At his core, Sean Kent is a multi-faceted and unapologetically unique personality, a strange hybrid that’s equally adept waxing intellectual about the pratfalls of our economic system and cheekily ribbing Southern Nascar enthusiasts. He is one of the last members of a dying breed: the stand-up comedian who would rather tour forty weeks a year than scrounge out bit rolls on film. Oh, and did I mention he’s a hell of a nice guy.
It was five twenty-five, and I was sitting inside the bar of Indianapolis landmark St. Elmo’s Steakhouse, waiting for former ‘Last Comic Standing’ contestant Sean Kent to arrive for dinner. The business hour was steadily approaching and men in three-piece suits were filing into the exclusive eatery with the type of somber, grimacing demeanor known only to those who have lived amidst decades of sixty hour work weeks and multiple broken, prenuptial agreements. My eyes darted back and forth between these chubby men slapping each other on the back and the slender woman coyly checking themselves out in the mirror. This wasn’t exactly my crowd.
Thankfully, within a few moments, Sean Kent arrived to save me from the white collar vortex I was being slowly consumed by. He seemed relaxed and genuinely happy, shaking my hand and following me to a quiet, corner table in the back. We made some casual chit-chat for a few minutes, mostly about our ravenous appetites and his early morning appearance on Bob and Tom. Unfortunately, as a few minutes turned into ten, I realized that I hadn’t even asked him any legitimate questions yet; so, as the shrimp cocktail arrived, I put on my serious face and began quizzing him about everything from his start in stand-up comedy (at an open mic night as a twenty-two year old) to his experiences on ‘Last Comic Standing’ (“it got people to take my calls”)
Calling Sean Kent remarkably candid and genuine would probably be an extreme understatement. Our conversation wove from more famous buddies (Mitch Hedburg, Anthony Clark) to pot smoking (he approves) to his feelings on comedians stealing material (“There’s a big difference between talking about a similar, broad topic and stealing a Bill Hicks routine word for word”), but every topic seemed to saunter back to politics or religion. Don’t misunderstand me: this wasn’t Bono strolling in on his high horse and peddling iPods for the good of humanity. We just both seemed far more intrigued by the other’s thoughts on the inherent flaws of nation building, and what our country’s role should be in the twenty-first century.
Comedians always seem to deal with a lingering cloud of pressure to be on or funny twenty-four hours a day. It’s an inherent flaw that comes with being payed to make people laugh, and I was pleasantly surprised to see relaxed Sean was. My comedy preferences have always shaded towards dry, well-timed quips and word plays, and that is exactly how he was off-stage. Being loud and bellowing for no apparent reason is only funny at frat parties and the funerals of people that you never really liked.
After an hour and a half of eating cow-sized steaks and debating issues we had with Christianity, I turned off the tape recorder, and we headed for Crackers comedy club where he was scheduled to perform later that evening. The theater was a little smaller than I expected (maybe 250 or so), but that helped to make interaction with the audience a little bit easier. I politely took my seat beside the stage and eagerly awaited the emcee’s entrance. The opener turned out to be a smiley middle-aged man named Dennis Venable who was far funnier than expected. His humor was local and at times, uproarious. If you’re ever in Indianapolis, go see this man immediately. He almost gave me a laughter induced stroke with an ad-libbed bit about Nascar driver Jimmie Johnson.
After about fifteen minutes, the opener exited and introduced comedian Scott Dunn. His everyday observations were amusing and his slow confident delivery was a thing of beauty. He also gave me the most uncontrollable guffaw of the evening after quipping, “I call (my kid) Jackson because every time I try to get to my wife he stonewalls me.”
A few minutes after Dunn’s set ended, Venable came back on stage and introduced the man of the hour, Sean Kent. I was immediately struck by how different he was on stage. It almost felt like every little quirk had been magnified a hundred times. He was confident and comfortable, playfully bantering with the audience and making one lady laugh so hard that I thought she was going to pee her pants. Kent even ran off stage at one point and tickled the same woman while she was uncontrollably shaking after one of his jokes.
While Kent’s mannerisms and trademark smirk remained, very little else reminded me of his ‘Last Comic Standing’ performances. It almost felt like he had been trapped in a censorship cage during his tenure on ‘LCS’ and was now a much happier man being able to swear and offend audiences at his will. His transitions were well-timed and flowed seamlessly into new observations. It’s not very often that you get to hear a comedian discuss politics and pussy mullets within fifteen minutes of each other, but Kent somehow managed the unthinkable feat without ever appearing jumpy or out of place.
Sean Kent will be criss-crossing the country for the new few months bringing his unique brand of intellectual humor and obscene observations to a city near you. I highly recommend that you check him out. I give you my word that you won’t be disappointed.
To read a full transcript of the interview click here!
