Whiskey Icarus
Kyle Kinane
Stand-up Comedy MP3 album
Comedy Central 2012
The new Kyle Kinane stand-up comedy MP3 album is “Whiskey Icarus.” For this review, I am going to start with the conclusion and work my way backwards. If you are already a fan of Kinane, go ahead and purchase his new one. You will not regret it, as it certainly contains some very funny moments. Kinane has a style all of his own, one that is instantly recognizable.
However, if you are not already a fan of Kinane, this is probably not a good album to use as an introduction to his comedy, and this album may not earn him any new fans. Instead, you would be much better off buying Kinane’s first album, Death of the Party. Death of the Party was pretty much an instant classic — a very tight set, no filler, and hilarious from start to finish.
In contrast, while Whiskey Icarus has some solid bits, it lacks the cohesiveness and “laughs per minute” offered by Death of the Party. Also, some of the bits seem to just drag on for far too long. For example, there is a bit in which Kinane talks about a fellow passenger on an airplane who was eating dry pancakes out of a Foot Locker store bag. The bit had funny moments, but just seemed to go on and on, and was milked for longer than it should have been.
My favorite bit on the album is when Kinane seemingly takes a moment to speak from the heart, telling the audience he “want[s] comedy to be taken seriously as an art form.” He then adds that he “put[s] just as much heart and blood, sweat and tears into this as any musician or any sculptor, and [he] want[s] it to be appreciated as such.” Never has a truer sentiment been spoken. But, just when you think he’s making a poetic statement, he chimes in with a comment made to his friends, pondering that his “farts are like contractions for the turd baby [he’s] going to have later.” Kinane then concludes “and that’s why I’m not an artist.”
Kyle Kinane most certainly is an artist, and even though this second effort does not quite live up to the first, this reviewer is eagerly awaiting the third.
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