Sam Kinison

Samuel "Sam" Burl Kinison (December 8, 1953 – April 10, 1992) was an American stand-up comedian. He was famous for his raunchy humor and wild, colorful outfits. A former revival-style preacher, his standup routines were most often characterized by intense, angry ranting punctuated by a trademark primal scream.

Comedy life

Widely considered to be Kinison's breakthrough performance would be his November 14, 1985 appearance on Late Night with David Letterman. David Letterman's introduction of Kinison would prove to be prescient: "Brace yourselves. I'm not kidding. Sam Kinison."

Related Topics:
1985 - Late Night with David Letterman - David Letterman

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Kinison might be considered a "rock and roll comedian" since he occasionally was accompanied by a touring band, as well as having a prodigious appetite for drugs and alcohol. In 1988, he had a hit song with his novelty version of the Troggs' "Wild Thing." The video for his version of "Wild Thing" played like a who's who of rock artists, from bad boy Billy Idol, and rock guitar god Steve Vai, to guitar god Frank Zappa's son Dweezil Zappa, and a raunchy "roll on the mat" dance with Jessica Hahn. Sam hammered out some licks on a custom Stratocaster with an airbrush picture of his face frozen in his famous scream. One of his albums featured four songs performed by him and his band, and during one notable The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson performance, he delivered what began as a beautifully rendered version of Elvis Presley's "Are You Lonesome Tonight," but which descended into angry ranting during the spoken breakdown.

Related Topics:
Rock and roll - Drugs - Alcohol - 1988 - Troggs - Wild Thing - Billy Idol - Steve Vai - Frank Zappa - Dweezil Zappa - Jessica Hahn - Stratocaster - The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson - Elvis Presley

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Some of Kinison's most spontaneous moments came during his frequent appearances on Howard Stern's radio show. He made an angry phone call on-air to Bobcat Goldthwait. He embarrassed comedienne Judy Tenuta to the point of driving her off the show, as he sat in with Penn Jillette, Chuck McCann, and Jack Riley. His most notorious stunt resulted in a highly entertaining on-air feud with Stern: he made an on-air promise to bring to the show members of the rock-n-roll band Bon Jovi, with whom Stern was feuding, but they never showed up. It turned out he had never had the intention of bringing them to the show. Stern's reaction was swift and vindictive, bringing about the eventual apology of Kinison, but not before one of the show's funniest moments in which comedian Gilbert Gottfried and Stern both savaged an emotionally charged phone call Stern had with Kinison, during which both stars used the words "man" and "dude" toward one another so often that Gottfried and Stern went into stitches on hearing the playback. Stern and Kinison eventually made up, and paired on Stern's pay-per-view special, U.S. Open Sores.

Related Topics:
Howard Stern - Bobcat Goldthwait - Judy Tenuta - Penn Jillette - Chuck McCann - Jack Riley - Bon Jovi - Gilbert Gottfried - U.S. Open Sores

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Even as Kinison sometimes seemed a romantic at heart, his routines mostly expressed a dim view of love, possibly as a result of a string of failed relationships, but more plausibly because of the kind of women he attracted with his wit, charm, big heart and large, loose wallet. He was known as an extraordinary tipper, often tipping 100% of the check.

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