> I wasn't crazy about Kinison at first, but he grew on me (Michael
> O'Donoghue
>
>gave me his insights as to why Kinison mattered -- "What a beast!"), and if
>you watch his early stand-up, you see his anger about the hypocrisies of
>evangelism expressed in evangelical tones, which made sense since Kinison
>was a boy preacher working the small church and tent circuit. That's what
>made him unique, even though his takes on African starvation and women
>(primarily marriage) did not endear him to most lefties I knew.
>
>
That routine about starvation was probably one of Kinison's high points.
About as heartless as one could possibly get, and based on something
that had probably passed through most peoples' minds on the subject.
Probably one of the most explosively funny moments I've ever seen or heard.
That's why I'm really suspicious of the notion of comedians as "truth-tellers." It's mostly romanticism over people like Lenny Bruce, or Richard Pryor, where their performances were as much personal statements as entertainments. But funny don't always equal truth: Kinison's routines were absolute killers, but I'd never use them as the basis for social policy.
And the label gets thrown around way too much. I love Bill Hicks's work, but he's gotten a lot of this stuff since his death. and Dennis Miller and Bill Maher've been milking the notion for way too long. I've seen it lobbed at Joe Rogan and Jimmy Kimmel, who are decent comics, but not in the same league as George Carlin. I can even remember defenses of Andrew "Dice" Clay, announcing that he was merely saying the things that his audience "really" thought.(_The Simpsons_ did a nice send-up of the conceit, where Krusty the Klown started ranting at a press conference, found he was getting laughs, and suddenly he's in comedy clubs wearing a turtleneck and sport coat, and his aquamarine hair in a ponytail, "commenting" on life in general.)