1 00:00:09,264 --> 00:00:11,391 Brace yourselves, I'm not kidding. 2 00:00:11,391 --> 00:00:13,977 -Sam Kinison. -Sam Kinison! 3 00:00:13,977 --> 00:00:15,812 [narrator] He was an evangelical 4 00:00:13,977 --> 00:00:15,812 preacher who had 5 00:00:15,812 --> 00:00:18,649 lost faith in the church and turned to comedy. 6 00:00:18,649 --> 00:00:22,027 Sam Kinison was the full-on, the American dream. 7 00:00:22,027 --> 00:00:24,112 I woke up this morning, ha, somebody told me, 8 00:00:24,112 --> 00:00:26,949 "You don't have to lose! You don't have to be defeated! 9 00:00:26,949 --> 00:00:29,368 You can change your life!" You know, that kind of stuff. 10 00:00:29,368 --> 00:00:33,413 Sam Kinison tapped into something raw, unexplored. 11 00:00:33,413 --> 00:00:36,333 All eyes were like, whoa, this is really unique. 12 00:00:36,333 --> 00:00:37,334 Who's this guy, 13 00:00:37,334 --> 00:00:39,378 cause he's got something really different. 14 00:00:39,378 --> 00:00:41,964 It's a shame that he has to die. 15 00:00:41,964 --> 00:00:44,716 And Jesus is going, "Well, maybe I wouldn't have to if 16 00:00:44,716 --> 00:00:47,594 somebody would get a ladder and a pair of pliers!" 17 00:00:47,594 --> 00:00:50,514 He gave voice to the broken hearted man. 18 00:00:50,514 --> 00:00:52,474 Strangle me, shoot me, run me over. 19 00:00:52,474 --> 00:00:54,017 Whatever it takes, I'm in hell! 20 00:00:54,017 --> 00:00:56,228 Agh! Agh! 21 00:00:56,228 --> 00:00:58,564 His trademark scream catapulted him 22 00:00:58,564 --> 00:01:00,649 into the stratosphere of comedy. 23 00:01:00,649 --> 00:01:03,485 He was breaking rules that you weren't supposed to break. 24 00:01:03,485 --> 00:01:05,737 He was changing comedy. 25 00:01:05,737 --> 00:01:08,407 It was intoxicating to be around him. 26 00:01:08,407 --> 00:01:09,741 He was out of his mind, 27 00:01:09,741 --> 00:01:11,827 but he was a generational talent. 28 00:01:11,827 --> 00:01:14,454 How the ---- are you, New York City?! 29 00:01:14,454 --> 00:01:17,374 But Kinison wore his demons on his sleeve. 30 00:01:17,374 --> 00:01:19,126 Sam cared more about the party than 31 00:01:19,126 --> 00:01:20,586 he did the business. 32 00:01:20,586 --> 00:01:21,795 I'm just celebrating with people and 33 00:01:21,795 --> 00:01:22,921 having a great time. 34 00:01:22,921 --> 00:01:25,299 He would just always have big cocaine parties. 35 00:01:25,299 --> 00:01:27,092 He was like a real straight-laced preacher, 36 00:01:27,092 --> 00:01:28,885 and boom! Got into the party and the rock scene, 37 00:01:28,885 --> 00:01:30,053 the comedy scene. 38 00:01:30,053 --> 00:01:31,305 I don't know how you handle that. 39 00:01:31,305 --> 00:01:33,640 I'm snorting these foot-long ----ing lines of coke. 40 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:34,808 I don't get a straw, 41 00:01:34,808 --> 00:01:36,393 I get a piece of a garden hose! 42 00:01:36,393 --> 00:01:38,562 Every fricking night, I mean, every night- 43 00:01:38,562 --> 00:01:40,564 strippers, and rock and roll stars. 44 00:01:40,564 --> 00:01:42,316 Orgies, sex. 45 00:01:42,316 --> 00:01:43,734 I miss having sex with women that you 46 00:01:43,734 --> 00:01:46,320 never have to see again. Oh! 47 00:01:46,320 --> 00:01:49,489 No subject was too sacred for Kinison to attack. 48 00:01:49,489 --> 00:01:51,283 They say heterosexuals die of AIDS, too. 49 00:01:51,283 --> 00:01:52,993 Name one! 50 00:01:52,993 --> 00:01:56,204 He spread a controversial, angry gospel. 51 00:01:56,204 --> 00:01:59,041 Thanks for giving us the black plague of the 80s! 52 00:01:59,041 --> 00:02:00,208 Thanks! 53 00:02:00,208 --> 00:02:03,003 He had extreme opinions, he had extreme thoughts, 54 00:02:03,003 --> 00:02:06,757 he had extreme friends. He was extreme. 55 00:02:06,757 --> 00:02:09,051 We're talking Roseanne times a zillion. 56 00:02:09,051 --> 00:02:12,095 I mean, he would've been canceled now, for sure. 57 00:02:12,095 --> 00:02:15,015 People count on me for ----ing bad taste. 58 00:02:15,015 --> 00:02:16,933 He had way too many demons. 59 00:02:16,933 --> 00:02:19,102 He was just a, a tortured soul. 60 00:02:19,102 --> 00:02:20,395 There's no other way to put it. 61 00:02:20,395 --> 00:02:22,397 Plunging full-on into the darkness, 62 00:02:22,397 --> 00:02:24,274 he pushed his career to the brink. 63 00:02:24,274 --> 00:02:26,860 ----ing cunt that ----ed her boyfriend's brother, 64 00:02:26,860 --> 00:02:28,403 ----ing bitch! 65 00:02:28,403 --> 00:02:30,864 How did a man of God fall into an abyss of 66 00:02:30,864 --> 00:02:33,325 addiction and self-destruction? 67 00:02:33,325 --> 00:02:34,368 [Overlapping voices] Ladies and gentlemen! 68 00:02:34,368 --> 00:02:35,660 You're about to be entertained! 69 00:02:35,660 --> 00:02:37,579 Getting the laugh is the greatest addiction. 70 00:02:37,579 --> 00:02:38,955 They want more of it, they want more of it. 71 00:02:38,955 --> 00:02:40,290 She was getting death threats. 72 00:02:40,290 --> 00:02:42,125 It [beep] with your head! ...he's out of his skull! 73 00:02:42,125 --> 00:02:44,002 That's what took her down. This is a crazy story. 74 00:02:44,002 --> 00:02:46,296 ♪ 75 00:02:47,964 --> 00:02:53,303 ♪ 76 00:02:53,303 --> 00:02:55,055 Together with his 3 brothers, 77 00:02:55,055 --> 00:02:56,723 Bill, Richard, and Kevin, 78 00:02:56,723 --> 00:03:00,352 Sam Kinison is raised in Peoria, Illinois. 79 00:03:00,352 --> 00:03:02,062 We lived in a church, you know, 80 00:03:02,062 --> 00:03:03,522 cause my dad probably couldn't have afforded 81 00:03:03,522 --> 00:03:05,232 to preach if we didn't, you know. 82 00:03:05,232 --> 00:03:07,025 The household that Sam grew up in 83 00:03:07,025 --> 00:03:09,528 was a very religious household. 84 00:03:09,528 --> 00:03:14,324 You have to live this bible belt life. 85 00:03:14,324 --> 00:03:16,910 I'm Bill Kinison, and I'm Sam's brother and 86 00:03:16,910 --> 00:03:17,953 was his manager. 87 00:03:17,953 --> 00:03:20,080 We were hardcore Pentecost. 88 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:21,623 Our dad was a fantastic- 89 00:03:21,623 --> 00:03:23,375 one of the greatest preachers ever heard. 90 00:03:23,375 --> 00:03:25,043 And, if you're a preacher's kid, 91 00:03:25,043 --> 00:03:26,795 you're supposed to be a preacher. 92 00:03:26,795 --> 00:03:29,464 Well, Sam was acting like anything other than 93 00:03:29,464 --> 00:03:30,924 some kid that's gonna grow up and 94 00:03:30,924 --> 00:03:32,801 end up being a preacher. 95 00:03:32,801 --> 00:03:33,802 He was the type of guy, 96 00:03:33,802 --> 00:03:35,595 you couldn't make him do anything. 97 00:03:35,595 --> 00:03:37,848 My mother, she wasn't ever able to handle him. 98 00:03:37,848 --> 00:03:39,724 You know, he was a crafty little guy. 99 00:03:39,724 --> 00:03:41,810 Raised in a strict environment, 100 00:03:41,810 --> 00:03:44,354 Sam finds escape listening to comedy records 101 00:03:44,354 --> 00:03:47,482 he secretly brings into the Kinison home. 102 00:03:47,482 --> 00:03:49,401 There was a comedian that most people probably 103 00:03:49,401 --> 00:03:51,528 don't even know now, named Rudy Ray Moore. 104 00:03:51,528 --> 00:03:53,613 Girl, you may not know I'm in there, 105 00:03:53,613 --> 00:03:55,490 but you damn sure know I'm on there. 106 00:03:55,490 --> 00:03:56,992 [Laughing] 107 00:03:56,992 --> 00:03:58,452 Sam bought his album, and we would have to go 108 00:03:58,452 --> 00:04:00,996 up in the attic of our church that we lived in, 109 00:04:00,996 --> 00:04:02,873 and listen to this album 'cause we knew 110 00:04:02,873 --> 00:04:05,292 that our parents would kills us. 111 00:04:05,292 --> 00:04:07,711 He looked at us and said, "Why in the world did you 112 00:04:07,711 --> 00:04:10,839 bring me these carrots and lettuce out here? 113 00:04:10,839 --> 00:04:13,216 She looked at him, said, "Mother----er, 114 00:04:13,216 --> 00:04:16,470 you ---- like a rabbit, you might as well eat like one." 115 00:04:16,470 --> 00:04:17,971 [Laughing] 116 00:04:17,971 --> 00:04:21,183 Sam is drawn back to the church in his late teens, 117 00:04:21,183 --> 00:04:24,561 when the Kinison family is hit with a sudden tragedy. 118 00:04:24,561 --> 00:04:27,689 My father passed away, so it was kind of a spiritual 119 00:04:27,689 --> 00:04:29,774 experience, and I went into ministry for a while. 120 00:04:29,774 --> 00:04:31,318 You have to understand that my dad, 121 00:04:31,318 --> 00:04:33,737 at least for he and I, was our hero. 122 00:04:33,737 --> 00:04:35,655 That was probably one of the hardest times that 123 00:04:35,655 --> 00:04:37,532 Sam and I went through together. 124 00:04:37,532 --> 00:04:40,076 That's when he decided, since he was named 125 00:04:40,076 --> 00:04:43,371 after my father, "I gotta do it for dear old dad." 126 00:04:43,371 --> 00:04:44,623 My brothers and I got together, 127 00:04:44,623 --> 00:04:46,208 and we laid our hands on the casket, and we said, 128 00:04:46,208 --> 00:04:47,542 you know, "We're gonna go out there and be the greatest 129 00:04:47,542 --> 00:04:50,712 preachers in the world and we're gonna really, ah... 130 00:04:50,712 --> 00:04:52,380 do our best to live for God." 131 00:04:52,380 --> 00:04:54,799 He's a good preacher, and to him, 132 00:04:54,799 --> 00:04:57,302 a good service was if he could get people laughing. 133 00:04:57,302 --> 00:04:59,262 And so, after the service was over, he'd come back 134 00:04:59,262 --> 00:05:01,264 and go, "Brother, that was great." 135 00:05:01,264 --> 00:05:03,642 But Sam struggles with one vital aspect of 136 00:05:03,642 --> 00:05:05,101 the preaching game... 137 00:05:05,101 --> 00:05:06,520 raising money. 138 00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:08,355 I didn't do very well actually. 139 00:05:08,355 --> 00:05:09,397 You were not a good minister? 