Cultural Appreciation

David Nihill uses his status as an immigrant to find the bizarre overlaps between global cultures. He spends his stage time as a conversational storyteller, relying on an understated presence where he rarely moves from the microphone. Rather than relying on rapid-fire setups and punchlines, he leans into long-form anecdotes about the parallels between Irish and Latino immigrant experiences, using his own background to poke fun at the cultural absurdities of modern America. The hour was filmed at The Den Theatre in Chicago and released on YouTube in June 2023 under the direction of James Webb. By this point in his career, Nihill had built a massive online following through viral clips, using this self-produced release to let his longer-form stories breathe. Notable segments include his breakdown of an encounter with a U.S. border agent tracing Irish ancestry through a family pet, and a story about a Black American dancer performing Irish step dance in Utah.