Comedy in the Fast Lane: Sam Kinison’s Rock Star Life

Starting Comedy in Cowboy Country

It was only after Kinison and his first wife divorced that he left preaching and took up comedy. He tried stand-up after having been banned from a few churches for his jokes. “One day, I woke up and decided it was time to start living for myself.”

Sam Kinison tells jokes on stage.

Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Inc/Getty Images

The good thing was that he had enough material to last a lifetime. He started his second career in Texas, honing his chops in the comedy circuit in cowboy country. In Houston, he would go to the Comedy Workshop, which was then a recently converted strip club.

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