140 00:05:09,397 --> 00:05:10,941 No, well, not financially. 141 00:05:10,941 --> 00:05:12,776 I didn't, I didn't rake in the bucks. 142 00:05:12,776 --> 00:05:14,194 When Sam was in the ministry, he, 143 00:05:14,194 --> 00:05:17,030 he married a, a young lady named Gail. 144 00:05:17,030 --> 00:05:21,159 And, they had only known each other six weeks. 145 00:05:21,159 --> 00:05:23,954 They were married for two years. 146 00:05:23,954 --> 00:05:28,333 And then Sam found out she had been cheating on him. 147 00:05:28,333 --> 00:05:31,419 After Sam went through all the emotions, 148 00:05:31,419 --> 00:05:34,548 he somehow gets it out of her who the guy was. 149 00:05:34,548 --> 00:05:36,758 And where he's living. 150 00:05:36,758 --> 00:05:39,261 Sam went over to his apartment with a gun. 151 00:05:39,261 --> 00:05:41,763 Sam sticks a gun right underneath his chin, 152 00:05:41,763 --> 00:05:43,723 then he tells him, "I want you to go get everything 153 00:05:43,723 --> 00:05:46,059 she's ever given to you." And, 154 00:05:46,059 --> 00:05:48,144 so this guy's going around in his apartment bringing him 155 00:05:48,144 --> 00:05:52,524 pictures, and notes, and cards, and pie pans, 156 00:05:52,524 --> 00:05:55,527 and everything- it ended up filling up a big box. 157 00:05:55,527 --> 00:05:58,655 The failure of Sam's marriage proves disastrous 158 00:05:58,655 --> 00:06:00,657 for his career as a preacher. 159 00:06:00,657 --> 00:06:02,617 I was 23, and I'd been ministering for 160 00:06:02,617 --> 00:06:04,160 about 5 years, and... 161 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:06,288 it wasn't a good thing to have on your spiritual resume. 162 00:06:06,288 --> 00:06:09,040 In that Pentecostal circle, the worst thing that could 'a 163 00:06:09,040 --> 00:06:12,210 happened to you is to get a divorce, if you're a minister. 164 00:06:12,210 --> 00:06:14,129 They used to say, "If you can't take care of your own 165 00:06:14,129 --> 00:06:17,173 house, you're not fit to take care of the house of God." 166 00:06:17,173 --> 00:06:19,259 So, Sam knew it was over. 167 00:06:19,259 --> 00:06:22,345 I think that his background in the Pentecostal church 168 00:06:22,345 --> 00:06:27,142 left him with questions, frustrations, 169 00:06:27,142 --> 00:06:31,396 disillusionment with scripture and religion. 170 00:06:31,396 --> 00:06:34,608 I told him, I said, "Sam, I want you to take 171 00:06:34,608 --> 00:06:36,818 some time and think, and look down in your heart, 172 00:06:36,818 --> 00:06:39,696 find out what you really want to do." 173 00:06:39,696 --> 00:06:41,364 He took about 3 seconds and said, 174 00:06:41,364 --> 00:06:43,617 "I always wanted to be a stand-up comedian." 175 00:06:43,617 --> 00:06:45,535 He figured, well, if I can't make it as a preacher 176 00:06:45,535 --> 00:06:47,245 I'll be antithesis of that. 177 00:06:47,245 --> 00:06:48,955 He went from one end to the other, 178 00:06:48,955 --> 00:06:50,290 but he was always an entertainer, 179 00:06:50,290 --> 00:06:51,708 he was always onstage. 180 00:06:51,708 --> 00:06:54,544 It was like two different ends of the same animal. 181 00:06:54,544 --> 00:06:57,505 Leaving the ministry behind, Sam heads to Houston, 182 00:06:57,505 --> 00:07:00,550 intent on making a career in comedy. 183 00:07:00,550 --> 00:07:02,761 He immediately makes an impression on another 184 00:07:02,761 --> 00:07:05,472 up-and-coming comic named Bill Hicks. 185 00:07:05,472 --> 00:07:07,932 Sam Kinison showed up, who had a background of 186 00:07:07,932 --> 00:07:11,728 intense individuality, and personality, and charisma, 187 00:07:11,728 --> 00:07:15,941 and went up and killed, and the crowds loved it. 188 00:07:15,941 --> 00:07:17,734 You guys ready for a show?! 189 00:07:17,734 --> 00:07:20,278 [Audience] Yeah! [Laughing] 190 00:07:20,278 --> 00:07:23,198 The success Sam finds in Texas inspires him to 191 00:07:23,198 --> 00:07:27,327 try his luck in the mecca of comedy, Los Angeles. 192 00:07:27,327 --> 00:07:30,705 Sam started off as a doorman at The Comedy Store. 193 00:07:30,705 --> 00:07:32,499 He, like everyone else, that my mom 194 00:07:32,499 --> 00:07:33,917 Mitzi Shore liked, 195 00:07:33,917 --> 00:07:36,378 "Oh, you're awesome, You could park the cars, 196 00:07:36,378 --> 00:07:39,297 you can answer the phones. Seat people." 197 00:07:39,297 --> 00:07:40,799 And when you seat people, 198 00:07:40,799 --> 00:07:42,425 you get to watch the comedians. 199 00:07:42,425 --> 00:07:44,010 There was a system in place that 200 00:07:44,010 --> 00:07:45,428 all the comics were doormen. 201 00:07:45,428 --> 00:07:48,515 It was a way to live at the place. 202 00:07:48,515 --> 00:07:50,266 Sometimes you could get onstage if there was 203 00:07:50,266 --> 00:07:52,894 no one around, 'cause you were a comic. 204 00:07:52,894 --> 00:07:56,523 I was a free spirit in the next stage of life. 205 00:07:56,523 --> 00:07:58,942 I walked in the cosmos not imprisoned by a 206 00:07:58,942 --> 00:08:02,070 body of flesh, but free in a body of light. 207 00:08:02,070 --> 00:08:05,240 I knew all things, there were no questions, only answers! 208 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:06,825 No weaknesses, only strength! 209 00:08:06,825 --> 00:08:10,203 I was light, I was truth, I was a spiritual being! 210 00:08:10,203 --> 00:08:13,707 I was a god, but you had to ----! 211 00:08:13,707 --> 00:08:15,500 When Sam first came to the Store, 212 00:08:15,500 --> 00:08:18,378 I think he would go on periodically, but not a lot. 213 00:08:18,378 --> 00:08:19,796 I was standing with him one night- 214 00:08:19,796 --> 00:08:21,256 Mitzi's boyfriend at the time might have been 215 00:08:21,256 --> 00:08:23,049 roughing her up by her car. 216 00:08:23,049 --> 00:08:25,176 He was choking her, and Sam stepped in and 217 00:08:25,176 --> 00:08:27,053 pulled him off of her and... 218 00:08:27,053 --> 00:08:28,471 I think maybe hit him. 219 00:08:28,471 --> 00:08:29,848 And from that point on, 220 00:08:29,848 --> 00:08:32,559 she gave him midnight every night. 221 00:08:32,559 --> 00:08:34,144 At The Comedy Store when you're new, 222 00:08:34,144 --> 00:08:35,729 you go on late at night. 223 00:08:35,729 --> 00:08:38,440 People just sat through 14, 15 acts. 224 00:08:38,440 --> 00:08:41,067 These were all power hitters, late at night, you know, 225 00:08:41,067 --> 00:08:42,527 the crowd's a little burned out and you have to 226 00:08:42,527 --> 00:08:44,112 go out of the way to get the attention. 227 00:08:49,200 --> 00:08:51,077 Sam believed that you figure it out, 228 00:08:51,077 --> 00:08:53,621 how to make an impact in the middle of the night. 229 00:08:53,621 --> 00:08:56,166 The first time I saw Sam Kinison, 230 00:08:56,166 --> 00:08:57,709 he was just this force. 231 00:08:57,709 --> 00:08:59,377 And it was like, who the ---- is this guy? 232 00:08:59,377 --> 00:09:00,503 This guy's ----ing nuts. 233 00:09:06,051 --> 00:09:07,427 [Screaming] 234 00:09:07,427 --> 00:09:10,305 They didn't get him at first. They would just walk out. 235 00:09:10,305 --> 00:09:12,807 And, to make matters worse, he would yell, 236 00:09:12,807 --> 00:09:15,685 "I wipe my ass with the name of your sacred dead," 237 00:09:15,685 --> 00:09:18,188 as they were leaving, just to endear himself. 238 00:09:18,188 --> 00:09:19,898 He would scream, "Out of my house, 239 00:09:19,898 --> 00:09:22,400 this is my house," and then he'd take a stool and 240 00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:24,069 he'd throw it at the audience. 241 00:09:24,069 --> 00:09:25,278 And the audience would kind of like 242 00:09:25,278 --> 00:09:27,322 scamper off and run off. 243 00:09:27,322 --> 00:09:30,116 And from that, eventually he built up 244 00:09:30,116 --> 00:09:31,910 a late night following. 245 00:09:31,910 --> 00:09:34,996 All eyes were like, "Whoa, this is really unique. 246 00:09:34,996 --> 00:09:36,915 Who's this guy cause he's got something 247 00:09:36,915 --> 00:09:37,916 really different." 248 00:09:37,916 --> 00:09:40,001 And people would say, "You gotta go see this guy, 249 00:09:40,001 --> 00:09:42,170 he's crazy. He's the devil." 250 00:09:42,170 --> 00:09:44,214 The thing that filled me with fear when 251 00:09:44,214 --> 00:09:47,008 I first saw Kinison is... 252 00:09:47,008 --> 00:09:50,512 Just that he would say anything to get a reaction, 253 00:09:50,512 --> 00:09:52,222 It was so powerful. 254 00:09:52,222 --> 00:09:55,433 Mitzi Shore knew he was special. 255 00:09:55,433 --> 00:09:58,561 We all knew he was out of his mind. 256 00:09:58,561 --> 00:10:01,856 He was breaking rules that you weren't supposed to break. 257 00:10:01,856 --> 00:10:03,358 I pulled him aside one night, and I said, 258 00:10:03,358 --> 00:10:06,861 "You have no fear." He said, "Well, Allan, 259 00:10:06,861 --> 00:10:10,073 I used to have to heal them. Laughter is much easier 260 00:10:10,073 --> 00:10:12,200 than giving them their eyesight." 261 00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:13,785 Every day you wake up, you look in the mirror, 262 00:10:13,785 --> 00:10:15,286 and you go, "What did I do? What did I do?" 263 00:10:15,286 --> 00:10:17,914 Rr-argh! 264 00:10:17,914 --> 00:10:20,291 When he'd scream at the audience, and scream, 265 00:10:20,291 --> 00:10:23,253 it came from this real place, which made it a lot funnier. 266 00:10:23,253 --> 00:10:25,129 [Screaming] 267 00:10:25,129 --> 00:10:27,382 It wasn't really a character, it was really like this guy 268 00:10:27,382 --> 00:10:28,925 that was free from the church, 269 00:10:28,925 --> 00:10:30,552 and this guy that was free from 270 00:10:30,552 --> 00:10:32,262 these shitty relationships. 271 00:10:32,262 --> 00:10:34,889 It's when he stumbled onto the primal scream, 272 00:10:34,889 --> 00:10:39,769 that- "Agh!"