Comedy Review: Kyle Kinane

This is a review I wrote for a student- thing that I write things for.

        Chances are you’ve probably never read a review for a comedy album. Why would you bother? Well, you’re reading one now. You’ve also probably-definitely never heard of Kyle Kinane. You’ve heard his voice though. Next time you’re watching Comedy Central and they cut to a little promo about an upcoming show or episode or special, listen to that rich, resonant voice telling you what time it will air. That’s Kyle Kinane.

        But he’s not a voice actor; he’s a true comedian. And Death of the Party, is a fine, fine stand-up album. Kinane’s material is intellectual and original with a well-crafted and unique delivery. His fluid, lucid speech contrasts with his bushy beard, disheveled appearance, and erratic mood swings to give him the aura of a wizened woodsmen or homeless person.
       
        The material is strung together by the ongoing themes of broken dreams and using delusions to stave off the ever-growing specter of soul-crushing boredom and mediocrity.

        “Oh shit! Just because I’ve been waking up outside naked once a month or so, doesn’t mean that the night before I was a werewolf!”

        As the name of the album suggests, every joke is tinged with a biting undertone of sadness and/or disillusionment.

        “You try to drum up support from you friends, ‘Well it makes sense what with the all the Coors Lights I’ve been drinking. That maybe those were the silver bullets that were used to kill the beast! Rendering me in human form come daybreak!’ They just look at you and say, ‘That’s a tired excuse for your alcoholism.’”

        But Kyle Kinane is not without hope. He accepts his failures. His insight comes from the brutal honesty with which he assess himself and the world’s perception of him.

        “Nobody in here is going to be surprised if you see me about to get in a fist-fight with the night manager of a Red Lobster over whether or not the moon landing was faked.”

        And that honesty comes with an openness to beautiful moments of tenderness, like little rays of sunshine peeking through the clouds. He’s not afraid to appreciate the glory of two rabbits "face-fucking the shit out of each other".

        This album is important for any liberal arts college student, which you (the reader) likely are. He talks about terrible jobs (selling cake-decorations over the phone), he discusses the uselessness of his creative writing degree. He even mocks the very idea of using education as a way to expand your mind rather than “learning skills for life!”

        “I’m 32 years old. I have a fantastic imagination. I have no applicable job skills whatsoever. You know what it’s like to go in a job interview and they say, ‘Are you familiar with Windows-XP-Excell-Spreadsheet-Programs?!’ ‘NO! BUT SOMETIMES I PRETEND I’M A BIRD!”
       
        Yet, Kinane’s strongest material is when he lets his imagination run wild. His Trader Joe’s fantasy on “Writing on the Wall” (none of the track titles are related to the jokes on them but they do provide hints to feelings and moods behind them) will forever change the way you think of Trader Joe’s and its subtle racism.

        The album then takes these imaginative fantasies a step further with the final track discussing his insomnia. It’s a personal look into how this serious problem spurs on, and is a result of, the thoughts he can’t control. One gets the feeling that Kinane can’t help but be funny. It’s the only way he’s been able to meaningfully assemble the fragments of his tumultuous life, riddled with regrets. Comedy is his way of accessing a world that he has never quite fit in to.

        If you want to have a laugh at the terrible consequences of following your dreams and better understand the sources of great comedy. Wash yourself clean of those shitty Disney movies and that other crap you grew up on and listen to Kyle Kinane’s Death of the Party. And, you know what? Screw all that stuff I just said. Listen to the damn thing!