Then there is the other David Moore, a stand-up comedian. Early in his stage act, he joked, "I went to Harvard Business School. I only mention that because as Harvard alumni we're required to work it into the first two minutes of any conversation." This is the Moore whom New York City has come to love for being funny, the David Moore who won Manhattan's Amateur Comedian of the Year award, who headlined at Caroline's on Broadway, and who has been featured at Stand-up New York, the Friar's Club and at comedy clubs in Florida and Los Angeles. Is he a career stand-up comic? "I'm not Jerry Seinfeld," he was quick to note. "[But] I always loved stand-up comedy."
Looking at Moore's experiences, it's easy to see how he might have had ambitions and abilities beyond the business world. In high school, Moore wrote a musical, and at 17 his parents took him to Rodney Dangerfield's comedy club in New York. Needless to say, he loved it.
When he reached the College, Moore was co-editor-in-chief of The Student and took his studies seriously. At one point, he wrote a paper on the history of the economics department. "It was called 'political economy' way back in the mid-1800s," Moore said.
Later, making his economics major more of a "liberal-artsy major," Moore wrote an ambitious thesis. "My thesis wasn't on regression statistics, it was an economic interpretation of the Israeli conflict in pre-1948 Palestine," he said. "No one tends to see the Arab-Israeli conflict as economic, but control of water and the Jordan River factor in."
A balancing act
If one takes a closer look, it is evident that both versions of Moore, the stand-up comedian and the businessman, are really one and the same. "I have referred to [my experiences] as a liberal arts version of a business career," he said. A typical week's plans can consist of several comedy gigs at late-night clubs or charity banquets, work at Sonostar, board meetings for New Yorks City's Parks Foundation, involvement with the College, and spending time with his wife of 15 years and his two children. "I'm good at multi-tasking," he said.
Moore has found a way to synthesize what he does, integrating humor into business. "Using humor in business is like using humor in teaching," he said. "You want to use it make a point, break tension, get attention and lead. A lot of execs are conscious of how to use it and how not use it." The latter can be more important, he pointed out. "Self-deprecation can be good, but sarcasm can have negative effects."
Moore has also gone in the opposite direction, taking inspiration for his stage career partly from business, partly from family, and partly from a combination of the two. "My daughter's becoming more and more like me every day," Moore said. "She no longer has imaginary friends-she now has imaginary employees."
Most of his fellow comics don't keep second jobs. "A vast majority are aspiring comics, living with their parents or sharing an apartment," he said. Moore, who lives on Park Avenue, is very much an exception.
College in a tumultuous decade
The College has changed a lot since Moore graduated. "My sense is that we were more politically active than students are now, [although] we were in the wake of [Vietnam]," he said. Moore was at Amherst for eight weeks before the college voted to go co-ed. "For students it wasn't that big a deal," he said at a panel that celebrated the 25th anniversary of Amherst's decision. "But some professors and alums had problems with it."
Although Moore participated in various protests, he loved the College and still believes in the institution. He still donates his time and money to the College. "The way higher education works," he noted, "is that it costs more per year than a year's tuition. [Amherst] is a great school partly because it has great resources."
Moore remains an active volunteer in his community and the Amherst community. "I feel both a responsibility and a personal sense of satisfaction to be involved in organizations that do good," he said. "It's who I am."