On AUTHOR

February 6th

On AUTHOR

About the Author

Dave Barclay was born to Robert and Janice Barclay on March 30th, 1980. Bob Barclay was an accountant and is now a successful bank executive with Scotiabank. Jan taught high school History and Geography, and retired soon after Dave’s birth to look after her children. In 1981 his family moved to Mississauga, Ontario, a large sprawling suburb outside Toronto. He was raised as a suburbanite, with two sisters, one of whom is teaching English in China and the other is training to be a vet tech (aka animal nurse). In 1991, his family moved to London, England when Dave's father was transferred. In 1993, they moved back. In 1996 he appeared in a high school production of Waiting for Godot as Estragon. That was his big break into high school drama. Upon graduation, he attended McMaster University and took a degree in Arts and Science and Theatre and Film. He averaged about an A minus, and was very smart. He was a teaching assistant for two years, first in Western Civilization and then in both Theatre and Film classes. His teaching style has been described as 'like a stand-up act'.
While at McMaster, he continued acting in several plays, and decided to follow his dream to be an actor. He also met his first girlfriend, Krista MacIsaac, from Burlington, Ontario, who was in the Theatre and Film program with him. They were longtime friends before finally connecting in September of 2002.
After graduating in 2003 Summa Cum Laude, Dave started working for Scotiabank full time and figuring out a way to achieve his dream. He made a sheet of paper listing “Ways to Avoid the Pit of Despair.” The first way was to move out of his parents’ house in Mississauga, which he did in September 2003 by moving into a Forest Hill apartment in Toronto. The second was to quit his soulless bank job, which he did three times: first he transferred to a part time customer service position at the same bank in 2004, achieving his goal only in the most literal way. Then in 2005 he quit that job to attend Humber College for their Comedy Program. He had applied to the National Theatre School for acting and the George Brown Acting Program (twice), and the Guildhall acting program in London in an effort to move on with his artistic career, but had auditioned unsuccessfully. He thought the comedy program would be a good idea because his most successful roles were always funny.
After graduating with a certificate from Humber, he had a shitty job at a self-serve video store, and decided to try the bank one more time. He lasted two months in a branch in the Portuguese area of Toronto at Bloor and Salem before quitting for good in November 2006.
In August 2007, Dave married Krista in a beautiful ceremony at the Credit Valley Golf and Country Club in Mississauga.
The third item on Dave’s list was to become a professional artist. He appeared in five different Fringe Festival shows since 2003 with a company he started with his friends at McMaster called Players Players. He also started a vaudeville duo with his friend from Humber Matt Kowall called Parker and Seville, which is gaining popularity. He has an acting agent, and has settled into two flexible part-time jobs, at Massey Hall as an usher and at the Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People as a box-office employee.