DAVID A. ARNOLD: AN OVERNIGHT SENSATION 25 YEARS IN THE MAKING

By Patricia Andrews-Keenan

ture was relatable, family-focused humor with Black folk attitude. When he told us to remember that one day our kids will have the power to put us in a nursing home, you can’t help but nod in agreement as you belly laughed at the set-up. The Cleveland native’s inspirations included Red Foxx, Richard Pryor and Bill Cosby, and like Cosby, Arnold was especially adept at mining his family for inspiration. He was also honest in sharing his successes and his foibles; and generous in allowing us to meet the complex family he lovingly skewered in his stand-up.

For over 25 years, he wore many hats - comedian, actor, writer, producer, and showrunner. He was the creator, showrunner, and executive producer of the Will Packer Media buddy comedy series “That Girl Lay Lay,” which debuted on Nickelodeon in 2021 and was picked up for a second season in 2022. He produced “Fuller House” on Netflix and the BET+ series “Bigger.”

Yet stand-up was his first love. He moved to Los Angeles where he worked his way up the comedy scene performing at a variety of clubs and venues, later securing a spot on BET’s “Comic View.”

Among his numerous credits are Jamie Foxx Presents Laffapalooza (Comedy Central), The Tom Joyner Show, Baisden After Dark, Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen, The Mo’Nique Show (BET), Entourage (HBO), and Def Comedy Jam. His Netflix comedy specials include “Fat Ballerina” (2019) and “It Ain’t for the Weak!” (2022), both produced by Kevin Hart’s HartBeat Production.

His consistent themes were family and fatherhood and the associated joys, trials and tribulations, for which the comedian had no shortage of material. That included his wife Julie L. Harkness, daughters Anna-Grace and Ashlyn, mother, father, step-parents and grandfather. He says his dad and grandfather were the “funniest people he ever met”. The autobiographical “It Ain’t for the Weak” explores them hilariously through the stand up, and then personally through interviews he does with each of his family members.

And he doesn’t spare himself either, speaking about everything from his less than stellar grade point average to past drug use. The comedian, who was 25 years sober, was teaching us by example that we can come out the other side of anything whole and thriving.

On the Art of Fatherhood Podcast, he shared his thoughts on becoming a dad saying, “When I look at all the things I’ve messed up in my life, I ask myself, am I qualified to shape another life.” But being that uncertain, and forever searching parent not only helped him grow as a person but catapulted him to new career heights. His videos for social media, on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, showcasing his life with Julie, Anna-Grace, and Ashlyn won him a legion of new fans leading to his wildly successful Netflix specials. Of that serendipity, he said, “I’m really proud of how all of that came to be and of the storyteller that I’ve become.”

The outpouring of love for him after his death on September 7, 2022, from what was likely an undiagnosed hereditary condition, still resonates online. Kim Fields hosted an IG Live to discuss the loss of the comedian she said was like a brother to her for over a decade. “The world flipped upside down for us after we lost David,” she shared.

Fellow comedian Cocoa Brown offers, “David A. Arnold was a trifecta not only an amazing comedian, but also an amazing writer and a visionary as he was able to take everything that happened in his life and put it into words and his stand-up.

Of their relationship, Julie, speaking with Kym Whitley and Sherri Shephard on their podcast Two Funny Mamas, said “I got to be in love, I got to explore a marriage for 20 years, and not everybody gets to do that.”

David A. Arnold was an overnight sensation more than 25 years in the making and it is our loss that we don’t get to see what comes next. He allowed us to laugh at our families because he laughed at his. All we can say is ‘gone too soon’.

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DAVID A. ARNOLD