The Standups

Kyle Kinane has a way of turning existential dread into something resembling a comforting, beer-soaked pep talk. He approaches modern anxieties with a gravelly, self-aware weariness, treating society’s collapse as a series of mildly annoying logistical hurdles.

The half-hour set was filmed at the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles for the second season of Netflix’s anthology series, The Standups. Released in 2018, it arrived at a point where Kinane had established himself as a highly respected, blue-collar alternative favorite, stepping away from his longtime gig as the signature promo voice of Comedy Central to focus entirely on touring.

Rather than offering grand political statements, he picks apart the logical gaps of the modern world. He presents a detailed theory on why Ku Klux Klan members must secretly love tacos, arguing that no white supremacist survives purely on Eastern European food. He also recounts a highway showdown with a housefly inside a moving car, marveling at the insect’s alarming confidence. He balances the social observations with dark, goofy tangents about recycling during the apocalypse and what a Kurt Cobain Christmas album might sound like.