DC Pierson

Donald Charles "DC" Pierson IV (born December 27, 1984) is an American comedian, author, and actor. He is best known for his involvement in the sketch and improvisational comedy group Derrick Comedy.

Early life and education

Pierson was born in Phoenix, Arizona.

Pierson attended Mountain Pointe High School, where he started acting and performing in a short-form improv group. He went on to attend NYU, joining the sketch comedy group Hammerkatz NYU in the fall of 2003. He worked as both assistant director and director during his 3-year tenure with the group. Pierson graduated from NYU's Dramatic Writing Department in 2007 with a degree in writing for television. He also made three brief appearances on NBC's Community, on which his Derrick Comedy co-star Donald Glover plays a main character, as a Greendale Gazette member.^[1]

Career

Derrick Comedy

Pierson, along with other Hammerkatz alumni Donald Glover, Dominic Dierkes and Dan Eckman, formed the group Derrick Comedy after meeting at NYU.^[2] Pierson is both one of the principal actors and writers for Derrick Comedy.

Derrick Comedy has performed as an improvisational comedy group at the UCB Theatre in New York, but are best known for their sketches that appear on YouTube^[3] and CollegeHumor.^[4] Pierson has played roles including an emo teenager and a man making a plea to the Godfather. Pierson co-wrote Derrick Comedy's first feature-length film, Mystery Team, and in it plays Duncan, a self-described boy genius.

Other works

On January 21, 2010, Pierson's first novel, The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep and Never Had To, was released on Random House. The story follows two high school students who are social outcasts. When one of the students, Eric, reveals that he never sleeps, the two boys end up on the run.^[5] His book came to broad audience when he personally answered to a high school student on Yahoo! Answers on 13 August 2012. On the page, the student asked for help to review the book given to her as an assignment by her teacher. She stated that lack of time, among other things, caused her to be unable to read the book. The author's straight comment was first recognized by Techcrunch,^[6] which made this coverage an Internet sensation for his work, helped encourage more users to buy and read the book. One of Pierson's primary influences for his novel was the late J.D. Salinger. He is currently working on turning the book into a film, which will be directed by Dan Eckman.^[7] Pierson's second novel, Crap Kingdom, was released in 2013.

Pierson was featured on both of Childish Gambino's "I Am Just A Rapper" mixtapes, contributing verses to three different songs, 49ers (Orange Shirt), The Truth (Goth Star), and Different (Feel It All Around). Pierson along with Nick Packard was also featured on Childish Gambino's "Assassins" from the 2008 Album "Sick Boi". He was also featured along with Amber Petty on Childish Gambino's "Starlight" from the 2009 album Poindexter. Childish Gambino is the rap moniker of his fellow Derrick Comedy member, Donald Glover. He is also credited with the story told during "That Power" on Childish Gambino's Camp.

DC Pierson has made a mixtape called "Something Has Survived: A Small Rap Mixtape."

Pierson writes short stories on his website as well.^[8]

In January 2012, Pierson appeared on the YouTube sketch-comedy show Let's Talk About Something More Interesting.^[9]

In 2014, Pierson had a brief cameo in Captain America: The Winter Soldier as Apple tech support.

References

External links

• DC Pierson at the Internet Movie Database
• A Lisa Simpson Kind of Planet: An Interview with DC Pierson