- that everybody related to. 273 00:10:39,769 --> 00:10:42,313 Sam starts to win the respect of his fellow comics, 274 00:10:42,313 --> 00:10:44,023 and is welcomed into the notorious 275 00:10:44,023 --> 00:10:46,401 Comedy Store party scene. 276 00:10:46,401 --> 00:10:50,154 The Comedy Store in 1984, 1985, was the wild west. 277 00:10:50,154 --> 00:10:51,906 There were a lot of drugs. 278 00:10:51,906 --> 00:10:54,909 That was just an insane time. 279 00:10:54,909 --> 00:10:57,328 Sam, first 25 years of his life, 280 00:10:57,328 --> 00:10:59,038 never had a drink, never smoked. 281 00:10:59,038 --> 00:11:02,041 He never really started getting into cocaine and 282 00:11:02,041 --> 00:11:04,460 drinking heavily 'til he went out to LA. 283 00:11:04,460 --> 00:11:06,796 When Sam got around these big stars like 284 00:11:06,796 --> 00:11:09,007 Richard Pryor, Robin Williams, 285 00:11:09,007 --> 00:11:11,843 who pretty much introduced him to cocaine, 286 00:11:11,843 --> 00:11:14,387 they would all party after the shows were over. 287 00:11:14,387 --> 00:11:16,222 He was like a real straight -laced preacher and 288 00:11:16,222 --> 00:11:17,891 boom, got into the party and the rock scene, 289 00:11:17,891 --> 00:11:19,017 the comedy scene. 290 00:11:19,017 --> 00:11:20,351 I don't know how you handle that. 291 00:11:20,351 --> 00:11:22,937 He was a kid in a candy store. 292 00:11:22,937 --> 00:11:24,814 After years of religious abstinence, 293 00:11:24,814 --> 00:11:27,609 Sam dives headfirst into the rock and roll comic 294 00:11:27,609 --> 00:11:31,779 lifestyle, and becomes a fixture of late night parties. 295 00:11:31,779 --> 00:11:33,448 Well, Sam was always a partier... 296 00:11:33,448 --> 00:11:35,199 from the day I met him. 297 00:11:35,199 --> 00:11:38,328 He would just always have, you know, big cocaine parties. 298 00:11:38,328 --> 00:11:40,830 Every frickin' night, I mean, every night Sam 299 00:11:40,830 --> 00:11:43,541 was doing copious amounts of cocaine. 300 00:11:43,541 --> 00:11:46,794 He was just a person that didn't understand limits. 301 00:11:46,794 --> 00:11:49,839 He kept going and going, he'd pull all-nighters. 302 00:11:49,839 --> 00:11:52,550 You can only sustain that for so long. 303 00:12:01,059 --> 00:12:03,144 ♪ 304 00:12:03,144 --> 00:12:04,687 There's a buzz around Sam Kinison 305 00:12:04,687 --> 00:12:06,814 in the comedy community. 306 00:12:06,814 --> 00:12:08,733 But what he needs now is an opportunity 307 00:12:08,733 --> 00:12:10,985 that will push him to the next level. 308 00:12:10,985 --> 00:12:12,320 He'd been asking me to manage him, 309 00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:14,447 and I just went out there- not knowing if it's gonna 310 00:12:14,447 --> 00:12:17,784 work or not because he'd been out there for 7 years, 311 00:12:17,784 --> 00:12:19,160 nothing had happened. 312 00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:21,496 But it just so happened that Mr. Rodney Dangerfield 313 00:12:21,496 --> 00:12:24,082 came into his life, and that changed everything. 314 00:12:24,082 --> 00:12:26,167 Rodney would go into the Store and he would 315 00:12:26,167 --> 00:12:28,252 find comics that were about to break, 316 00:12:28,252 --> 00:12:29,879 and he'd put 'em on his show. 317 00:12:29,879 --> 00:12:32,590 Rodney Dangerfield and young comedians, 318 00:12:32,590 --> 00:12:34,467 and he shot it in New York. 319 00:12:34,467 --> 00:12:36,052 And he would come out onstage, 320 00:12:36,052 --> 00:12:38,221 and he would host it, and he had Saget, Dyce, 321 00:12:38,221 --> 00:12:41,808 and he had Roseanne, and all these comics. 322 00:12:41,808 --> 00:12:44,560 Here's a guy who's rather unusual. 323 00:12:44,560 --> 00:12:46,896 And I love people who are different, you know. 324 00:12:46,896 --> 00:12:48,314 When I say, "rather unusual," you'll know 325 00:12:48,314 --> 00:12:49,774 what I mean when you meet him, okay. 326 00:12:49,774 --> 00:12:51,067 We all love him here. 327 00:12:51,067 --> 00:12:53,653 Let's have a nice, warm reception for Sam Kinison. 328 00:12:53,653 --> 00:12:55,113 Okay, here we are, Sammy! 329 00:12:55,113 --> 00:12:57,657 -[Applauding] -Ah, there you are! 330 00:12:57,657 --> 00:13:00,910 The first time that I remember Sam really popping 331 00:13:00,910 --> 00:13:03,496 on a national level was that Rodney Dangerfield 332 00:13:03,496 --> 00:13:05,123 HBO special. 333 00:13:05,123 --> 00:13:07,458 Anybody here that's never been married? 334 00:13:07,458 --> 00:13:09,252 You never been married? 335 00:13:09,252 --> 00:13:11,796 [Laughing] What's your name? 336 00:13:11,796 --> 00:13:13,506 Michael? 337 00:13:13,506 --> 00:13:15,049 Well, Michael, if you ever think about getting married, 338 00:13:15,049 --> 00:13:16,467 if you ever think you've met the right woman, 339 00:13:16,467 --> 00:13:18,845 you want to settle down, change your life... 340 00:13:18,845 --> 00:13:20,430 will you do me a favour, Mike? 341 00:13:20,430 --> 00:13:22,348 Remember this face. 342 00:13:22,348 --> 00:13:24,600 [Screaming] 343 00:13:24,600 --> 00:13:27,812 -[Laughing] -Agh! 344 00:13:27,812 --> 00:13:29,314 'Cause if you get married, Mike, 345 00:13:29,314 --> 00:13:32,150 that's gonna be your ----ing face every day, man. 346 00:13:32,150 --> 00:13:34,902 6, 7 minutes, 8 minutes of just like holy ----, 347 00:13:34,902 --> 00:13:36,946 you know, this is the real deal. 348 00:13:36,946 --> 00:13:38,281 Best thing about marriage is that 349 00:13:38,281 --> 00:13:42,910 these are connected. They don't come off. 350 00:13:42,910 --> 00:13:44,078 Cause if they did, your wife would 351 00:13:44,078 --> 00:13:45,955 take it as soon as you got married. 352 00:13:45,955 --> 00:13:47,457 She'd go, "You're married now, 353 00:13:47,457 --> 00:13:49,292 you won't be needing that." 354 00:13:49,292 --> 00:13:51,961 [Laughing] 355 00:13:51,961 --> 00:13:53,379 He was just on fire. 356 00:13:53,379 --> 00:13:56,424 And he just lit that special up. 357 00:13:56,424 --> 00:13:58,259 Everybody was talking about that special 358 00:13:58,259 --> 00:14:00,136 when it aired on HBO. 359 00:14:00,136 --> 00:14:02,472 It went viral, big time. 360 00:14:02,472 --> 00:14:04,223 Do you love me? Can you do me a favour? 361 00:14:04,223 --> 00:14:05,975 -Kill me. -[Laughing] 362 00:14:05,975 --> 00:14:07,769 Kill me- strangle me, shoot me, 363 00:14:07,769 --> 00:14:10,229 run me over- whatever it takes, I'm in hell! 364 00:14:10,229 --> 00:14:12,315 Agh! Agh! 365 00:14:12,315 --> 00:14:16,861 Agh! Agh! 366 00:14:16,861 --> 00:14:19,864 [Applauding] 367 00:14:19,864 --> 00:14:21,032 You guys have been a great crowd. 368 00:14:21,032 --> 00:14:22,408 Thank you very much. My name's Sam Kinison, 369 00:14:22,408 --> 00:14:23,785 good night! Thank you. 370 00:14:23,785 --> 00:14:26,037 That 6 minutes started his career. 371 00:14:26,037 --> 00:14:28,539 I got a 4-special deal with HBO. 372 00:14:28,539 --> 00:14:29,957 3 appearances on David Letterman. 373 00:14:29,957 --> 00:14:33,252 4 appearances on Saturday Night Live. 374 00:14:33,252 --> 00:14:35,671 A 4-record deal with Warner Brothers. 375 00:14:35,671 --> 00:14:38,341 All of this within two or three weeks. 376 00:14:38,341 --> 00:14:41,344 ♪ 377 00:14:41,344 --> 00:14:44,180 When Kinison came, it was the era of Reagan. 378 00:14:44,180 --> 00:14:47,850 Where money was king, and here all these little, 379 00:14:47,850 --> 00:14:50,520 dirty street urchins, where suddenly people 380 00:14:50,520 --> 00:14:53,523 are paying attention, and they didn't care 381 00:14:53,523 --> 00:14:55,566 how they were perceived when the rest of society 382 00:14:55,566 --> 00:14:58,277 cared how they, themselves, were perceived. 383 00:14:58,277 --> 00:15:00,696 Like everything in culture, there's a pendulum. 384 00:15:00,696 --> 00:15:03,866 The comedy that characterized sort of 385 00:15:03,866 --> 00:15:05,409 the 60s and early 70s 386 00:15:05,409 --> 00:15:07,286 was born out of the counterculture. 387 00:15:07,286 --> 00:15:10,998 That is very much about the Vietnam War, 388 00:15:10,998 --> 00:15:14,001 and the JFK assassination, and Watergate. 389 00:15:14,001 --> 00:15:16,254 So, it was a lot of social consciousness. 390 00:15:16,254 --> 00:15:19,507 But by the time the 80s comedy boom came around, 391 00:15:19,507 --> 00:15:22,176 suddenly it was the disco era, 392 00:15:22,176 --> 00:15:25,430 it was the me' generation, it was Reagan's America. 393 00:15:25,430 --> 00:15:30,017 There was probably a, a vacuum for someone to 394 00:15:30,017 --> 00:15:34,647 come and scream at the heavens like Sam Kinison. 395 00:15:34,647 --> 00:15:37,150 Sam Kinison is the comedian of the moment, 396 00:15:37,150 --> 00:15:39,569 seemingly satisfying a hunger for 397 00:15:39,569 --> 00:15:41,696 a different kind of comedy. 398 00:15:41,696 --> 00:15:44,073 I know a lot of you come here, you watch TV, 399 00:15:44,073 --> 00:15:45,408 you wait every night... 400 00:15:45,408 --> 00:15:47,076 [Laughing] 401 00:15:47,076 --> 00:15:48,661 For somebody to come on here and give you 402 00:15:48,661 --> 00:15:51,122 an answer for your lives, waiting for someone that'll 403 00:15:51,122 --> 00:15:53,124 come and say, "Hey, this is it! 404 00:15:53,124 --> 00:15:55,459 I don't have to settle for defeat anymore! 405 00:15:55,459 --> 00:15:57,545 I can rise up out of my routine! 406 00:15:57,545 --> 00:15:59,547 I can get a hold of myself! 407 00:15:59,547 --> 00:16:02,091 I don't have to lose! I can win! 408 00:16:02,091 --> 00:16:05,678 There's something inside me that's not gonna let me 409 00:16:05,678 --> 00:16:08,139 go down anymore!" But I'm not the guy. 410 00:16:08,139 --> 00:16:10,683 [Laughing] 411 00:16:10,683 --> 00:16:12,351 He came across as a preacher, definitely. 