Kyle Kinane on Being a Contrarian Asshole

Kyle Kinane doesn’t want to hear your shitty Donald Trump jokes. It’s almost too easy to jump on the bandwagon and make fun of the self-imploding Republican presidential candidate who still (unsurprisingly?) has a voting base no matter what he says or does, but the laughs wouldn’t be legitimate. Speaking about a figurative comic performing in front of a liberal city like, say, Portland, Kinane equates any applause that person might receive with the audience simply agreeing on the subject. “That’s just a speech,” he says over the phone, his gravelly voice punctuating each word’s hard consonants in that Chicago way of his. “That’s just a rally.”
Whether such laughs are genuine or not, we live in a time when a lot of people are heavily invested in earning some kind of approval. That could come down to the simple social media currency of likes and retweets, or, for comedians, an audience’s validating laughter. What does it matter if it’s a mechanism identifying with the comic’s beliefs rather than a response to their jokes? Kinane wants more, both from his own writing and from how an audience responds to it. “Comics are confusing applause and woos of agreement with having a successful set,” he explains. “Like, ‘I agree.’ Well what fucking fun is that? Go out and agree with people. You don’t grow that way.” He’s instead actively interested in eking out more challenging spaces where he won’t become lazy simply because he performs in front of likeminded people every night. “I’d rather challenge an audience to laugh at something they don’t believe in,” he explains, “because then I get to feel like, ‘You still got it, buddy. You can still write a good enough joke that people are laughing at it regardless.’”
So what’s the best way to approach the tiny-handed candidate who likes to use his meaty paws to grab women’s pussies? Kinane distinguishes between where the press and comedians should be aiming their mark. “If you’re a journalist, I understand,” he says. “Trump’s bad and you list the reasons. But as a comedian, what’s left? There’s no meat on that bone anymore. If you go ‘Trump’s good because of…’ now you’ve got my attention. And if it’s a well done joke, good for you, now I’m laughing at something I totally disagree with and that’s great.”
Kinane’s new Comedy Central special Loose in Chicago proves that very point. Not about Trump, but about walking the tightrope that is dissent, which ideally leads to honest and compelling dialogue. Kinane is a Billy Goat Gruff, not just in terms of his voice, but also in the wry stance he brings to his material. “I’ve always had a little bit of a contrarian streak in me,” he admits, likening the position to someone who enjoys disagreeing for argument’s sake. He continues, willing to criticize his approach, “Like ‘Oh, that’s just being a dickhead, that’s just being a devil’s advocate.’ No one likes those.” By Kinane’s own admission, it might seem as though he’s closer to a grump than anyone with a point to make, but there’s something diplomatic about his attitude. He is the person who sees—or is willing to see—both sides; he may end up taking one, but he isn’t quick to throw the baby out with the bathwater when it comes to the other.