Comic Kyle Kinane likes college towns. “They’re more self-sufficient,” he tells Eugene Weekly in a phone call from Portland, where he lives: Fewer big box stores, he adds, more food co-ops and coffee shops.
Kinane comes to Eugene for a three-night stand, May 29 through 31, at Olsen Run Comedy & Lounge.
In his latest special, Dirt Nap, released last year on YouTube, Kinane lampoons “crunchy” Eau Claire, Wisconsin, a college town like Eugene, home to the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, where he recently performed.
While in Eau Claire, he overheard a conversation about God’s pronouns, he says, “optimistically, they/them,” he adds, because God is everywhere. But realistically, he adds of religion, “no/none ’cause that shit’s not real.”
Don’t worry, Kinane’s no anti-woke crusader, as some standups are these days.
Before the God’s pronouns bit, he describes watching Old Faithful blow at Yellowstone National Park, surrounded by “Let’s go Brandon” and “Don’t tread on me” hats and T-shirts. He says they were people who “hate big government and hate socialism even more,” and all of them, he adds, “unironically enjoying a national park.”
On progressive comedy in the time of Donald Trump, Kinane tells Eugene Weekly, “I’m lucky enough to be a white, cisgendered male, natural born citizen, who still could be threatened, depending on what I want to comment about.”
But, he adds, he’s in the segment of the population with no immediate threat to their freedom.
Kinane adds, “My viewpoints come through in various parts of the set,” but he’s never overtly political. Such is another Dirt Nap highlight, a silly takedown of the equally silly Fast & Furious action movie franchise.
“Do I have to say, fuck that guy?” Kinane continues, meaning Trump, “and we need an army of Luigi’s out there handling things?”
Instead, he says, “If you want to come to a comedy show, I want you to get your money’s worth. Regardless of what you believe in, it should be funny.” But, Kinane adds, “You’re going to know where I stand on some stuff.”
Politics aside, bearded and jovial, typically dressed in denim or sweatshirts, the Pacific Northwest pace of life suits his style. “I’m a left-leaning punk turned hippie,” Kinane says.
Originally from Illinois, Kinane, a podcast host and occasional actor, left Los Angeles for Portland during the pandemic. Life in Portland, he says, “reminded me that there are other things to do in life outside of just pursuing entertainment success.”
Kinane’s familiar with Eugene. He’s performed here before, and YouTube clips exist of him performing elsewhere in a Luckey’s Cigar Club T-shirt, the venerable downtown bar, which he picked up from comedian friends here in town.
This time in Eugene, he’s prepping new material, likely for the next special, but creative inflection points like that come to him on their own time, he says.
“I’ve got a new hour and a half of material since Dirt Nap was released,” he says, “that will just keep being added to until I put it to record. I’ll keep trying that every weekend until I can find the rhythm for it.”
Still, “It’s always a forward momentum,” Kinane says of his process. “It’s always new stuff: That’s what I like about comedy. It’s like a jigsaw puzzle with no edges. There are always new pieces to snap to it.”
And since Kinane’s in Eugene for a few days, does he have plans? “I’ll bring a mountain bike with me and maybe roll out to Oakridge,” he says.
Kyle Kinane performs 7 pm and 9:30 pm Thursday, Friday and Saturday, May 29 through 31, at Olsen Run Comedy Club, 44 East 7th Avenue. Tickets from $35. The show is 21-plus.