Atlanta, GA
David Cross refuses to sit down
Photograph by Timothy M. Schmidt
David Cross was walking home late one Friday night when he got a call with a job opportunity. The Roswell-born actor and comedian was being offered the role of Sy Grossman in the fourth and final season of The Umbrella Academy, the Netflix smash hit about a family of quirky superhero siblings. There was just one problem.
“I wasn’t familiar with the show,” Cross says. “I knew of it as a cultural thing that people loved, and I’d heard great things. But I’d never watched an episode.”
He spent that weekend addressing the issue, binge-watching and falling in love with the show. That Monday morning, he flew to Toronto to join the ensemble. Cross was such a fan that, during filming, he asked the cast and crew not to reveal spoilers for scenes he wasn’t involved in. “I didn’t want to have the story ruined for me when I watched it,” he says. “I just made sure I knew what I needed to know. Because I was so excited to see the rest of it.”
When he wasn’t on set for The Umbrella Academy, Cross was on the road, touring his stand-up show Worst Daddy in the World. Did you miss it? Not to worry. Cross is so prolific that he’s already on to another tour: The End of the Beginning of the End comes to Atlanta on October 16.
Atlanta is where Cross’s love of comedy first blossomed. Years before he rose to fame with the screwball sketch comedy series Mr. Show with Bob and David, and as Tobias Fünke in Arrested Development, Cross was a student at the former Northside High School. He calls its specialist performance arts program, now defunct, “a lifesaver.” He’d spend his nights watching Monty Python and reading National Lampoon, then write his own skits for class.
When he was 17, he worked up the courage to make his debut onstage. “It was at The Punchline on Roswell Road,” Cross says. After that night, he was hooked. At 19, he left for Boston to attend Emerson College, and later honed his skills in that city’s burgeoning comedy scene. He now lives in Brooklyn with his daughter and wife, the actress Amber Tamblyn, though he visits family in Atlanta several times a year.
Since Arrested Development, Cross has stayed busy. He created, wrote, and starred in the show The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, while popping up in Modern Family and the Kung Fu Panda franchise. In 2023, he succumbed to the urging of his manager and joined the herd of comedians hosting podcasts. He admits he’s “having a blast” hosting Senses Working Overtime with David Cross, which featured his Mr. Show collaborator Bob Odenkirk as the first guest.
Looking back at both Mr. Show and Arrested Development, Cross can’t help but feel proud, especially when he compares it to what’s on the air now. “Everything on television now feels familiar,” he says. “The writing, acting, pacing, and editing are all good. But they’re not great. It’s like there’s something missing. Like there’s no soul to it. But those two shows in particular—they were so new and risky.”
Cross continues to split his time between acting and stand-up, but there’s no doubting his true creative passion. “I could stop acting, directing, or producing and I’d miss it, but I need to do stand-up,” he says. “I just crave it. Sometimes I’ll think of an idea or joke and I can’t wait to work it out onstage.” Cross is showing no signs of slowing down: He will take The End of the Beginning of the End to 46 cities this fall, before his next special is released next year.
“Touring gets harder the older I get,” says Cross. “But I love it. I just don’t feel that way about any other thing I do.”
This article appears in our October 2024 issue.
Advertisement
The public is getting its first look at the two pandas that will be heading from China to Zoo Atlanta.
NBC’s Janis Mackey Frayer was able to visit female Fu Shuang and male Ping Ping before they make the nearly 8,000-mile flight. The giant pandas are both 6 years old and are headed to the United States as part of a new decade-long conservation agreement between China and the U.S.
Ping Ping’s keepers say he tends to follow them around, which is atypical behavior for a panda, but may be because of the food they have for him. Fu Shuang — which translates to “double happiness” — is playful, but nervous, and enjoys placing her chin on her paw. She also likes apples and has a penchant for finding them.
“Because we will hide pieces of apples, for example under the tree … she can find them everywhere,” panda keeper Wang Shun told Mackey Frayer, noting her “clever” behavior.
The pandas are part of an international cooperative research agreement on giant panda conservation between Zoo Atlanta and the China Wildlife Conservation Association, a renewal of panda diplomacy between America and China that began in 1972.
“Zoo Atlanta is delighted and honored to yet again be trusted as stewards of this treasured species and to partner with the China Wildlife Conservation Association on the continued conservation and research efforts that are the most important outcomes of this cooperation,” Zoo Atlanta President and CEO Raymond B. King said in a statement in April.
“We can’t wait to meet Ping Ping and Fu Shuang and to welcome our Members, guests, city, and community back to the wonder and joy of giant pandas.”
Pandas are already at zoos in Washington, D.C., and San Diego. Zoo Atlanta maintained a panda agreement with China from 1999 until 2024, when Lun Lun and Yang Yang went back to their home country, along with their two youngest cubs.
Animal behaviorist James Ayala marvels at how pandas mature.
“You see cubs and they seem so cuddly and clumsy and cute. And then they grow up into these big, majestic bears,” he told Mackey Frayer.
Fu Shuang and Ping Ping will be transported further south into a mountainous region where they will be prepped to make the trip to the U.S. It is unknown when they will leave.
