In another time, he would have been called prophet. So reads the gravestone of the comedian Sam Kinison. On April 10, 1992, at age 38, Kinison met his end in a two-car accident on highway 95, the road between Needles, CA, and Las Vegas. But the comedian remains an icon even now— not just among other comedians, but also lovers of comedy from a certain generation. He was a combination of Lenny Bruce, Evangelist Preacher, and Metal God, and his original act, the one that made him famous, simply put, is shockingly hilarious. There’d never been one like it before, and people in the game still talk about him with awe. These links take you to an excellent two-part “oral” biography of Kinison that freelance writer Julie Seabaugh penned back in 2007.
Along with the bio Brother Sam, by Kinison’s brother Bill Kinison, this bio stands as one of the premiere accounts of the comedian’s life. However, if you want to see highlights from the act that literally turned comedy on its ear, we’ve got those, too (his first Letterman appearence, making Johnny Carson double over, his first HBO special, his Wild Thing Video, Kinison on Howard Stern, etc). If you want more, you can go to Kinison.com. But for now this should kill a major part of your workday. Enjoy!
First Letterman Appearence:
On Rodney Dangerfield’s HBO special:
Carson loving him:
WIld Thing video:
HBO special 1987: part 1 of 5
One of his famous bits:
Kinison on howard stern:
