• Courtesy Of Mindy Tucker
• David Cross

"Fatherhood has changed my perspective a bit," comedian David Cross told me. He was speaking by phone from his house in the Catskills in upstate New York while watching his daughter play outside.

Fatherhood, he went on, "has forced me to find hope where I might have just glossed over that before." Then he paused to warn his daughter about getting too close to some bees that seemed, he told me, to be "itching to fuck."

The star of such TV shows as "Arrested Development," "Mr. Show" and "The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret," Cross is known for a politically charged, often acerbic style of humor akin to that of the late Bill Hicks and Lenny Bruce. On Wednesday, September 6, he'll kick off his Worst Daddy in the World tour at the Higher Ground Ballroom in South Burlington.

As its title suggests, the show deals with Cross' adventures in parenting. It explores how becoming a dad has required him to do something strange, for him: cheer the fuck up.

"She has a lot of friends, so I'm hanging out with a bunch of little kids," Cross said of his elementary schooler daughter. "I have to sweep the cynical pessimism under the rug and embrace their optimism, because I really don't want to bum these kids out. It's the last thing you want to do, believe me."

Longtime Cross fans who worry fatherhood might have dulled one of comedy's sharpest tongues, fear not. For all the glass-half-full vibes he's getting from his daughter, the rest of the world still gives him plenty to bitch about. Most notably, that includes the so-called "Hollywood strike": The Writers Guild of America, Directors Guild of America, Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA), International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and even the Teamsters have gone on strike in response to a number of grievances with the studios, such as with their moves toward replacing writers and actors with generative AI.

"It's honestly beyond the pale what they've been suggesting and trying to get away with," Cross seethed when speaking of the studios. "The whole thing with digitally copying extras to use in perpetuity is just disgusting and wrong on every level. You get paid 45 bucks, and they get to put your face wherever they want, saying whatever they want."

In Cross' view, one of the worst side effects of the strike is the likelihood that reality TV programs will flood screens to fill the void left by scripted shows that aren't being produced. He pointed out that in the wake of the last writers' strike, in 2008, reality shows such as "Vanderpump Rules" and "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" took root in the American consciousness.

"The streaming industry isn't collapsing," Cross said, pushing back on a frequent claim by studios that the streaming bubble has burst, putting them in dire financial straits. "It's actually the opposite of the case: The traditional networks are collapsing, which has made the streaming services the top-tier place for entertainment."

That dominance, in turn, has made the streaming providers what Cross describes as "monolithic."

The topic brings out plenty of Cross' signature bite, inspiring him to crap on the CBS cop show "Blue Bloods," ("A computer could write that show, and no one would give a shit") and remark on the prescience of a 2002 film he made with longtime collaborator Bob Odenkirk, Run Ronnie Run! Focusing on an oft-arrested redneck named Ronnie who becomes the star of his own reality show, the film predicted not only America's future media landscape but also its political one.

"That film was all about the idea that America would fall in love with a dumb, stupid criminal," Cross said. "Well..."

The movie never reached the conclusion that Cross and Odenkirk originally envisioned, which featured Ronnie (get this) being elected president of the United States, seducing the Queen of England and catching the Loch Ness Monster.

Altered vision aside, Run Ronnie Run! is now seen as almost prophetic, much like Mike Judge's 2006 dark comedy Idiocracy, as American society continues its push to be stranger than fiction. Cross thinks it's exactly the kind of artistic statement that wouldn't be green-lighted in the world that the streaming studios are trying to create by forcing out writers.

"All 'The Sopranos' and 'Better Call Saul's, those kind of highfalutin shows, they'll all disappear," he predicted. "You couldn't have another 'Arrested Development' like this."

But his newfound sunny streak showed up when I asked Cross how he thought the strikes might play out.

"I'm actually optimistic," he said. "The studios weren't prepared for SAG-AFTRA joining the strike, and they weren't prepared for the ferocity of it all. They made plans for a few months of writers striking, and that's not what happened at all."

Cross believes the studios will come to the table and make an agreement by October, though he hopes it will happen earlier.

In the meantime, his focus is squarely on his upcoming tour. Cross estimates that he's performed in the Queen City more than 20 times; he even spent his honeymoon in Vermont. He rates Burlington as a squarely average comedy city.

"There are cities you get really excited to visit when you're on tour, and there are cities you look at ahead of time and sort of roll your eyes and say, 'Oh, God, again?'" Cross said. "Burlington isn't either one of those sorts of towns; it's right in the middle. But all it takes is one show to change that, so you never know."

I don't know about you, but that sounds like the throwing down of a gauntlet, Burlington. We're already known as a boring music audience town (debate me on that one, please), so let's make a reputation as a comedy town, all right? We can start at the Cross show. For more details and tickets, pop over to highergroundmusic.com.