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — Soccer fever took over The Battery Atlanta on Thursday as fans gathered outside Truist Park for a rare chance to see the FIFA World Cup trophy in person.
Children kicked soccer balls across the plaza while crowds counted down to the dramatic reveal of the iconic trophy, widely considered the most coveted prize in international sports.
The appearance marked the first public viewing of the FIFA World Cup trophy in Atlanta.
“It’s the real trophy,” said fan Abdulrahman Dwead. “Nobody is allowed to touch the actual trophy unless you won it or are the president of FIFA. So, me standing beside that cup, that’s an honor to me.”
The trophy stop carried extra significance because Atlanta is one of the host cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Local fans said the event gave them a deeper sense of excitement ahead of the tournament.
“It’s the greatest feeling in the world,” said Melissa Richardson. “It’s something that doesn’t happen often and to be here in this moment is very important to me.”
The trophy was displayed outside the ballpark before moving inside Monument Garden during Thursday night’s Braves game, allowing ticket holders another opportunity to see the historic prize.
Organizers said the event gave thousands of fans a rare chance to experience a piece of soccer history in Atlanta.
“I’m so happy that Atlanta will host eight games,” Dwead said. “I’ve been here in Atlanta for almost 14 years and I love Atlanta so much.”
Copyright 2026 WANF. All rights reserved.
The Atlanta Dream are undefeated heading into their home opener and still finding ways to improve their roster.
The Dream announced Wednesday the signing of forward Amy Okonkwo to a developmental contract. It’s the latest roster move for an Atlanta team that is 2-0 and gearing up to play Sunday against the defending champion, Las Vegas Aces.
Okonkwo brings an impressive résumé despite her young career.
She most recently attended training camp with the Dallas Wings ahead of the 2026 season and appeared in eight games with Dallas during the 2025 WNBA season, averaging 11.0 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game while shooting better than 60 percent from the field. She recorded a career-high 20 points against Phoenix on Sept. 11, 2025, and made history as the first undrafted player since 2000 to average 10 or more points while shooting 60 percent or better through her first two WNBA games.
Her international résumé is equally impressive. Okonkwo has earned back-to-back FIBA Women’s AfroBasket MVP honors in 2023 and 2025 while helping Nigeria’s national team capture consecutive gold medals. Collegiately, she played at USC before finishing her career at TCU, where she earned 2018 Big 12 Sixth Player of the Year honors.
Okonkwo joins a 12-player roster that includes Naz Hillmon, Te-Hina Paopao, Jordin Canada, Angel Reese, Aaliyah Nye, Rhyne Howard, Madina Okot, Allisha Gray, Isobel Borlase, Indya Nivar, Sika Kone and Brionna Jones.
The signing caps a busy stretch of roster moves for Atlanta.
Earlier this month, the Dream claimed guard Aaliyah Nye off waivers after she was selected by the expansion Toronto Tempo in the 2026 WNBA Expansion Draft and subsequently waived on May 7. Nye brings championship pedigree to Atlanta, having been a member of the 2025 WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces as a rookie, appearing in all 44 regular season games and finishing fourth among franchise rookies in made three-pointers with 37.
A guard out of the University of Alabama, Nye is one of the sharper shooters in the league. She finished her college career with 389 three-pointers across stops at Alabama and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, shooting 40.9 percent from beyond the arc. In her final season with the Crimson Tide, she earned Second Team All-SEC honors after averaging 15.2 points per game and setting the program’s single-season record with 111 made three-pointers.
To make room for Nye, the Dream waived guard Holly Winterburn, a move that came with an emotional cost. Winterburn, a Northampton, England native who went undrafted in 2025 before signing with Atlanta as a free agent, said she learned she had been cut just before boarding the bus for the team’s first game of the season on May 9.
“I thought my welcome to the W moment would happen on the court, not as I’m getting on the bus for my first ever game,” Winterburn wrote on Instagram. “But that’s the reality of this business and I will always be grateful for the opportunity Atlanta gave me. I’m built for this.”
Winterburn did not stay without a job for long. The Portland Fire signed her to a developmental contract shortly after her release.
After Tuesday’s road win in Dallas, the Dream return home Sunday to face the defending champion Las Vegas Aces at 1:30 p.m. at State Farm Arena.
-
Business6 minutes agoAltadena’s latest roadblock to rebuilding: Sewage
-
Entertainment12 minutes agoBreaking down Drake’s Temu haul of an album drop
-
Lifestyle18 minutes agoL.A. Affairs: He wanted to get kinky. But was his Madonna-whore complex a deal-breaker?
-
Politics24 minutes agoReport: Conditions at immigrant detention centers in California have worsened under Trump
-
Sports36 minutes agoPrep talk: Granada Hills coach Tom Harp goes for another boys’ volleyball title
-
World48 minutes agoSpanish row fuels north–south tensions ahead of tough EU budget talks
-
News1 hour agoWoman killed in Atlanta Beltline stabbing identified
-
New York3 hours agoQuestions Arise About Jack Schlossberg’s Readiness for Congress