412 00:16:12,351 --> 00:16:13,561 A comedy preacher. 413 00:16:13,561 --> 00:16:15,646 It was like a revival meeting except with like, 414 00:16:15,646 --> 00:16:18,816 he had dirty material, and real funny material. 415 00:16:18,816 --> 00:16:22,361 I think what Sam conveyed, and what people responded to 416 00:16:22,361 --> 00:16:24,238 was that there was an authenticity. 417 00:16:24,238 --> 00:16:27,700 All of his material about religion came from that place. 418 00:16:27,700 --> 00:16:30,786 It felt like he knew what he was talking about. 419 00:16:30,786 --> 00:16:33,873 Jesus had a tough life, boy, I read about that guy. 420 00:16:33,873 --> 00:16:36,209 Jesus was the only guy that ever came back from the dead 421 00:16:36,209 --> 00:16:39,045 that didn't scare the ---- out of everybody, man. 422 00:16:39,045 --> 00:16:40,463 [Laughing] 423 00:16:40,463 --> 00:16:43,341 That was a revelatory kind of joke. 424 00:16:43,341 --> 00:16:46,844 It was smart, you got it, and you went, like, 425 00:16:46,844 --> 00:16:49,597 "I trust that this guy kind of knows 426 00:16:49,597 --> 00:16:51,224 what he's talking about." 427 00:16:51,224 --> 00:16:53,059 I don't know if Jesus has actually spoken in 428 00:16:53,059 --> 00:16:56,812 an audible voice to anybody in about 2000 years. 429 00:16:56,812 --> 00:16:59,148 I think his last words may have been- 430 00:16:59,148 --> 00:17:00,191 [Hammering] 431 00:17:00,191 --> 00:17:01,400 Oh, agh! 432 00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:03,152 [Indistinct shouting & screaming] 433 00:17:03,152 --> 00:17:04,987 [Hammering] 434 00:17:04,987 --> 00:17:07,573 [Cheering & applauding] 435 00:17:07,573 --> 00:17:09,533 Besieged with offers and now a headliner 436 00:17:09,533 --> 00:17:11,035 at The Comedy Store, 437 00:17:11,035 --> 00:17:13,829 Sam takes up residence at Crest Hill, 438 00:17:13,829 --> 00:17:16,540 a house next to the club owned by Comedy Store 439 00:17:16,540 --> 00:17:18,292 owner, Mitzi Shore. 440 00:17:18,292 --> 00:17:21,087 Sam looked at Crest Hill as a lane to party. 441 00:17:21,087 --> 00:17:24,298 So, he would just always have big cocaine parties and 442 00:17:24,298 --> 00:17:26,175 invite girls over there. 443 00:17:26,175 --> 00:17:28,970 In Sam's phase, it became the party house. 444 00:17:28,970 --> 00:17:30,638 I mean, it was a party house to begin with, 445 00:17:30,638 --> 00:17:33,266 but it became the party house. 446 00:17:33,266 --> 00:17:36,310 I'd set up the house so, I was sort of the host 447 00:17:36,310 --> 00:17:39,272 of all the, the Sam-related riff raff. 448 00:17:39,272 --> 00:17:41,357 And then we'd just start doing Sam's blow 449 00:17:41,357 --> 00:17:43,234 sometimes for two, three days straight. 450 00:17:43,234 --> 00:17:44,527 It was crazy. 451 00:17:44,527 --> 00:17:46,153 Sam did have his share of binges. 452 00:17:46,153 --> 00:17:47,530 Usually about 3 days. 453 00:17:47,530 --> 00:17:49,532 That's when I'd see the biggest comedians there was, 454 00:17:49,532 --> 00:17:51,158 and they'd have a rock of cocaine. 455 00:17:51,158 --> 00:17:52,702 It's not cut up or anything else, 456 00:17:52,702 --> 00:17:54,412 and they literally take a knife and just 457 00:17:54,412 --> 00:17:56,706 scrape off the stuff to snort. 458 00:17:56,706 --> 00:17:58,332 Then, people would come in and out. 459 00:17:58,332 --> 00:18:01,002 Sometimes they would fold in and out over the 3 days. 460 00:18:01,002 --> 00:18:02,795 The parties were around the table, 461 00:18:02,795 --> 00:18:04,547 because everybody's a comic 462 00:18:04,547 --> 00:18:06,632 trying to hold court and top each other. 463 00:18:06,632 --> 00:18:08,134 And that was always fun. 464 00:18:08,134 --> 00:18:11,387 The uglier cocaine parties, you know, involved women, 465 00:18:11,387 --> 00:18:14,807 involved orgies, sex, and... 466 00:18:14,807 --> 00:18:17,351 I don't think we were particularly 467 00:18:17,351 --> 00:18:19,895 picky about where the girls came from. 468 00:18:19,895 --> 00:18:23,441 His excessive way of life got more excessive. 469 00:18:23,441 --> 00:18:24,984 You know what I mean? 470 00:18:24,984 --> 00:18:27,153 Now you don't have to be nice to people to get your coke. 471 00:18:27,153 --> 00:18:29,030 Now you got some pockets. 472 00:18:29,030 --> 00:18:30,406 If you got into that inner circle, 473 00:18:30,406 --> 00:18:32,074 sooner or later you got the gun pulled on you, 474 00:18:32,074 --> 00:18:33,200 you got the drink thrown in your face, 475 00:18:33,200 --> 00:18:34,994 you got yelled out, you got slapped around. 476 00:18:34,994 --> 00:18:36,620 It was ugly. 477 00:18:36,620 --> 00:18:38,039 When shit started to get gnarly, 478 00:18:38,039 --> 00:18:39,290 that's when you want to bail. 479 00:18:39,290 --> 00:18:40,583 You're like, ----, I'm out of here. 480 00:18:40,583 --> 00:18:42,835 And then if he'd see you, he'd stop, 481 00:18:42,835 --> 00:18:45,296 and he'd rip his shirt, and he would scream, 482 00:18:45,296 --> 00:18:47,340 "Party goalie, party goalie! 483 00:18:47,340 --> 00:18:49,884 You can't leave, the bees are, 'r-r-r'!" 484 00:18:49,884 --> 00:18:51,969 SFX: [Groaning] 485 00:18:51,969 --> 00:18:54,638 He gave loyalty to you, but he wanted loyalty back. 486 00:18:54,638 --> 00:18:56,724 So, if that meant that you're gonna be sitting there 487 00:18:56,724 --> 00:18:58,809 for 3 days doing drugs and stuff, 488 00:18:58,809 --> 00:19:00,227 you're gonna do it or you're never gonna be 489 00:19:00,227 --> 00:19:02,271 sitting there when he does it again. 490 00:19:02,271 --> 00:19:06,400 He was not in the dark about what he was doing. 491 00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:10,029 He was completely self-willed. 492 00:19:10,029 --> 00:19:11,906 You're gonna try to outdo me, you're gonna try to 493 00:19:11,906 --> 00:19:13,616 out-drug me, you're gonna try to out-drunk me, 494 00:19:13,616 --> 00:19:15,076 you're gonna try out----- me. 495 00:19:15,076 --> 00:19:16,786 That was his thing. 496 00:19:16,786 --> 00:19:20,289 There was never a mediocrity with him. 497 00:19:20,289 --> 00:19:22,291 It was either all-in or all-out, 498 00:19:22,291 --> 00:19:24,293 and ordinarily it was all-in. 499 00:19:24,293 --> 00:19:27,171 ♪ 500 00:19:27,171 --> 00:19:29,173 Within a year, the opportunities that Sam 501 00:19:29,173 --> 00:19:31,842 signed onto after the Rodney Dangerfield special 502 00:19:31,842 --> 00:19:33,969 are coming to fruition. 503 00:19:33,969 --> 00:19:35,179 ♪ 504 00:19:35,179 --> 00:19:37,723 He is on an unstoppable roll. 505 00:19:37,723 --> 00:19:41,268 ♪ 506 00:19:41,268 --> 00:19:44,188 He played a part in Rodney's movie, "Back To School". 507 00:19:44,188 --> 00:19:45,981 I wish I could, but I was there. 508 00:19:45,981 --> 00:19:47,817 I wasn't here in a classroom. 509 00:19:47,817 --> 00:19:49,610 [Mike Binder] And he just killed! 510 00:19:49,610 --> 00:19:52,196 He just destroyed. 511 00:19:52,196 --> 00:19:54,281 ...with guns, and then we're going up against Charlie, 512 00:19:54,281 --> 00:19:57,702 slugging it out with him, while pussies like you...! 513 00:19:57,702 --> 00:19:59,412 [Cheering] 514 00:19:59,412 --> 00:20:01,497 But it's his HBO special, 'Breaking The Rules', 515 00:20:01,497 --> 00:20:04,125 that makes him a household name. 516 00:20:04,125 --> 00:20:05,668 I think as a comedian, 517 00:20:05,668 --> 00:20:08,295 Sam Kinison might be one of the greats. 518 00:20:08,295 --> 00:20:11,340 His HBO special, in my mind... 519 00:20:11,340 --> 00:20:13,634 is one of the finest ever done. 520 00:20:13,634 --> 00:20:15,511 I know about ----ing the dead, I do. 521 00:20:15,511 --> 00:20:16,804 [Laughing] 522 00:20:16,804 --> 00:20:18,389 I know what it's like to stick your dick in a corpse. 523 00:20:18,389 --> 00:20:21,976 I was married for two ----ing years! 524 00:20:21,976 --> 00:20:24,520 I ----ed the dead a lot, pal! 525 00:20:24,520 --> 00:20:26,063 That special was so good, 526 00:20:26,063 --> 00:20:27,773 the best thing he'd ever done. 527 00:20:27,773 --> 00:20:29,358 I remember being back in Michigan, 528 00:20:29,358 --> 00:20:31,235 and everyone was talking about that special. 529 00:20:31,235 --> 00:20:32,445 [Cheering & applauding] 530 00:20:32,445 --> 00:20:34,989 You guys have been great, I appreciate you coming out! 531 00:20:34,989 --> 00:20:37,825 [Cheering & applauding] 532 00:20:37,825 --> 00:20:39,785 Sam's debut live comedy album, 533 00:20:39,785 --> 00:20:41,078 'Louder Than Hell,' 534 00:20:41,078 --> 00:20:43,205 the first record of his Warner Brothers deal, 535 00:20:43,205 --> 00:20:45,708 lands securely on the Billboard Charts, 536 00:20:45,708 --> 00:20:47,668 drawing rave reviews. 537 00:20:47,668 --> 00:20:49,545 That first record, it's pretty precise. 538 00:20:49,545 --> 00:20:51,756 I don't think he ever beat that first record. 539 00:20:51,756 --> 00:20:53,799 I don't think you get any better than that. 540 00:20:53,799 --> 00:20:57,553 Ladies and gentlemen, Sam Kinison! 541 00:20:57,553 --> 00:20:59,388 [Cheering & applauding] 542 00:20:59,388 --> 00:21:01,724 Riding a wave, Sam takes his act on the road, 543 00:21:01,724 --> 00:21:04,018 playing to bigger and bigger houses. 544 00:21:04,018 --> 00:21:07,062 I remember when he first started doing theatres, 545 00:21:07,062 --> 00:21:09,774 and we were all in the basement of this theatre, 546 00:21:09,774 --> 00:21:13,027 and the crowd started going crazy and 547 00:21:13,027 --> 00:21:14,945 stomping their feet. 548 00:21:14,945 --> 00:21:17,406 And I just remember being in the bowels of this theatre, 549 00:21:17,406 --> 00:21:21,368 and feeling the building shake and be like... 550 00:21:21,368 --> 00:21:24,246 comedy has changed. 