ATLANTA — Actor, quirky raconteur and stand-up comic David Cross, who crossed the 60 year mark this past spring, joked on his comedy special earlier this year “The Worst Daddy in the World” about being an older dad surrounded by insufferable younger hipster fathers in Brooklyn, N.Y.
But the “Arrested Development” alum who grew up in Roswell, is truly enjoying his time raising his 7-year-old daughter Marlow with his actress wife Amber Tamblyn.
“I’m physically fit,” said Cross in a phone interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I’m able to do everything I need to do with her. I’m not like, ‘Slow down! Daddy’s knees!’ Every age represents its own achievements and delights. I’m loving that she’s very slowly starting to get into sports. She’s getting into baseball cards. It’s heartwarming for me.”
Cross is currently on a 50-city stand-up comedy tour. He spoke to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution from an airport in Madison, Wisc., on his way to Minneapolis. Both shows, he noted, are sold out.
The new show, he said, “for no concerted reason,” won’t be as heavy on religion and politics as past ones. Nonetheless, expect an eclectic mix of storytelling, dry observational humor and social commentary.
“He’s no different on stage than he is off stage,” said his sister Wendy Cross, who still lives in Atlanta. “He is unapologetic in his opinions.”
She said her brother works hard to be a present dad for Marlow in response to the fact his father abandoned them when they were children. “He is hyper aware what not to do,” Wendy said.
Cross said Marlow is now at an age where she understands that he makes a living cracking jokes so she herself has begun following in his footsteps. “She is starting to appreciate being funny, which is kind of nice,” he said. “She wrote a bunch of jokes in the car while we were driving upstate. We were at a restaurant and she walked over to strangers and told jokes. It was cool.”
Cross said he was not nearly as extroverted as his daughter is when he was her age. “We moved around a lot,” he said. “I was always the new kid. I didn’t like growing up in Roswell (in the late 1970s and early 1980s). I was picked on a lot. There was a lot of dumb antisemitism and racism I had to deal with.”
His sister said Cross hates surprises but she gave him a surprise 60th birthday party anyway in Brooklyn in April with 150 of his family and friends.
