What’s Next For The Dads Comedy
- Gary Miller
- Jun 25
- 3 min read
Updated: 7 days ago
The Dads Going Forward
The Dads Comedy started in 2019 as a one-off improv bit at Grafenberg Theater where we played our dads. We didn’t even have a name yet, we just called it Best Worst Cantina Presents, after my production company. Back then, any sketch or improv show I produced went under that banner. It wasn’t just a name Best Worst Cantina was the umbrella I created to self-fund and distribute original work, starting with small shows and growing into full-on productions.
I texted Jack and Sam, we wore New Balances and channeled Dad Memes. That was it. No lore, no names, just Sam Butler, Jack Anderson, and me pretending to be exaggerated middle-aged fathers onstage. We had warped points of views and terrible improv techniques. We didn’t have “Dave” or any backstory yet. We were just having fun. I had known Sam for years and was excited to finally do something with Jack, who I’d acted with in the ‘92 Dream Team. That first set still makes me smile when I think about it.
We got our own weekly slot starting March 2020, and well, you know what happened next.
But we kept going. We made stuff when and how we could. In 2021, we made Good Kids Daad City, which turned into The Adventures of Dave Garrison. That thing got 10,000 streams, which felt like a huge number at the time. We were just happy people were listening. I invested in an animated version of "Dad Bromance" that got a decent response, 6,800 views at the time felt like going viral. Any bit of progress felt good. That same year we returned to the stage at Chaos Bloom Theater, a place that’s become a second home to us. It’s been one of the best spaces for trying new material and figuring out what the hell we were even doing as a group. Chaos Bloom has always given us space to mess around, to try weird formats, to just play. Then, after a show in early 2023, another member joined us. He brought a new comedic perspective to the group and suddenly we were a four-piece, a proper Dad band.
That year, we launched The Dads Comedy Show which later became The Littleton Comedy Show, which became Sam’s passion project. We also filmed Daddy Road, our first proper special. It got nominated for a BroadwayWorld Regional Award. We got to pay everyone, we sold tickets, and it proved what we were doing worked. Write consistently, Practice, perform consistently, tell people to come. Keep it simple.
We had a solid run. Two specials. A monthly slot. Side projects like The Color Plaid. Solo work. Podcasts. Streaming numbers that made us feel like someone out there was watching. Then in 2024, we made Angels Get Their Wings our second special, and in many ways, our last big hurrah. It was the last show I performed in with them. I would stay with the group I built but shift to behind the scenes as a producer and writer, but we just couldn’t make it work.
And now, six years after that first improv bit, The Dads cast isn’t performing together anymore. The last shows with Sam & Jack were it. We’re all working on different things now. Creative chemistry doesn’t always stay perfectly in sync, and that’s okay. We grew. We each have new focuses. I wanted to create credits for my friends. Jack and Sam wanted to do comedy, and at the time, I had the most experience and connections to help get us started. I think we did that. We made each other better. After Good Kids Daad City, Jack went on to produce two of his own audio specials. Sam kept hosting and building community around stand-up. They’ve grown a lot, as performers, writers, producers. I’m genuinely excited to see what they do next.
The Dads still exists as a digital brand, a comedy archive, and an idea. The Dads still produced under Best Worst Cantina.
There are still Dads projects in the pipeline, and The Adventures of Dave Garrison will continue with the original cast for next season. In fact, we already recorded a follow-up season before parting ways, and I’m excited to share it. While we’re no longer performing live together, The Dads was never just an improv team or house troupe, it was a creative umbrella under Best Worst Cantina Media. From the start, the vision was to build a platform for digital content, sketch, audio, and character-driven projects. That mission continues.
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