History Creator / SamKinison

[[caption-width-right:348:''"OH! Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"'']]

!"THESE TROPES ARE LOUDER THAN HELL!":

* BerserkButton: While his first marriage caused a few snarls to pass Sam's lips, anything to do with his ''second'' marriage sent him into full-on "I LIVE IN HELL" rage.

* DeathByIrony: "We don't WANT to drink and drive ... But there's no other way to get the fucking CAR back to the HOUSE!! How are we supposed to get fucking home??!!"

-->You were on ACID, MANSON! ...You'd have gotten the same message out of the [[Music/TheMonkees Monkees]] you fucking dickhead...

* IncomingHam: OH! OHHHHHHHH!

* LoveHurts: Which part of "I WAS MARRIED FOR TWO FUCKING YEARS!" do you think highlights this trope?

* SuddenlyShouting: Would actually start out very soft spoken, until he went into FULL ON SCREAMING! This would go on for his entire routine.

A PreachersKid who dabbled in the family business himself as a young man, Kinison brought the fire-and-brimstone speaking style to the American comedy stage, and combined it with RefugeInAudacity turned UpToEleven.

* ImmuneToDrugs: Treated that way. One bit involves a guy at a party portioning out cocaine everyone else was getting an inch or two, but when he gets to Kinison, he cuts a line ''[[ItsSnowingCocaine three feet]]'' or [[UptoEleven longer]].

* UpToEleven: Or twelve. Or twenty.

* NiceHat: As shown above. He wasn't shown without one.

* HeavyMetal: The video for "Wild Thing" included appearances by [[Music/{{Aerosmith}} Steven Tyler and Joe Perry]], [[Music/BonJovi Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora]], [[Music/{{Ratt}} Stephen Pearcy, Warren [=DeMartini=] and Robbin Crosby]], Music/{{Slash}} and [[Music/GunsNRoses Steven Adler]], [[Music/{{Poison}} C.C. [=DeVille=]]], [[Music/MotleyCrue Tommy Lee]] and Music/BillyIdol. Kinison could probably have had a good LoudnessWar with the best of them, and that's ''without'' guitars, drums and stacked amplifiers.

His most famous media appearance was his portrayal of a whacked-out history professor in Creator/RodneyDangerfield's ''Film/BackToSchool''. He also recorded a novelty version of The Troggs' pop song "Wild Thing". The music video was a huge hit on MTV (and featured Jessica Hahn, the church secretary in the Jim Bakker scandal, about whom Kinison said "if you're going to lose a kingdom for some pussy, this is the girl"). He also starred in ''Charlie Hoover'', a ''[[Series/HermansHead Herman's Head]]''-like sitcom, which ended after seven episodes because of Kinison's death.

* AwfulWeddedLife: Part of his routine, softly asking an audience member if he is considering marriage. If he says yes, Sam gives his advice as only he can (by yelling in his face).

* CountryMatters: He heartily encouraged the Alphabet for guys to use on the ladies. For starters, it helped with spelling...
** [[ComicallyMissingThePoint It also works keeping up with cursive as a skill set]]!

* AntiLoveSong: Several, most famously his version the song "Wild Thing", and the song he played on the piano after his "emotional tampon" bit.
* AwfulWeddedLife: Part of his routine, softly asking an audience member if he's considering marriage. If he says yes, Sam gives his advice as only he can (by yelling in his face).

* NotableMusicVideos: He appeared in Music/BonJovi's "Bad Medicine" and Music/MotleyCrue's "Kickstart My Heart."

* FamousLastWords: “I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die...but why...okay, okay, okay". According to those at the scene, Kinison appeared to be having a full on conversation with something from the other side during his dying moments.

* SuddenlyShouting: Often a regularly spoken sentence went into FULL ON SCREAMING!

* BerserkButton: While his first marriage causes a few snarls to pass Sam's lips, anything to do with his ''second'' marriage sends him into full-on "I LIVE IN HELL" rage.

* HeavyMetal: The video for "Wild Thing" included appearances by [[Music/{{Aerosmith}} Steven Tyler and Joe Perry]], [[Music/BonJovi Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora]], [[Music/{{Ratt}} Stephen Pearcy, Warren [=DeMartini=] and Robbin Crosby]], [[Music/GunsNRoses Slash and Steven Adler]], [[Music/{{Poison}} C.C. [=DeVille=]]], [[Music/MotleyCrue Tommy Lee]] and Music/BillyIdol. Kinison could probably have had a good LoudnessWar with the best of them, and that's ''without'' guitars, drums and stacked amplifiers.

* WonderfulLife: A ChristmasEpisode of ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'' built around this guest-stars Kinison as Al Bundy's guardian angel.
** WhatCouldHaveBeen: Kinison himself was suggested at one point to play Al Bundy. The series was pitched to Fox with him in mind, and he was offered the part. His manager turned it down, saying that Sam was going to become a big movie star.

** For the unenlightened: after years of DoNotDoThisCoolThing, he was killed by a drunk driver while completely sober.

** On the other hand, he dissed UsefulNotes/CharlesManson for [[EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory his interpretation]] of ''Music/TheWhiteAlbum'', saying he only heard those messages because he was on acid.

!!Tropes exemplified by Kinison:
* AHellOfATime: One of his bits was about how a man who has seen the horrors of marriage would not be frightened by Hell, to the point that Satan would offer a married man a job as an assistant.

* DisproportionateRetribution: One of his jokes involved an ex-girlfriend putting a loaded .38 in his airline carry-on bag in retaliation for him cheating on her. Him calling up audience member's ex-girlfriends to scream nasty words at them borders on this as well.

* IncomingHam: OH! OHHHHHHHH!

* LargeHam: Oh yeah...

* OldShame: "I Missed ''The JoanRivers Show''"

* RefugeInAudacity: he doesn't so much find refuge as he builds a goddamn cathedral there.