People following the Michael Richards debacle have noted the obvious descent of Richards into rage and racism and some have noted how comedy clubs have become havens for the comedy of anger.
Anger has been around as a comedy prop for a long time. But few have funneled it so creatively, humorously and artistically than the late Sam Kinison.
Younger readers and comedy fans particularly need to watch this You Tube video. A true gem: Kinison’s first network appearance on a Nov. 1985 David Letterman show. Note at the end how he has left Letterman (who was always excellent about promoting other comedians and newer genres of comedy) laughing. Remember: the national TV audience had never seen this style before.
You can get BOOKS on Sam Kinison here.
You can get DVDs featuring Sam Kinison here.
PS: Kinison was admired by new wave comedians, more traditional comedians and rock stars. His career had its ups and downs, as did his all-too-short life. He remains missed by many.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.