551 00:21:24,246 --> 00:21:26,040 He was the first comedian to ever 552 00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:27,958 sell out Madison Square Garden. 553 00:21:27,958 --> 00:21:29,627 Now his ego... 554 00:21:29,627 --> 00:21:31,253 started exploding to where, you know, 555 00:21:31,253 --> 00:21:33,130 he and I would have friction. 556 00:21:33,130 --> 00:21:34,590 It got to the point that I think he thought 557 00:21:34,590 --> 00:21:36,383 he was the god of comedy. 558 00:21:36,383 --> 00:21:39,428 How the ---- are you, New York City! 559 00:21:39,428 --> 00:21:41,430 [Cheering & applauding] 560 00:21:51,607 --> 00:21:55,027 It is the beginning of 1988, and Sam Kinison 561 00:21:55,027 --> 00:21:57,821 is arguably the biggest name in comedy. 562 00:21:57,821 --> 00:22:00,991 His approach has just completely shifted. 563 00:22:00,991 --> 00:22:04,078 There's no sense of him being an underdog. 564 00:22:04,078 --> 00:22:06,580 There's no sense of him sort of being this, you know, 565 00:22:06,580 --> 00:22:08,791 loser who's licking his wounds. 566 00:22:08,791 --> 00:22:10,751 A lot of people are starting to find out about me. 567 00:22:10,751 --> 00:22:12,253 There's been a lot of articles written on me. 568 00:22:12,253 --> 00:22:14,880 Everywhere I go, people scream, you know. 569 00:22:14,880 --> 00:22:16,006 People walk up to me, they act like 570 00:22:16,006 --> 00:22:17,508 they're looking at the angel of death. 571 00:22:17,508 --> 00:22:19,677 It's like, "Oh! Agh!" 572 00:22:19,677 --> 00:22:23,305 I think he was too seduced by his own PR. 573 00:22:23,305 --> 00:22:27,893 Fell in love with fame, and power, and success. 574 00:22:27,893 --> 00:22:31,647 Falling in love with this image of himself. 575 00:22:31,647 --> 00:22:34,441 Sam signed to do a movie called Atuk', 576 00:22:34,441 --> 00:22:37,236 and he never read the script until he got into the trailer. 577 00:22:37,236 --> 00:22:38,487 And, you know, as comedians, 578 00:22:38,487 --> 00:22:40,823 you're just used to doing things your way, 579 00:22:40,823 --> 00:22:42,199 right or wrong. 580 00:22:42,199 --> 00:22:43,784 And he said, "Well, I'm just gonna rewrite it." 581 00:22:43,784 --> 00:22:44,952 And they said, "What are you talking about? 582 00:22:44,952 --> 00:22:46,579 We're here, we're filming it." 583 00:22:46,579 --> 00:22:49,540 And, of course from there it went into a lawsuit. 584 00:22:49,540 --> 00:22:52,293 He didn't pay attention to anything. 585 00:22:52,293 --> 00:22:53,877 I just had to go to ----ing court because they're 586 00:22:53,877 --> 00:22:56,964 suing me for $5 million for not making a bad movie. 587 00:22:56,964 --> 00:22:59,592 Agh! I love my life. 588 00:22:59,592 --> 00:23:01,969 As he became more popular, cared more about 589 00:23:01,969 --> 00:23:05,931 the partying than he did the business. 590 00:23:05,931 --> 00:23:08,559 As Sam plays fast and loose with his career, 591 00:23:08,559 --> 00:23:11,270 his off-stage behaviour continues to escalate... 592 00:23:11,270 --> 00:23:13,188 spilling out of the Crest Hill house, 593 00:23:13,188 --> 00:23:16,692 into the uncontained Los Angeles night life. 594 00:23:16,692 --> 00:23:18,277 Yeah! [Laughing] 595 00:23:18,277 --> 00:23:20,529 One time we were all ----ing drugged up, 596 00:23:20,529 --> 00:23:22,364 and we ran out of coke. I was like, 597 00:23:22,364 --> 00:23:23,741 "Alright, well, I guess that's it." 598 00:23:23,741 --> 00:23:25,659 He's like, "No, man, let's go get more coke." 599 00:23:25,659 --> 00:23:28,162 It was like 3:30 in the morning, we get in my car. 600 00:23:28,162 --> 00:23:30,289 We're driving through Hollywood to this 601 00:23:30,289 --> 00:23:32,666 dealer's house, whacked out of our skulls, 602 00:23:32,666 --> 00:23:34,668 and I just remember Sam's like in and out of 603 00:23:34,668 --> 00:23:36,629 consciousness, and at some point he wakes up and he 604 00:23:36,629 --> 00:23:38,380 looks at me and he's like, "I don't even know you, man, 605 00:23:38,380 --> 00:23:39,757 you could kill me." And I'm like, 606 00:23:39,757 --> 00:23:41,800 "Where are we going, dude?" 607 00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:43,218 And we get to this apartment, like, 608 00:23:43,218 --> 00:23:45,095 "Hey, man, it's me, hook me up, hook me up." 609 00:23:45,095 --> 00:23:46,847 He was a hairdresser, this guy, 610 00:23:46,847 --> 00:23:48,182 but he was a coke guy. 611 00:23:48,182 --> 00:23:49,558 And he's like, "What do you want?" 612 00:23:49,558 --> 00:23:51,435 So, "Got anything, man, you know?" And he's like, 613 00:23:51,435 --> 00:23:52,770 "Just be quiet, my roommate's sleeping," 614 00:23:52,770 --> 00:23:54,355 you know, this poor roommate. 615 00:23:54,355 --> 00:23:55,981 And he gives us some coke. 616 00:23:55,981 --> 00:23:57,691 And then Sam's like, "Got any booze?" 617 00:23:57,691 --> 00:23:59,985 And, so he gives Sam this little miniature Smirnoff, 618 00:23:59,985 --> 00:24:02,863 and Sam's like on the floor drinking a miniature. 619 00:24:02,863 --> 00:24:05,449 He looked like a little giant. 620 00:24:05,449 --> 00:24:07,326 And then he just passes out. 621 00:24:07,326 --> 00:24:10,204 ♪ 622 00:24:10,204 --> 00:24:12,790 With Sam's life of excess serving as a backdrop, 623 00:24:12,790 --> 00:24:14,875 he releases his second comedy album, 624 00:24:14,875 --> 00:24:16,794 Have You Seen Me Lately?' 625 00:24:16,794 --> 00:24:19,838 ♪ Wild thing, I think you move me. ♪ 626 00:24:19,838 --> 00:24:22,383 Placed at the end of the record is a full-on cover 627 00:24:22,383 --> 00:24:25,052 of the classic rock song, 'Wild Thing'. 628 00:24:25,052 --> 00:24:26,637 ♪ 629 00:24:26,637 --> 00:24:29,598 ♪ OH! WILD THING! ♪ 630 00:24:29,598 --> 00:24:31,016 ♪ 631 00:24:31,016 --> 00:24:35,020 That video catapulted Sam into rock star status. 632 00:24:35,020 --> 00:24:36,939 We were driving around in Studio City, 633 00:24:36,939 --> 00:24:38,482 on Ventura Boulevard... 634 00:24:38,482 --> 00:24:41,276 every car, you could hear 'Wild Thing'! 635 00:24:41,276 --> 00:24:43,404 ♪ 636 00:24:43,404 --> 00:24:45,823 When Have You Seen Me Lately?' lands on the charts, 637 00:24:45,823 --> 00:24:48,033 Sam puts a band together. 638 00:24:48,033 --> 00:24:49,868 ♪ 639 00:24:49,868 --> 00:24:52,454 He takes his rock and roll comedy show on the road. 640 00:24:52,454 --> 00:24:54,707 ♪ [Screaming] ♪ 641 00:24:54,707 --> 00:24:56,291 The show went to a whole different level 642 00:24:56,291 --> 00:24:57,835 when that curtain opened. 643 00:24:57,835 --> 00:25:00,796 From that, he became the rock and roll comic. 644 00:25:00,796 --> 00:25:03,590 The Wild Thing, Mr. Sam Kinison, y'all. 645 00:25:03,590 --> 00:25:05,050 [Cheering] 646 00:25:05,050 --> 00:25:06,719 Bon Jovi asked us to come play to 647 00:25:06,719 --> 00:25:08,846 84,000 people in Jersey. 648 00:25:08,846 --> 00:25:11,015 The last song they did was Wild Thing'. 649 00:25:11,015 --> 00:25:12,808 It was insanity. 650 00:25:12,808 --> 00:25:16,019 And I think because he was so counter everything that was 651 00:25:16,019 --> 00:25:19,273 stand-up, it made him even more popular. 652 00:25:19,273 --> 00:25:23,277 I think he believed in and lived the rock and roll myth. 653 00:25:23,277 --> 00:25:25,612 ♪ 654 00:25:25,612 --> 00:25:27,865 Sam Kinison is at the height of his career, 655 00:25:27,865 --> 00:25:30,242 seemingly an unstoppable force. 656 00:25:30,242 --> 00:25:32,828 [Cheering & applauding] 657 00:25:32,828 --> 00:25:34,079 But a tragic event is about to 658 00:25:34,079 --> 00:25:36,039 pull him back down to Earth. 659 00:25:36,039 --> 00:25:38,709 Kevin, Sam's brother, my sister, 660 00:25:38,709 --> 00:25:41,587 and myself were in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 661 00:25:41,587 --> 00:25:45,090 Sam, my sister, and myself were staying at a hotel. 662 00:25:45,090 --> 00:25:47,217 We were gonna go shopping and, 663 00:25:47,217 --> 00:25:49,136 I hear five, six ambulances. 664 00:25:49,136 --> 00:25:51,221 I was like, "What's going on?" And, 665 00:25:51,221 --> 00:25:54,308 it turned out that Sam's brother had killed himself. 666 00:25:54,308 --> 00:25:57,227 Shot himself in the head, in his mother's room, 667 00:25:57,227 --> 00:25:58,937 on Mother's Day. 668 00:25:58,937 --> 00:26:00,689 Kevin was 28. 669 00:26:00,689 --> 00:26:03,442 He wasn't just our little brother, he was our baby. 670 00:26:03,442 --> 00:26:05,152 Wouldn't have hurt anybody. 671 00:26:05,152 --> 00:26:08,030 It was very difficult for Sam and I, both, 672 00:26:08,030 --> 00:26:09,782 to handle that. 673 00:26:09,782 --> 00:26:12,367 But Sam suffered the most. 674 00:26:12,367 --> 00:26:14,077 Why would a kid that's 28, 675 00:26:14,077 --> 00:26:15,245 that had everything going for him, 676 00:26:15,245 --> 00:26:17,623 that was great looking, that had a great personality, 677 00:26:17,623 --> 00:26:19,249 just was a wonderful person, 678 00:26:19,249 --> 00:26:21,251 take a gun and shoot himself? 679 00:26:21,251 --> 00:26:23,170 That was a big turning point. 680 00:26:23,170 --> 00:26:26,298 Sam had buried himself in alcohol and drugs 681 00:26:26,298 --> 00:26:28,091 to numb the pain. 682 00:26:28,091 --> 00:26:29,760 He wouldn't take a break to mourn his brother, 683 00:26:29,760 --> 00:26:32,387 and this was kind of like the beginning of the end. 684 00:26:42,105 --> 00:26:43,982 The sudden death of Sam Kinison's brother 685 00:26:43,982 --> 00:26:46,109 threatens to overwhelm him. 686 00:26:46,109 --> 00:26:47,903 This was a very dark period because he wouldn't 687 00:26:47,903 --> 00:26:50,781 take off time to mourn Kevin's passing. 688 00:26:50,781 --> 00:26:54,576 Sam kept partying, and partying, and partying, and... 689 00:26:54,576 --> 00:26:57,246 he was grieving so much. 690 00:26:57,246 --> 00:26:59,748 The problem is when you get past the grief, 691 00:26:59,748 --> 00:27:01,583 or you stop grieving, ah, 692 00:27:01,583 --> 00:27:03,919 you're left with those bad habits. 