norm MacDonald, Dave Attell, Scott Thompson, just to name a few. In recent years I’ve gone back to the theatre refocusing my original passion for acting and also moving into the YouTube realm managing production and development for “Daily Bumps” a channel with over five million subscribers.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
This life is never a smooth road haha! Having an intense desire to never have a “real job” I hustle constantly. Auditioning, directing, writing, performing, whatever I can possibly do to keep my mind moving and motivated. When you look back it always sounds like everything just worked out, but in reality every move had unbelievable hurdles and setbacks. I remember a particular time in 2013 when I had a show in development at Disney, I was writing on a show called The Aquabats! Super Show! On the HUB Network, and had just sold a pilot to Fox Sports. Everything was going so well. Then in a matter of two weeks, it was all gone. Disney passed on the show, Fox Sports switched management and my show was shelved, and the HUB Network folded entirely. It was all gone in two weeks. I had no job and my wife was pregnant. After spending a few days moping and drinking, I dusted myself off and went back to hustling. I got some freelance work pretty quickly, took a producing job to pass the time, which lasted longer than I thought, and things started to come back together. It never stops. There is no finish line in this business, just different ways to find contentment.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
I currently work for Anchor Productions, which houses a few different entertainment wings the most famous being Daily Bumps – a family vlog with over five million subscribers. I help develop new ideas and content, as well as manage day-to-day operations. Most people know me personally from my performance career. Having worked with a few different theatre companies in town and performed in story shows with So Say We All. I also have enjoyed a fairly successful standup career in Southern California. I’m super proud of being able to make a living from all this haha. People always assume working in Entertainment means millionaire or bust. But, there are so many different ways to be successful, and I’m happy I get to be.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
My proudest moment so far was being recognized for a show that I wrote about becoming a dad. It was produced by So Say We All and New Village Arts and performed at a couple different venues. It took me years to write, and the response I received was overwhelming and beautiful. It was probably the first time I felt like I built something on my own, from the ground up, and it worked.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @dalskips
- Twitter: @dallas_mc
Image Credit:
Standup photos: Luna
Hat photo: Brooke Aliceon
Reading photo: Jonathan Hammond
Stage photo: Christopher Murrillo
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