Kyle Kinane and Downer Comedy

I went with a couple of dude's to a stand-up showcase for Conan's show last night at the Comedy Store. That's a neat place; despite being enamored with stand-up for quite some time, I've never been to a legit venue for that, so it was nice to be there, even if the gin and tonics were nine freaking dollars.

The guy I liked the most from the performance was Kyle Kinane. I recognized him from one comedy bit posted on the AV Club's website, who enjoyed his comedy album enough to call it one of the best of 2010.

He represents the type of downer comedy that I feel is a big part of me. I think this is kind of a problem. Take for example this clip of his:



I thought that was hysterical. Like, really really funny. And his jokes are mostly like that. Hopefully you'll see him on "Conan" one of these days.

But is that bad if I like that a lot? Because the more I think about it, that's almost exclusively the type of comedy I like. It's weird, a bit sad, and mostly angry with itself. I hope I don't enjoy it solely for the fact that I relate to it; I already like Punch-Drunk Love way too much, and thought "Party Down" (which I finished today, if I may brag about that*) was awesome because though there were occasional rays of sunshine, but always closely followed by more depressing shit that makes me laugh too much. There was a sweet end though, kind of.

It worries me though how enamored I am with this stuff. I think the days of being a sad sack and looking cool doing it has come and gone with Eddie Vedder's popularity (dated joke for a blog, I think). I realize nowadays that looking sad and making fun of yourself constantly doesn't evoke utmost confidence, or even laughter for the more normal sect of people. I hope I'm not setting a bad example for myself by watching all this funny sad shit.

Then again, I may be reading into this. I did go to this showcase because it was sponsored by Conan, and I like Conan O'Brien a lot, and he's not a downer.

I guess I'll just focus my media obsessions squarely on Conan's shoulders now. And maybe Mike Birbiglia too.

*Why would I brag about watching television all day and not socializing or working, you ask? Good question... I don't really have an answer for that, actually.