Interview with Kyle Kinane —Punk Stand-Up Tonight at Ace of Cups

Interview with Kyle Kinane —Punk Stand-Up Tonight at Ace of Cups

by Lex Vegas

If you’re looking for the most fun place in Columbus to get shit-faced on cheap booze on a late-November Tuesday night, Ace of Cups has a doozy of a show lined up for you. Tonight, the venue hosts one of punk’s most absurdly entertaining bands, The Falcon, sharing a bill with one of comedy’s hottest rising talents, Kyle Kinane. The stand-up has been featured on Conan and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, toured with Patton Oswalt, he’s even served as the voice of Comedy Central’s on-air announcements since 2011.

Now more than decade into his career, with recurring television roles popping up including Disney’s animated Right Now Kapow and truTV’s first scripted comedy Those Who Can’t, his plate is more full than ever. Kinane spoke with me from Los Angeles to discuss his upcoming tour, his memories of Columbus, and his love of aliens, ghosts, and hair metal.

Lex: Thanks so much for speaking with me! I’m a big fan of your work and very excited you’re coming back to Columbus, especially with one of my favorite bands. You’ve played here quite a few times over the last few years, what keeps bringing you back?

Kyle: “The first time I played there it was like a German beer hall, I wish I could remember the name, but that was many years ago. The last few times I played Woodlands Tavern, I think I’ve done that three times. I got hooked up with [comedian/promoter] Dylan Shelton and he always set me up. They’re always really good shows there, good turnout, the crowd’s a lot of fun.”

Lex: Have you ever done a full-fledged tour with a band?

Kyle: “I’ve never done a tour with a band. I’ve done [major punk outing] The Fest in Gainesville, I’m heading back down to do that over Halloween weekend. But I’ve never done a tour, never been in the van with ’em. I think we’re set up in a big passenger van with another one to haul the gear or something, but obviously I don’t have any gear so I don’t have to worry about anything.”

Lex: How long have you known the guys in The Falcon? I assume you’re a fan of theirs?

Kyle: “I met [The Falcon singer] Brendan [Kelly] a couple years ago, we did a show together in New York City. Being from Chicago I knew his old bands, I knew Slapstick from being in high school, so I had been a fan for a while. When we finally met, I had been a fan for decades at that point so we talked and just really got along. He bartends at the Gingerman — this bar in Chicago, so whenever I’m in town I stop in and we shoot the shit. Then Toby [Jeg] who runs Red Scare, their label said, ‘you guys should go on tour!’ So we kinda half-talked about it, and slowly but surely it became a real thing.”

Lex: Knowing both of your styles, I figured it probably came about after a drunken night at a bar.

Kyle: “That’s how the best things happen, getting drunk at a bar.”

Lex: What kind of music do you typically listen to? Are you still a punk rock fan?

Kyle: “I’ve got satellite radio and there’s a channel on there called ‘Hair Nation’ that’s all hair metal, that’s pretty much what I’ve been listening to. I do like new music, I really like that [opener] Arms Aloft is gonna be touring with us, they’re fantastic. But hair metal is mostly what I stick to. I feel bad being the old guy that can’t find new music, but there’s too much stuff, I don’t have the time now. You get older and start sticking in your comfort zone.”

Lex: Have you warned The Falcon that they’ll be listening to nothing but hair metal in the van?

Kyle: “I’m just one guy so I don’t think I’ll get the call. But I hear from a lot of bands that say ‘we only listen to comedy or podcasts, we had to listen to music all night live so we don’t wanna listen to it in the van afterward’. That’s such a surprise and it’s awesome knowing that all these bands are so savvy on the comedy that’s out there.”

Lex: Our band listens to a lot of comedy on tour, audiobooks are also a great way to help kill a long drive.

Kyle: “Audiobooks! I gotta jump in that audiobook world. I just started listening to podcasts about a year ago to be honest. Now I just listen to [paranormal podcasts] Mysterious Universe or Coast to Coast, it’s usually aliens and ghosts. I don’t listen to comedy, I hear comedy every night live. But I listen to the weird stuff.”

Lex: You also launched your own paranormal podcast this year, The Boogie Monster. What made you decide to try it out for yourself?

Kyle: “I’ve always been interested in those kind of things, [co-host] Dave [Stone] has always been a big Bigfoot guy, so we’d get together and talk about it. We don’t talk about sports or normal things, our drunken bar conversation would be goofy stuff like that. So after I recorded my special in May [Loose In Chicago premiered October 15 on Comedy Central] I was kinda burnt out on comedy and doing stand-up, I thought I’d just hang out in L.A. Not gonna tour, not gonna get stressed out about jokes, but I needed something. So talked to Dave, said let’s just do a podcast. We’ll just get together and shoot the shit, and it all kinda stemmed from that, just keeping myself busy over the summer but people seem to like it. Mostly we get emails about Dave’s biscuit recipe, so it’s evolved into mostly a cooking show with guys that believe in ghosts.”

Lex: You do have a couple big projects going on now though, right?

Kyle: “Well Those Who Can’t is airing now on Thursdays, so that’s out there. I did a voice for an animated show called Right Now Kapow that’s on the Disney XD channel. I’ve been working on that for a year now, so I’m glad that’s out. I don’t know the politics of it but it’s Disney and Warner Bros. coming together, and it’s guys I’ve known for a while just from being out here. They wanted to make an animated sketch show, so it’s recurring characters but I’m playing different characters within the animation, so it’s all just sketches and real quick stuff.”

Lex: How did you get involved with Disney? Have you had to change your style with the Mouse as your boss?

Kyle: They’re really great writers, the guys that created it, so it’s a lot of weird stuff. Some stuff that’s kinda subversive so it’s surprising that it got through on Disney, and then some stuff that’s not subversive at all that we’d get notes on. It would make no sense but it’s Disney. Like, ‘we have to change this character’s name from Penny to Peggy’. Why? ‘We don’t know, but that’s the note from Disney’. You gotta please the overlords.

Lex: Your Wikipedia page also lists your acting debut as playing ‘Young Roger Clinton’ on The Nanny?

Kyle: “I’ll just say this, I like to look at Wikipedia as a living art form where the public gets to participate. Early on I said whatever happens on my Wikipedia page, as long as it’s not disparaging or cruel, then give it a swing. It’s since been cleaned up, which was pretty disappointing because there was some real interesting stuff on there. But in the spirit of that art, yeah, I was on ‘The Nanny’. Like a coral reef, it’s always expanding in ways that I cannot control.

Lex: Well congratulations on making it to where you are today!

Kyle: “I’ve just been keeping at it. I got lucky enough to make a living doing something I was gonna be doing anyway. Now my only obligation is to keep doing it.”

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