693 00:27:03,919 --> 00:27:05,754 I wanted to take Sam off the road for a while to 694 00:27:05,754 --> 00:27:08,882 get him emotionally healthy enough to do shows. 695 00:27:08,882 --> 00:27:11,426 He said, "I need to work it out." 696 00:27:11,426 --> 00:27:16,306 The next city that we went to was New York. 697 00:27:16,306 --> 00:27:18,392 We were at the China Club. 698 00:27:18,392 --> 00:27:20,853 The owners just locked us in the club. 699 00:27:20,853 --> 00:27:22,396 Sam had a gun, 700 00:27:22,396 --> 00:27:24,982 and Sam would not stop crying about Kevin. 701 00:27:24,982 --> 00:27:27,317 High out of his mind, drunk, 702 00:27:27,317 --> 00:27:29,403 that he wasn't there for Kevin. 703 00:27:29,403 --> 00:27:33,323 And he got so angry we didn't know what to do, 704 00:27:33,323 --> 00:27:35,993 because what are you gonna say in the basement 705 00:27:35,993 --> 00:27:37,452 of the China Club? 706 00:27:37,452 --> 00:27:40,539 Sam, after Kevin's death... 707 00:27:40,539 --> 00:27:43,083 he would go on rampages sometimes. 708 00:27:43,083 --> 00:27:45,252 Sam kept getting deeper and deeper. 709 00:27:45,252 --> 00:27:48,881 He felt like that Kevin's death was his fault because 710 00:27:48,881 --> 00:27:51,383 what he believed happened was a result of them 711 00:27:51,383 --> 00:27:53,427 partying all the time. 712 00:27:53,427 --> 00:27:56,221 So, that's why he felt so guilty about it. 713 00:27:56,221 --> 00:27:59,683 And I'll have to admit for a while, I, I... 714 00:27:59,683 --> 00:28:01,226 I kind of blamed Sam, too. 715 00:28:01,226 --> 00:28:03,228 I think Sam may have turned his back on God 716 00:28:03,228 --> 00:28:06,356 after his brother committed suicide. 717 00:28:06,356 --> 00:28:08,483 Ladies and gentlemen, 718 00:28:08,483 --> 00:28:10,986 the undisputed king of comedy... 719 00:28:10,986 --> 00:28:16,950 the leader of the band, Mr. Sam Kinison! 720 00:28:16,950 --> 00:28:19,870 Unable to lift himself out of the tailspin of grief, 721 00:28:19,870 --> 00:28:21,663 Sam keeps working. 722 00:28:21,663 --> 00:28:24,917 Oh, wild thing I think I want to ---- you in the ass. 723 00:28:24,917 --> 00:28:26,084 ♪ 724 00:28:26,084 --> 00:28:27,711 But the humour is different now- 725 00:28:27,711 --> 00:28:30,047 darker, meaner. 726 00:28:30,047 --> 00:28:31,757 You two are the nastiest ----ing bitches 727 00:28:31,757 --> 00:28:33,675 I ever met in my ----ing life. 728 00:28:33,675 --> 00:28:36,178 [Laughing] Was Sam misogynistic? 729 00:28:36,178 --> 00:28:39,723 Yes, he was, because he didn't have respect for women. 730 00:28:39,723 --> 00:28:43,185 These are the operators we have standing by. 731 00:28:43,185 --> 00:28:45,020 Misogynistic? 732 00:28:45,020 --> 00:28:47,648 Sam is everything that comes with that word. 733 00:28:47,648 --> 00:28:48,857 Hello? 734 00:28:48,857 --> 00:28:50,192 He might be the picture 735 00:28:50,192 --> 00:28:51,777 when you look it up in the dictionary. 736 00:28:51,777 --> 00:28:52,861 [Phone] Hello? 737 00:28:52,861 --> 00:28:54,196 [Sam] Hi, Kate? [Kate] Yeah? 738 00:28:54,196 --> 00:28:55,864 [Sam] Do you remember Kevin? [Kate] Yeah. 739 00:28:55,864 --> 00:28:57,991 Did you used to go out with him? 740 00:28:57,991 --> 00:28:59,368 [Kate] Ah, a long time ago. 741 00:28:59,368 --> 00:29:00,994 Well, that's what he was telling us, 742 00:29:00,994 --> 00:29:03,538 and we were looking for a girl who was a ----ing cunt 743 00:29:03,538 --> 00:29:06,583 that ----ed her boyfriend's brother, and you won, 744 00:29:06,583 --> 00:29:08,335 you ----ing bitch! 745 00:29:08,335 --> 00:29:11,380 How do you live with yourself, you piece of shit? 746 00:29:11,380 --> 00:29:12,923 Yeah, you're a ----ing bitch! 747 00:29:12,923 --> 00:29:15,008 [Indistinct shouting] 748 00:29:15,008 --> 00:29:17,844 Yeah, you ----ing cunt! You ----ing bitch! 749 00:29:17,844 --> 00:29:20,764 I think he had drugged himself into a place 750 00:29:20,764 --> 00:29:22,975 where he couldn't generate material 751 00:29:22,975 --> 00:29:25,894 anymore that was very good. 752 00:29:25,894 --> 00:29:28,647 I mean, here's the thing about comedy- if you're 753 00:29:28,647 --> 00:29:31,858 saying so many edgy and dangerous things, 754 00:29:31,858 --> 00:29:34,027 and you're really going out on a limb, 755 00:29:34,027 --> 00:29:35,487 and you're living on that limb and 756 00:29:35,487 --> 00:29:37,864 you're staying up for three days in a row, 757 00:29:37,864 --> 00:29:40,242 you're not gonna be terribly focused. 758 00:29:40,242 --> 00:29:43,704 Sam raises the ire of women's groups across the country, 759 00:29:43,704 --> 00:29:46,248 and the media grabs on. 760 00:29:46,248 --> 00:29:49,042 You're a ----ing cunt! You deserve to die! 761 00:29:49,042 --> 00:29:50,836 You ----ing bitch! How do you live with yourself, 762 00:29:50,836 --> 00:29:52,754 you ----ing pussy? 763 00:29:52,754 --> 00:29:56,133 But at this moment, Sam is too popular to bring down. 764 00:29:56,133 --> 00:29:58,969 You're always gonna be looking for something 765 00:29:58,969 --> 00:30:01,471 even more shocking to say. 766 00:30:01,471 --> 00:30:02,848 I mean, that's the thrill of it. 767 00:30:02,848 --> 00:30:04,641 It's playing Chicken with words. 768 00:30:04,641 --> 00:30:06,935 Sam, as this powerful figure, 769 00:30:06,935 --> 00:30:09,021 would scream, you know, 770 00:30:09,021 --> 00:30:11,857 profanities and obscenities at this woman. 771 00:30:11,857 --> 00:30:14,401 It just felt like misogyny and bullying. 772 00:30:14,401 --> 00:30:16,486 He definitely wasn't dancing with the devil. 773 00:30:16,486 --> 00:30:18,321 He had become the devil. 774 00:30:29,124 --> 00:30:31,752 Defiant in the face of charges of misogyny, 775 00:30:31,752 --> 00:30:34,296 Sam Kinison continues a scorched earth approach 776 00:30:34,296 --> 00:30:36,048 to his comedy. 777 00:30:36,048 --> 00:30:38,550 I'm a triple X-rated ----ing comedian. 778 00:30:38,550 --> 00:30:41,011 People count on me for ----ing bad taste. 779 00:30:41,011 --> 00:30:43,096 [Cheering] 780 00:30:43,096 --> 00:30:45,515 It was a lack of respect for anything he was doing, 781 00:30:45,515 --> 00:30:47,225 or anybody else. 782 00:30:47,225 --> 00:30:50,479 I miss ----ing total strangers. 783 00:30:50,479 --> 00:30:52,230 I miss having sex with women that you 784 00:30:52,230 --> 00:30:55,025 never have to see again. Oh! 785 00:30:55,025 --> 00:30:56,568 He didn't care. 786 00:30:56,568 --> 00:31:00,030 He was going to do what he wanted to do in his comedy. 787 00:31:00,030 --> 00:31:02,282 Kinison openly provokes the gay community, 788 00:31:02,282 --> 00:31:04,201 daring them to respond. 789 00:31:04,201 --> 00:31:07,537 Yeah, I guess you would lose weight if you're gay. 790 00:31:07,537 --> 00:31:09,498 Who the ---- wants to eat after they've had a dick 791 00:31:09,498 --> 00:31:11,208 in their mouth all day! 792 00:31:11,208 --> 00:31:13,085 [Retching] 793 00:31:13,085 --> 00:31:15,837 His lampooning of AIDS in the midst of the disease 794 00:31:15,837 --> 00:31:18,673 decimating the community becomes a flashpoint. 795 00:31:18,673 --> 00:31:21,718 Comedy and controversy, the two went hand-in-hand 796 00:31:21,718 --> 00:31:24,262 tonight at Syracuse's Landmark Theater. 797 00:31:24,262 --> 00:31:26,306 [Protesters chanting] 798 00:31:26,306 --> 00:31:28,016 They marched tonight, angry at the 799 00:31:28,016 --> 00:31:30,227 appearance of comedian Sam Kinison. 800 00:31:30,227 --> 00:31:32,979 Angry over his comments on women and Blacks. 801 00:31:32,979 --> 00:31:35,857 Angry about his stance toward AIDS and gays. 802 00:31:35,857 --> 00:31:38,151 And in one joke, I said, I said, 803 00:31:38,151 --> 00:31:40,070 "They say heterosexuals die of AIDS too. 804 00:31:40,070 --> 00:31:43,281 Name one!" 805 00:31:43,281 --> 00:31:47,619 Alright? Just, just as like a little social commentary. 806 00:31:47,619 --> 00:31:49,454 Sam was controversial. 807 00:31:49,454 --> 00:31:51,456 But if Sam felt like something was funny, 808 00:31:51,456 --> 00:31:52,582 he'd do it. 809 00:31:52,582 --> 00:31:54,501 Man, they came out of the ----ing woodwork. 810 00:31:54,501 --> 00:31:56,753 "You ----ing son of a bitch, how could make fun of such a-" 811 00:31:56,753 --> 00:31:58,380 [Chattering] 812 00:31:58,380 --> 00:32:00,757 The condemnation goes nationwide when Elton John 813 00:32:00,757 --> 00:32:02,926 calls Sam out on live television. 814 00:32:02,926 --> 00:32:04,386 I'm doing this show under protest. 815 00:32:04,386 --> 00:32:06,972 I'd like to congratulate Sam Kinison on being the first 816 00:32:06,972 --> 00:32:08,932 pig ever to introduce a rock and roll show. 817 00:32:08,932 --> 00:32:12,269 I don't think Sam was anti-AIDS and anti-gay. 818 00:32:12,269 --> 00:32:13,979 I think they were jokes to him, 819 00:32:13,979 --> 00:32:16,231 and they seemed like low hanging fruit. 820 00:32:16,231 --> 00:32:18,441 And, you know, Sam's one of those guys that 821 00:32:18,441 --> 00:32:20,986 it might be low hanging fruit, but it's still fruit. 822 00:32:20,986 --> 00:32:23,029 So, he went for it. 823 00:32:23,029 --> 00:32:25,866 It's just comedy, yes. 824 00:32:25,866 --> 00:32:28,285 But it's at the expense of thousands of people 825 00:32:28,285 --> 00:32:30,996 that are dying every day from AIDS. 826 00:32:30,996 --> 00:32:32,455 It's at their expense. 827 00:32:32,455 --> 00:32:34,958 It's not at the expense of Sam Kinison. 828 00:32:34,958 --> 00:32:36,376 [Cheering] 829 00:32:36,376 --> 00:32:38,670 AIDS, with Sam, that was a problem. 830 00:32:38,670 --> 00:32:40,797 And that started on David Letterman. 