Kyle Kinane's CD is Neat

I brought up Kyle Kinane recently in the context of having seen some Youtube videos and watched him at a standup showcase.

In case you didn't know, if I get something I enjoy in my head, I will throw myself headfirst into scouring the internet for all available information on a given topic. Lord knows that in the years I became a football fan I have looked at so many non-professional mock drafts to see who the Chargers might draft with their first (and if it's close enough to the draft, second and third) pick(s). This is honestly not a good thing; for every mock draft I read in the year 2008, I'm pretty sure no one saw Larry English coming.

Quick tangent that I mention anytime that guy comes up. My friend posted a facebook status regarding the pick, saying "Larry who?" And to this day, I wish I had a Youtube clip on hand of Jules Winfield saying "ENGLISH MOTHAFUCKA, DO YOU SPEAK IT?!?" in classic Samuel L. Jackson yell. I still hope that one day English becomes a top flight linebacker so I can post that video somewhere on the internet after he has like a four-sack game when it matters. Not that any of this matters for this post, just thought it would be clever. Just be lucky I'm not talking about my hypothetical Jonathan Crompton headline situations.

Anyway, Kinane became my obsession for the week. I discovered multiple good things that came from being obsessed with him.

1) I'm Dead and it's All My Fault. Quick little quips of a fictional obnoxious idiot outlining horrendously dangerous situations to his roommate/friend/bandmate Doug. I have yet to show someone this website while I scan through the page on my own and not have the person reading over my shoulder chuckle aloud. Granted, this is only Zach, my roommate, but I showed our friend Chris the website too, and he seemed to enjoy it.

2) I mentioned earlier that Kinane is a master of downer comedy. This much is true. But I bought his CD "Death of the Party" last night after a podcast with him on it I was listening to said I should buy it post-haste. I then made the mistake of listening to the whole album while I was trying to go to sleep, which got me way too amped to sleep, forcing me to stay up for a couple more hours watching less-great comedy on Comedy Central.

Again, I'm getting away from the point. Listening to Kinane's act as a whole reveals a lot more than downer comedy. I was jumping the gun on that. He is definitely a bit of a downer, but to serve a purpose.

Said purpose is a tempering of romanticism and idealism, and honestly, that is needed nowadays. He has moments of clarity where decidedly small moments can remind people of the good stuff in the world. They're not what are outlined in movies, tv, or even overly-idealistic Facebook statuses as the magic in the world, but rather just small tidbits of human decency.



But I guess I'm getting away from the main benefit of Kyle Kinane, which is that the dude is just really, really, really funny. You guys should all check out Death of the Party. Since I probably will be driving at least half of my readership at a car at some point in the near future, you will definitely all hear it when you're in my car. I'm doing my best to fight the good fight.

By the way, I have yet to write a feature script, and getting one done by Sunday will be nothing short of miraculous. I'll keep you updated, unless I fail. If I succeed though, expect me to laud myself on this blog.

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.