Jack Tracy Shares the Perils of Dating in His New Series Danny Will Die Alone

Jack Tracy is a writer, actor, producer, and recording artist based in New York. He has released three LPs and numerous EPs and is best known for his feature film Snowflake and his web series History, Big Law, and Millennial Memoir. Jack’s new original series, Danny Will Die Alone, is launching on May 16 on Dekkoo, the premiere streaming service dedicated to gay men.

Created by and starring Jack created and stars in the series, which dives deep into the hellscape of being a single gay man today trying to find love via hookup apps. Loosely based on Jack’s own dating life in New York City and his “Dying Alone Together” podcast, the series depicts Jack’s character, Danny, as a man on a mission. Recently single after a devastating breakup and freshly entering a mid-life crisis, Danny finds the dating scene markedly different from the last time he was on the market. Emotional unavailability, fear of commitment, and hypersexuality abound, and Danny is forced to navigate his way through unhinged flakes, fakes, and bots, all while remaining blissfully unaware of his own multitude of flaws.  

In our exclusive interview, we had the chance to chat with Jack about his new series, his role as an OnlyFans creator, and his upcoming music releases.

What was the origin of the show?

Well, it actually went through a lot of different phases. The very first piece of it was right at the beginning of the pandemic. I couldn’t really produce anything anymore. Obviously, we were all inside and couldn’t do anything, so I started doing these straight to camera YouTube video essays that were comedic and I would do a take on a dating topic or something and do something crazy with editing. It was all just sort of a straight to camera thing and that was called “Dying Alone Together” and then that became a podcast that I did with a friend where we would swipe on the apps and talk about the stuff we were seeing and then after that it turned into the web series, which was an exclusive series for my fan community on Patreon and OnlyFans  which then when I sent it to Dekkoo, they wanted to buy it and make it an original series. So, here we are.

What was the production process like for the series? It looks very polished and professional.

I appreciate that. Well, I’ve been doing this a very, very long time. Everything you see other than holding the camera and holding the sound is me. You just learn as you go. I’ve done an independent movie. I’ve done other web series so it’s just a lot of like trial by fire. We started, I think, the first couple episodes we filmed as early as – I want to say 2021 – and then sat on them for a little bit because I was working on something else – and then the last ones in 2023. We would just do three or four at a time and then release them monthly. We’d check back in every now and then because they were only 10-minute episodes, they only took about a day and a half to film. But now, with season two coming, those are now six half hour episodes. So that was a bit more.

I know that the show is loosely based on your dating experiences, but how much of you is in the character of Danny? 

I like to say that Danny is me if I am my most extreme jaded self. If I completely had a mental breakdown, it’s that, it’s me turned up to 11. I also like to say Danny is kind of like the alternate universe evil David Schitt from Schitt’s Creek. If he were a little bit more demented and on edge, that’s kind of Danny.

Who are your comedic and acting inspirations? 

For this series, it felt like the style is kind of like a hybrid of 30 Rock and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. And then with the conceit of Fleabag, how the character talks directly to camera, that’s how I really thought about this series. I watch a lot of stand-ups, so I’m very much influenced by Chelsea Handler, Amy Schumer, Nikki Blazer and Margaret Cho – who I grew up with. Those ballsy women who aren’t afraid to really say the crazy thing, say the really like vulgar thing, which I think Danny does a lot.

I know the thesis of the show is dating is terrible, but, and, you know, I’m a heterosexual woman, I don’t get all the references. I mean, I understand them, but I’ve not experienced them. But do you think this could be a kind of universal breakthrough show that everyone could enjoy regardless of sexuality?

I hope so, because the cinematographer I worked with, who we’ve worked with for the music projects and other shows, we’ve worked together for years and years and years. He finds it hilarious and has recommended it to his straight friends and such. So, I think that even if the situations are quite universal because everyone has anyone who’s on the dating apps is having a bad time and they recognize the behaviors. And even though some of the stuff is very steeped in gay culture, I think the comedy is universal. 