831 00:32:40,797 --> 00:32:42,966 And I'm in the green room with the other people that's 832 00:32:42,966 --> 00:32:45,010 gonna be on, and Sam's talking to David. 833 00:32:45,010 --> 00:32:47,679 Then he just goes off the cuff. 834 00:32:47,679 --> 00:32:49,431 I told a joke, I said, 835 00:32:49,431 --> 00:32:52,893 "They say heterosexuals die of AIDS too. Name one." 836 00:32:52,893 --> 00:32:55,145 You know, just as a joke, and, and, man, 837 00:32:55,145 --> 00:32:57,189 they act like, "Oh, it's the most hideous joke of all time! 838 00:32:57,189 --> 00:32:58,190 It's the worst joke that involves 839 00:32:58,190 --> 00:32:59,733 drinking human blood." [Retching] 840 00:32:59,733 --> 00:33:02,027 And as soon as he says that, I know I got my hands full. 841 00:33:02,027 --> 00:33:04,029 I just want somebody to name one. 842 00:33:04,029 --> 00:33:07,240 [Laughing] 843 00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:09,826 So... so what you're saying is you're just, 844 00:33:09,826 --> 00:33:11,411 you're just misunderstood? 845 00:33:11,411 --> 00:33:12,621 When he's saying that, I'm just going, 846 00:33:12,621 --> 00:33:16,666 "Oh, God, no." We got death threats. 847 00:33:16,666 --> 00:33:20,462 Everything else that we never had before, over that. 848 00:33:20,462 --> 00:33:22,422 [Chanting] 849 00:33:22,422 --> 00:33:25,592 Minneapolis was not good. They raised our tour bus. 850 00:33:25,592 --> 00:33:28,637 Portland was not good, they threw acid in on 851 00:33:28,637 --> 00:33:31,097 the side door on people that were sitting in the show. 852 00:33:31,097 --> 00:33:32,891 Seattle wasn't good. 853 00:33:32,891 --> 00:33:35,602 They had probably 300 protestors that 854 00:33:35,602 --> 00:33:37,896 the police had to, had to clear out. 855 00:33:37,896 --> 00:33:41,066 They caught 78 people carrying guns into 856 00:33:41,066 --> 00:33:42,692 Madison Square Garden. 857 00:33:42,692 --> 00:33:46,863 And so, we had to carry extra security, ah, 858 00:33:46,863 --> 00:33:49,741 for probably a year because, 859 00:33:49,741 --> 00:33:51,034 because we had death threats everywhere. 860 00:33:51,034 --> 00:33:53,245 That was, that was probably the biggest bump 861 00:33:53,245 --> 00:33:55,455 we ever had in his career. 862 00:33:55,455 --> 00:33:57,499 ♪ 863 00:33:57,499 --> 00:34:01,378 I saw something in Sam one of the days that 864 00:34:01,378 --> 00:34:03,755 he was being picketed, Warner Brothers with the 865 00:34:03,755 --> 00:34:05,090 records and everything, they were saying, like, 866 00:34:05,090 --> 00:34:08,009 "We're just gonna ban him." 867 00:34:08,009 --> 00:34:10,053 We were in the limo. 868 00:34:10,053 --> 00:34:12,138 The gay community was coming out with signs going, 869 00:34:12,138 --> 00:34:16,309 "Sexist, racist, anti-gay, Sam Kinison go away!" 870 00:34:16,309 --> 00:34:18,478 And they're pounding on the limo with their 871 00:34:18,478 --> 00:34:22,357 picket signs, and Sam started crying. 872 00:34:22,357 --> 00:34:24,150 And it was such a poignant moment, like, 873 00:34:24,150 --> 00:34:26,736 he wouldn't turn around. 874 00:34:26,736 --> 00:34:28,947 And it wasn't just that he was being banned. 875 00:34:28,947 --> 00:34:31,408 There was something else going on. 876 00:34:31,408 --> 00:34:34,452 ♪ 877 00:34:34,452 --> 00:34:37,080 I just think he had too many things, mentally, 878 00:34:37,080 --> 00:34:38,915 that he was fighting. 879 00:34:38,915 --> 00:34:41,584 I think a lot of it was he was just a tortured soul, 880 00:34:41,584 --> 00:34:43,503 there's no other way to put it. 881 00:34:43,503 --> 00:34:47,590 I think Sam's comedy came from a need to be heard. 882 00:34:47,590 --> 00:34:51,094 What makes people stand on a corner and scream? 883 00:34:51,094 --> 00:34:53,722 It isn't because things were happy-go-lucky 884 00:34:53,722 --> 00:34:55,056 during their life. 885 00:34:55,056 --> 00:34:57,809 I can't speak to what actually happened to Sam, 886 00:34:57,809 --> 00:34:59,894 but I can... 887 00:34:59,894 --> 00:35:02,230 guarantee nothing good. 888 00:35:02,230 --> 00:35:04,024 You know, I mean, I've been through a lot of 889 00:35:04,024 --> 00:35:05,817 family death, I've been through a lot of... 890 00:35:05,817 --> 00:35:09,154 ah, mental, mental torment. 891 00:35:09,154 --> 00:35:11,906 And, pressure, life pressures like divorce, 892 00:35:11,906 --> 00:35:16,328 and broken marriages and, you know. 893 00:35:16,328 --> 00:35:19,914 Unprocessed trauma and grief stays there. 894 00:35:19,914 --> 00:35:21,916 It, it simmers underneath the surface, 895 00:35:21,916 --> 00:35:24,586 and it starts to come out in other ways in your life- 896 00:35:24,586 --> 00:35:25,962 in the choices that you make, 897 00:35:25,962 --> 00:35:28,340 in your interpersonal relationships. 898 00:35:28,340 --> 00:35:30,842 It's an escapist behaviour. 899 00:35:30,842 --> 00:35:33,219 I can't deal with this, so I'm not gonna deal with it, 900 00:35:33,219 --> 00:35:35,263 and I'm gonna use drugs. 901 00:35:35,263 --> 00:35:37,098 I don't have a home. 902 00:35:37,098 --> 00:35:40,352 I don't have a car, I didn't eat yesterday. 903 00:35:40,352 --> 00:35:42,354 I had to borrow these clothes. 904 00:35:42,354 --> 00:35:44,689 She took it all! 905 00:35:44,689 --> 00:35:46,524 When we're betrayed in a marriage, 906 00:35:46,524 --> 00:35:48,651 or in any interpersonal relationship, 907 00:35:48,651 --> 00:35:52,655 we start to feel that no one is trustworthy. 908 00:35:52,655 --> 00:35:56,326 And so, we start living our life in a way that... 909 00:35:56,326 --> 00:35:58,203 no one can be trusted. 910 00:35:58,203 --> 00:35:59,829 The person who was supposed to love me 911 00:35:59,829 --> 00:36:01,748 the most in the world, the person that was 912 00:36:01,748 --> 00:36:06,836 supposed to have my back has now betrayed me. 913 00:36:06,836 --> 00:36:10,882 I believe all of the anger that came out of Sam onstage 914 00:36:10,882 --> 00:36:13,051 in regards to women, or anything, 915 00:36:13,051 --> 00:36:15,678 is because of him being so damaged. 916 00:36:15,678 --> 00:36:18,765 Anybody that was decent to him, he ran off. 917 00:36:18,765 --> 00:36:21,601 He wasn't honest with anyone in his life, 918 00:36:21,601 --> 00:36:23,895 and that's profound. 919 00:36:23,895 --> 00:36:25,688 That lack of trust can turn to anger, 920 00:36:25,688 --> 00:36:27,357 it can turn to substance abuse, 921 00:36:27,357 --> 00:36:30,068 it can turn to misogyny, it can turn to 922 00:36:30,068 --> 00:36:33,488 your own way of functioning in the world. 923 00:36:33,488 --> 00:36:35,615 It's amazing when I hear people say, "Oh, 924 00:36:35,615 --> 00:36:37,951 I was so close to Sam," and how well they knew him- 925 00:36:37,951 --> 00:36:40,370 nobody knew who Sam Kinison was. 926 00:36:40,370 --> 00:36:43,873 Nobody, because how can you know who anybody is 927 00:36:43,873 --> 00:36:46,709 if there's no honesty? 928 00:36:46,709 --> 00:36:51,005 By mid 1991, Sam has a reputation in steep decline. 929 00:36:51,005 --> 00:36:52,590 The press has turned on him, 930 00:36:52,590 --> 00:36:55,301 his comedy is a shadow of what it once was, 931 00:36:55,301 --> 00:36:57,971 and his addictions have overwhelmed him. 932 00:36:57,971 --> 00:37:01,516 Sam Kinison, he had that five-year run from 933 00:37:01,516 --> 00:37:04,978 Letterman to the Rodney Dangerfield to the HBO, 934 00:37:04,978 --> 00:37:07,564 and it was this capsule. 935 00:37:07,564 --> 00:37:10,525 And then it got, you know, obviously sad because 936 00:37:10,525 --> 00:37:13,361 he became a caricature of himself. 937 00:37:13,361 --> 00:37:16,030 There's a certain point, he was doing shows, 938 00:37:16,030 --> 00:37:18,116 not preparing for them, not caring, 939 00:37:18,116 --> 00:37:22,370 and more importantly, going out totally messed up. 940 00:37:22,370 --> 00:37:24,122 The shows were tragic. 941 00:37:24,122 --> 00:37:25,874 Sam was booed offstage. 942 00:37:25,874 --> 00:37:28,376 He was an absolute nightmare. 943 00:37:28,376 --> 00:37:30,295 You know, it wasn't fun, it wasn't silly, 944 00:37:30,295 --> 00:37:31,629 it wasn't whacky. 945 00:37:31,629 --> 00:37:33,006 You know, it was disgusting. 946 00:37:33,006 --> 00:37:36,009 It was like seeing your hero just fall beneath the cracks 947 00:37:36,009 --> 00:37:38,094 before your very eyes. 948 00:37:38,094 --> 00:37:40,263 And... 949 00:37:40,263 --> 00:37:42,807 You know... 950 00:37:42,807 --> 00:37:44,559 Yeah. 951 00:37:44,559 --> 00:37:47,103 ♪ 952 00:37:47,103 --> 00:37:49,439 We got back to California. 953 00:37:49,439 --> 00:37:51,357 I told him, I said, "Come out to my house." 954 00:37:51,357 --> 00:37:54,277 So, he came out, and I had the tape from his show. 955 00:37:54,277 --> 00:37:55,361 "I want you to watch this." 956 00:37:55,361 --> 00:37:57,405 I put the tape in the player in the bedroom, 957 00:37:57,405 --> 00:37:59,240 and I leave him there. 958 00:37:59,240 --> 00:38:01,868 When it's all over, I come back in, 959 00:38:01,868 --> 00:38:03,745 and I go, "What do you think?" 960 00:38:03,745 --> 00:38:06,998 And he goes, "I was ----ed up, man." 961 00:38:06,998 --> 00:38:07,999 I said, "Well, let me tell you what that 962 00:38:07,999 --> 00:38:09,459 ----ed up cost you. 963 00:38:09,459 --> 00:38:10,960 It just cost you a half a million dollars, 964 00:38:10,960 --> 00:38:13,880 probably closer to a million dollars because of 965 00:38:13,880 --> 00:38:15,798 the bonus money you would've picked up. 966 00:38:15,798 --> 00:38:17,634 Your contract's not being renewed. 967 00:38:17,634 --> 00:38:20,678 So, you can mark that off of your income." 968 00:38:20,678 --> 00:38:23,973 And I told him, I said, "I'm done, I quit. 969 00:38:23,973 --> 00:38:25,725 I'm off your party train." 