Courtesy of Cassie Constanzo
Audio By Carbonatix
Korey David was on the verge of pulling the plug for a recording of Interrogation: True Crime Stories last August. A sewage backup had filled the Secret Group in Houston with a foul odor the night before, and a mysterious droning noise threatened to ruin the entire production on the day of the show.
“I was freaking out,” Korey recalls. “The producer had told me we might have to cancel the taping because if the noise was still going off, the audio would be useless. My girlfriend was trying to console me in my hotel room when my producer texted me a photo of the siren in my prop bag and asked, ‘Is this yours?’ Apparently, the button was pressed, but because it was mixed in with all of my stuff in the bag, it didn’t sound like it normally does.”
With the prop’s ominous sound silenced and the sewage smell fanned out, the taping proceeded with no issues, and the finished product, released in March, has since racked up nearly 28,000 views on YouTube. The show, which included true-crime comics such as Jesse James, Lisa Curry, Jeff Joe, Tess Vergult, Mike Eaton and Colton Dowling, was a success, combining crime stories with humorous moments that resonated with the audience.
“The essence of the show is that everyone makes mistakes, and that’s okay,” Korey David says. “Unlike other true crime shows, we are not trying to monetize the pain of others.”
Courtesy of Cassie Constanzo
The idea for Interrogation arose organically when David and Nic Dean brainstormed ideas for a storytelling show at a brewery where David ran a monthly standup show. During their conversation, they realized that crimes could be a comical, effective hook for a performance.
“Maybe because I have committed enough of my own crimes, so I have some funny stories, but I think most crimes are inherently funny,” David says. “It is all about something stupid you did or that happened to you. Even if you don’t have a punchline, you’ll end up saying something that makes people laugh, because they are like, ‘Wait, what did you do?’ For example, when someone was fleeing the cops in Steamboat and got stuck in six feet of snow, they were tased, which is just hilarious on its own.”
“I was always the funny friend in the group,” Korey David says. “My family was very conservative and religious, so being funny allowed me to express myself.”
Courtesy of Cassie Constanzo
Since 2022, Interrogation has been performed with simple but engaging rules. Comics take turns telling stories about crimes they committed or witnessed, which are followed by questions from the hosts and the audience. Throughout the show, audience members can text their own crimes to be read aloud on stage. David says he looks for brevity when reviewing attendees’ messages.
“I’m looking for a funny angle that we can get to quickly,” he says. “I usually structure the show so that one ridiculous one is followed by one sweet and silly, like a grandmother smiling for a red light camera as if it were a glamour shot. Sometimes the stories are insane, such as when a takeout container was mistaken for a bomb at the Democratic National Convention, or when cops were called on a family because a neighbor saw them dressed in religious garb and assumed they were terrorists. We obviously asked which one it was, and of course, she said Islam, which was the one we had hoped it wasn’t, so we tried to tiptoe around being too inappropriate. But even just saying that got a pretty big laugh.”
Korey David is a regular at Comedy Works in Denver.
Courtesy of Kenny Thompson
Aside from Interrogation, David has established himself as a big player in the comedy world since he started seriously pursuing it in 2016. “I started relatively late, because I was about 27 or 28,” he says. “I was always the funny friend in the group. I loved telling stories and embellishing details. My family was very conservative and religious, so being funny allowed me to express myself.”
Before comedy, David was deeply involved in rugby, even making it as far as the Olympic Development Academy for the 2016 Rio Olympics before an infection forced him to stop playing. With the realization that his run at sports had ended, David was trying to find other passions to fill his time while working in upstate New York as sales manager for Sierra Nevada Brewing, which led to him exploring his creative side through comedy.
His move to Colorado in 2019 came after a tough breakup and the loss of a long-held job in the beer industry. Although David considered moving to comedy towns such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago or Portland, he ultimately chose the state due to his love of outdoor activities and hearing from fellow comics that Denver had the best-growing comedy scene.
Korey David relocated to Colorado in 2019, partly because he had heard from other comics that Denver had a fast-growing comedy scene.
Courtesy of Nick Holmby
David’s comedy frequently reflects his upbringing as the black sheep in a conservative Mormon family, as well as his fascination with psychedelics and counterculture. However, he admits that since he began touring Interrogation across the country, he has spent less time honing his standup routine.
“I’m not as active about my writing, because Interrogation is kind of a one-man show,” says David, now a regular at Comedy Works. Though Dean was originally helping with the show, he stepped away after a few months to focus on other endeavors. “I host every show, book the comics to appear on the show, create all of the social media content – which I pay a friend to assist with posting, work with the venues, handle the travel logistics and write the press releases,” he notes. “That is all me.”
On stage, David frequently works with co-hosts Hannah Popkin and Joshua Emerson. In addition to Interrogation performances across America, he has secured two regular venues for the show: Dude, IDK Studios on the first or second Thursday of each month, and Comedy Works on the last or second-to-last Wednesday. A YouTube series based on live show clips is also in the works, with weekly content set to premiere by the end of June to reach a larger audience and potentially attract sponsors.
“The essence of the show is that everyone makes mistakes, and that’s okay,” David says. “Unlike other true-crime shows, we are not trying to monetize the pain of others. Sure, I read your stories, but most of them are silly, goofy and stupid. Sometimes I get some scary ones, but they never see the light of day, because I prefer to keep it light. Even if you did something bad in the past, that does not mean you are a bad person now. You may be, but who knows? I know I did a lot of stupid things as a kid, and I would like to believe that I have learned from them and become a better person.”
Learn more about Korey David and upcoming performances of Interrogation: True Crime Stories at koreydavid.com.