Kinison (like Hicks) also used to take barbed jabs at organized religion (especially the Religious Right) in his act. I’m guessing that would’ve probably made him at least a little off-putting to most conservatives.
Wow are you projecting a bit? Execution of the homeless = conservative? I don’t see how any of your quote falls under a conservative philosphy. Kinison was far from conservative. He would made conservatives lock up their children and hang garlic in the doorway.
As for Nick DiPaolo, he has a radio show on in New York now. I’ve been listening off and on. I don’t get a conservative vibe off him at all. Maybe he is hiding his true feelings but I doubt it.
I’ve been listening to Jim Norton for many years and he is basically a conservative on many issues but is very liberal on most social issues. His comedy is not very political so you probably wouldn’t notice.
Come to think of it, Larry the Cable Guy is pretty conservative in his on-stage persona, isn’t he?
Extremely, and he definitely plays to the Bible Belt, southerners, Christians, conservatives, people with “old-timey” values.
From the Sam Kinison official website regarding Sam’s possible love child (amongst other things):
Well, yeah…it’s the dope talking, but I don’t see conservative circles embracing him, or he them.
No offense, but given the vulgar nature of his act, I rather doubt that.
I can see Bill Engvall appealing to Christians and others with old-timey values, but not the Cable Guy.
I never saw Kinison as liberal or conservative-he seemed to just enjoy being as raunchy and offensive as possible. Always did like the guy.
Now, I can think of unintentional conservative comedians, like say, Bill O’Reilly. Everything out of his mouth is a fucking joke.
His comments about “ragheads” in his book certainly weren’t intended to endear him to liberals, and in fact they really pissed off comedian David Cross, who’s definitely a liberal.
Of course, the idea of Larry the Cable Guy trying to sell a book to to those fans writes its own jokes.
All the profiles I’ve read of him repeat the fact that his base of loyal fans is in the Bible Belt. Not everyone south of the Mason-Dixon Line is a Christian, and those who are don’t have to be rigidly fundamentalist. Christians can laugh at dirty jokes, too.
His vulgarity is exactly why he’s popular with the Christians. He only talks trash about minorities, so they get to say “oh no he didn’t!” but still not be made uncomfortable. Though he’s a little ornery, he’s still just a gee shucks, calls 'em like he sees 'em, good old boy.
It was a joke, son. He was a comedian.
Why ignore it? Will it in fact turn into something else?
No, no, no, no. I hate to say, “you’re just not getting it,” but you’re just not getting it. There is a MASSIVE vein of self-parody in his comedy (I mean, come on, how often does he make fun of his white-trash family? Every other joke? He plays the redneck role so over-the-top that it can’t be anything but self-parody. Remember Jerry Clower?) If his comedy is playing to white, conservative, Christian middle America, it’s for one of two possible reasons: 1) white, conservative, Christian middle America is too fucking stupid to know they’re being made fun of, or 2) white, conservative, Christian middle America enjoys a bit of scathing self-parody in its comedy.
For those of you already lost, the correct answer is “2.”
Unimportant, since barring some wildly unforeseen global climatic shift, it certainly will still be sand in a thousand years.
Yakov Smirnoff?
No idea what his gig is anymore, but he seems to play well with the Branson, Missouri crowd.
His stand-up isn’t particularly “conservative” but the great Larry Miller personally is, even to the point of wrighting for The Weekly Standard.
The actor who played Biff in the Back to the Future Movies also is, I believe.
Larry Miller
Drew Carey
Both are on the right, although they tend to be more libertarian than old-guard conservative. About like Dave Barry and PJ O’Rourke.
I think we need a definition of “conservative.” There are no comedians I know of who promote the Republican Party platform. I have never encountered a Christian Fundamentalist comedian. The Bush-voting (and signed-Bush-picture-owning) conservatives that I know aren’t really in agreement with the whole platform, either. I don’t think that makes them “libertarians,” and neither do they.