970 00:38:25,725 --> 00:38:28,436 ♪ 971 00:38:28,436 --> 00:38:31,231 And so, for the first time I ever can remember, 972 00:38:31,231 --> 00:38:35,151 he said, "I got a problem." I said, "Yeah, you do." 973 00:38:35,151 --> 00:38:36,444 From then on, he, he... 974 00:38:36,444 --> 00:38:37,904 he cleaned up. 975 00:38:37,904 --> 00:38:39,239 I had enough of that stuff, man. 976 00:38:39,239 --> 00:38:41,032 If you're involved with it, get dis-involved with it 977 00:38:41,032 --> 00:38:43,284 because you're either gonna get busted, 978 00:38:43,284 --> 00:38:44,953 or you're gonna die, so you know... 979 00:38:44,953 --> 00:38:47,830 Get, get rid of it. 980 00:38:47,830 --> 00:38:49,165 With renewed focus, 981 00:38:49,165 --> 00:38:51,668 driven by a newfound attempt at abstinence, 982 00:38:51,668 --> 00:38:55,463 Sam sets out to rehabilitate his career. 983 00:38:55,463 --> 00:38:57,674 I got him on a Bernie Brillstein series 984 00:38:57,674 --> 00:38:59,509 called Charlie Hoover'. 985 00:38:59,509 --> 00:39:01,052 I know Amish people having more fun than you! 986 00:39:01,052 --> 00:39:02,428 Oh, oh! 987 00:39:02,428 --> 00:39:04,180 ...in Charlie Hoover! 988 00:39:04,180 --> 00:39:06,516 It's a palatable version of me. 989 00:39:06,516 --> 00:39:08,560 I've crossed over, actually like family entertainment, 990 00:39:08,560 --> 00:39:09,686 so it's kind of fun. 991 00:39:09,686 --> 00:39:11,980 Charlie Hoover lasts a mere 7 episodes, 992 00:39:11,980 --> 00:39:13,439 but it helps pave the way for 993 00:39:13,439 --> 00:39:15,775 changing the perception of Sam. 994 00:39:15,775 --> 00:39:18,361 The reviews were, Sam was too good for the show. 995 00:39:18,361 --> 00:39:19,904 Honey! 996 00:39:19,904 --> 00:39:21,823 But it is an appearance on 997 00:39:19,904 --> 00:39:21,823 In Living Colour' that 998 00:39:21,823 --> 00:39:25,034 shows how far Sam is willing to lampoon himself in the 999 00:39:25,034 --> 00:39:26,786 service of his comedy, 1000 00:39:26,786 --> 00:39:28,955 and the love of his audience. 1001 00:39:28,955 --> 00:39:30,415 Happy anniversary, pumpkin face! 1002 00:39:30,415 --> 00:39:32,083 I don't believe it, you remembered! 1003 00:39:32,083 --> 00:39:33,960 Even after 3 months of rehab! 1004 00:39:33,960 --> 00:39:35,336 Rehab? Hey! 1005 00:39:35,336 --> 00:39:37,380 How about a drink! A-ha-ha! 1006 00:39:37,380 --> 00:39:39,591 I think that was the most thrilling premise of 1007 00:39:39,591 --> 00:39:42,010 having two Sams- a Sam and a Samantha- 1008 00:39:42,010 --> 00:39:44,429 these identical screaming people. 1009 00:39:44,429 --> 00:39:48,182 Ah! Happy anniversary. 1010 00:39:48,182 --> 00:39:51,811 I was very aware that he publicly had issues with 1011 00:39:51,811 --> 00:39:54,022 drugs and alcohol, had been to rehab. 1012 00:39:54,022 --> 00:39:55,565 [Laughing] 1013 00:39:55,565 --> 00:39:59,569 Here's to five years of living! Agh! 1014 00:39:59,569 --> 00:40:01,946 It was incredibly brave of him to, 1015 00:40:01,946 --> 00:40:04,490 not only show up 100%, 1016 00:40:04,490 --> 00:40:06,743 but also to be very vocal about 1017 00:40:06,743 --> 00:40:10,330 what his struggles were, and not to be like, 1018 00:40:10,330 --> 00:40:12,081 "poor me," in any way. 1019 00:40:12,081 --> 00:40:15,710 I definitely felt like he was in a very happy place... 1020 00:40:15,710 --> 00:40:18,338 and excited about what he was doing. 1021 00:40:18,338 --> 00:40:21,716 But for Sam, fate will step in and rob him of 1022 00:40:21,716 --> 00:40:24,135 a chance to fully turn his life around. 1023 00:40:32,644 --> 00:40:34,687 Comedian Sam Kinison is dead, 1024 00:40:34,687 --> 00:40:36,856 killed in a car crash late last night. 1025 00:40:36,856 --> 00:40:39,359 But who will ever forget the man who made his audiences 1026 00:40:39,359 --> 00:40:41,444 laugh by screaming at them? 1027 00:40:41,444 --> 00:40:43,905 The sudden death of Sam Kinison sends shockwaves 1028 00:40:43,905 --> 00:40:45,948 through the comedy community as it tries to 1029 00:40:45,948 --> 00:40:48,868 process the magnitude of the tragedy. 1030 00:40:48,868 --> 00:40:51,913 Saget called me, and he said, "Did you hear, Sam's gone?" 1031 00:40:51,913 --> 00:40:54,666 First thought is, was he drunk, was he doing coke? 1032 00:40:54,666 --> 00:40:56,542 Bob said he got in a car accident. 1033 00:40:56,542 --> 00:40:58,169 It took the wind out of me. 1034 00:40:58,169 --> 00:41:01,839 I sat down on my bed, and I just started to cry. 1035 00:41:01,839 --> 00:41:03,508 He always thought that he was gonna die, 1036 00:41:03,508 --> 00:41:05,885 because I think he knew down deep inside, 1037 00:41:05,885 --> 00:41:08,554 you can't light the fuse that hard... 1038 00:41:08,554 --> 00:41:12,308 and survive, yeah. 1039 00:41:12,308 --> 00:41:14,811 It's all fun and games, man. 1040 00:41:14,811 --> 00:41:17,980 It affected me. It affected me pretty bad. 1041 00:41:17,980 --> 00:41:20,108 He was, you know, not only my friend, 1042 00:41:20,108 --> 00:41:21,859 he was my mentor. 1043 00:41:21,859 --> 00:41:23,903 A part of me died that day. 1044 00:41:23,903 --> 00:41:27,323 It's something that you never get over, 1045 00:41:27,323 --> 00:41:31,035 but you make adjustments for it. 1046 00:41:31,035 --> 00:41:34,789 I've had preachers and other kind of people laugh at that, 1047 00:41:34,789 --> 00:41:36,791 you know, Sam's in hell. 1048 00:41:36,791 --> 00:41:39,544 No, he's not in hell. 1049 00:41:39,544 --> 00:41:41,254 I know exactly where he's at, 1050 00:41:41,254 --> 00:41:44,549 and that's the only peace that I get out of it. 1051 00:41:44,549 --> 00:41:46,551 Over 30 years later, Sam Kinison 1052 00:41:46,551 --> 00:41:49,721 has left a complex legacy in comedy. 1053 00:41:49,721 --> 00:41:52,390 He was quite wonderful, and that he did- you know, 1054 00:41:52,390 --> 00:41:54,100 he's one of those people like out there, you know, 1055 00:41:54,100 --> 00:41:56,185 he offended people sometimes and other people loved it, 1056 00:41:56,185 --> 00:41:58,062 but there's people that have to be out there to 1057 00:41:58,062 --> 00:41:59,981 kind of mess with the envelope. 1058 00:41:59,981 --> 00:42:02,734 I read the darkest, sickest thing 1059 00:42:02,734 --> 00:42:04,694 I've ever read in my life this summer. 1060 00:42:04,694 --> 00:42:06,821 I read in the paper, they said... 1061 00:42:06,821 --> 00:42:09,824 that a group of homosexual necrophiliacs- 1062 00:42:09,824 --> 00:42:11,868 -Woo! -[Laughing] 1063 00:42:11,868 --> 00:42:14,454 ...have been going around to mortuaries, 1064 00:42:14,454 --> 00:42:17,039 offering them money... 1065 00:42:17,039 --> 00:42:19,417 to let them come in at night, spend a couple hours 1066 00:42:19,417 --> 00:42:22,962 undisturbed with the freshest male corpse. 1067 00:42:22,962 --> 00:42:25,590 Boo! [Laughing & shrieking] 1068 00:42:25,590 --> 00:42:28,634 It was really just, you know, it's a simple joke. 1069 00:42:28,634 --> 00:42:29,927 Ha, I felt the same way. 1070 00:42:29,927 --> 00:42:32,597 I read this thing, and I went, "Oh! Oh!" 1071 00:42:32,597 --> 00:42:35,057 The joke is like, imagine if you're that dead guy. 1072 00:42:35,057 --> 00:42:36,726 I mean, that's the joke. 1073 00:42:36,726 --> 00:42:39,270 It's simple, but it was just, you know... 1074 00:42:39,270 --> 00:42:41,564 just when he lies down. 1075 00:42:41,564 --> 00:42:43,524 And these corpses, 'cause I know these guys 1076 00:42:43,524 --> 00:42:45,985 were laying out on slabs... 1077 00:42:45,985 --> 00:42:47,028 They're in there, going- 1078 00:42:47,028 --> 00:42:50,948 "Well, well, life was tough and, ah... 1079 00:42:50,948 --> 00:42:53,201 It was pretty hard to live up to, and... 1080 00:42:53,201 --> 00:42:55,286 I have faced death, and I'm glad I went through it, 1081 00:42:55,286 --> 00:42:56,704 and ah... 1082 00:42:56,704 --> 00:42:59,123 well, now I'm ready to spend eternity in heaven, 1083 00:42:59,123 --> 00:43:00,833 be with Jesus and... 1084 00:43:00,833 --> 00:43:03,961 rock of ages. Hey..." 1085 00:43:03,961 --> 00:43:05,379 [Laughing] 1086 00:43:05,379 --> 00:43:07,965 "Hey, what's this shit?!" 1087 00:43:07,965 --> 00:43:10,885 -"Oh, I don't believe this!" -[Laughing] 1088 00:43:10,885 --> 00:43:13,721 "There's a guy's dick in my ass!" 1089 00:43:13,721 --> 00:43:15,640 [Laughing & cheering] 1090 00:43:15,640 --> 00:43:17,266 "Oh, you mean life keeps ----ing you in the ass 1091 00:43:17,266 --> 00:43:19,393 even after you're dead? 1092 00:43:19,393 --> 00:43:21,479 Ah, it never ends, it never ends, oh! 1093 00:43:21,479 --> 00:43:23,689 Oh! Oh!" 1094 00:43:23,689 --> 00:43:25,858 [Cheering & applauding] 1095 00:43:25,858 --> 00:43:27,902 And just to see him laying down and start rocking 1096 00:43:27,902 --> 00:43:30,029 like that, I get chills about it now. 1097 00:43:30,029 --> 00:43:32,240 The zone he created, it was outer space. 1098 00:43:32,240 --> 00:43:33,991 No one had ever gone there before. 1099 00:43:33,991 --> 00:43:35,284 No one ever seen anything like it. 1100 00:43:35,284 --> 00:43:36,911 I've never seen anything like it. 1101 00:43:36,911 --> 00:43:39,330 I think the biggest misconception about 1102 00:43:39,330 --> 00:43:42,750 Sam Kinison is that he enjoyed insulting people. 1103 00:43:42,750 --> 00:43:46,045 That was not where his kicks came from. 1104 00:43:46,045 --> 00:43:48,214 I think he enjoyed making people laugh. 1105 00:43:48,214 --> 00:43:51,050 And, that was Sam's number one goal, 1106 00:43:51,050 --> 00:43:55,054 was to just make a room pee their pants. 1107 00:43:55,054 --> 00:43:57,598 I've been in love about 9 times now. 1108 00:43:57,598 --> 00:44:00,560 [Laughing] 1109 00:44:00,560 --> 00:44:03,062 And it's been real every time, folks. 1110 00:44:03,062 --> 00:44:05,898 Every time it was gonna last forever! 1111 00:44:05,898 --> 00:44:08,150 Remember, you ----ing bitches, huh?! 1112 00:44:08,150 --> 00:44:10,903 -[Laughing] -Forever!