Besides getting into, like, dating is terrible, like, what do you hope that audiences will take away from watching the show?

Well, I mean, first and foremost, I hope they laugh. I hope they are surprised by some of the places that we go and some of the things that we say. We aren’t afraid to be controversial, especially coming up in this second season. There are some real triggering things and people are going to feel certain ways about it, but I hope people are laughing, and I hope people see this and know that like, oh wait, this isn’t just happening to me. I think a lot of times when we’re on those dating apps and things are happening, we internalize it as why do people treat me this way? Why is this happening to me? And really, it’s happening to all of us.

I was hoping the title wasn’t a spoiler, and that there was going to be more, because I wanted to know if Danny is actually going to find true love. Can you tell me that might be coming up in season two? 

So, the big change with season two of turning this into a Dekkoo series is that it now has a through line, it has a story that’s told through all six episodes. We keep the core of Danny. Every episode has a date with a different person, but there’s something else going on at the same time, and let’s just say there is more potential for Danny to find someone in season 2 than there was in season 1, but Danny may not be able to see it.

Is Deb the matchmaker coming back?

Not in Season 2, but my real-life experience with the matchmaker has come back and I have new stories. So, we’ll see about Season 3. I have new interactions with Debbie.

I was sad that you didn’t actually sing on the show because your character was a singer. Are you going to incorporate any of your music into future seasons? 

So, we’re not really seeing Danny as the performer in season two very much. However, I’m going to be releasing a new album on the date that Danny season two is released and all of the music in the credits is going to be my new music.

Can you tell me a little bit about some of your upcoming music? 

The new album is called Glorify. I previewed six of those tracks at Jersey City Pride, I was one of the closing performers this year. It’s very steeped in 90s R&B. It’s very sexual, we are really going there. There are two singles out now, “Fill Me Full” and “Submit” and I think a lot of it sounds quite late 90s Missy Elliot in terms of its sound. That’s going to be out in the fall whenever Dekkoo gives me the date for the release. And there’s six episodes, you’ll hear six different songs in the credits. And one of the songs features Mel Lennon, who is on the remix of “Love Yah”. He’s back for another song with me.

I know you went on to OnlyFans, and I’m curious how is the experience is with you with working with OnlyFans as a creator?

Well, you know, first, I have to explain to anybody, and no judgment or no shame in any of it, but I have to explain to anyone that I am not doing pornography. That’s not what I’m doing because anytime anyone hears someone has an OnlyFans, that’s what they think you’re doing. So, that’s always the barrier, but, you know, I work so hard and I put so much stuff into my art that there came a point where I just couldn’t throw it up on YouTube for free anymore.

It just hurt my heart to just throw up and then leave it to the algorithm as to whether anybody saw it or not. I would much rather put it behind a paywall for a modest amount to have people who actually support me and want to see my stuff, even if it’s much less than I would get on YouTube, it just makes me feel more fulfilled as an artist to know that the people who are watching are people who actually are engaged and want to support me.

I had another question that just popped into my head. In the Love Yah video, you have Sherry Vine, who I love. I’m very much into the drag performers. Are there other people like Sherry or any other actors or people that you would want to collaborate with that you haven’t yet?

Well, the music video, it’s only on the OnlyFans, but for Fill Me Full has local drag queens Katrina Lovelace and Hibiscus. They run the What’s the Glam Awards best drag brunch in New York several years in a row. We’ve become friends because they’re local and I live nearby. So, we filmed the music video and part of the music video is them lip syncing the song, which is great. In terms of people I would like to work with, you know, this is the first show I’ve ever sold to a streamer, so I’m hoping that this continues a relationship with Dekkoo that gives me other opportunities that I can do things for other services, maybe, maybe one day find myself on an HBO Max or a Netflix doing a series. I’m very much on the feeling like I’m on the path to just growing and growing and doing more stuff. So, I’m hoping to collaborate with more streamers.

Danny Will Die Alone debuts on Dekkoo on May 16. Follow Jack on YouTube, Instagram and Spotify.