Ahead of bringing his debut show, The Loose Cannon, to the Edinburgh Fringe, LA-based comic and star of HBO and Sky Atlantic’s ‘Insecure’, Langston Kerman, tells Female First about his favourite comedian.
Langston Kerman
When considering my favourite comedian it’s easy to get lost in the majesty of the giants. In a single year, Dave Chappelle put out four hours of comedy that are funnier and more evolved than most comics are able to write in a lifetime. Mike Birbiglia has mastered the quiet of a good joke: the beautiful moment where the audience is left silent and unbreaking until suddenly the catharsis of a story explodes into laughter. Steve Harvey tells jokes while he’s dressed like he’s being swallowed by an origami alligator. There are so many greats to choose from, it seems impossible to narrow it all down. Still, as I prepare for my first trip to Edinburgh for the Fringe Festival to premiere my hour “The Loose Cannon”, I’ve found myself returning over and over again to the work of a comic who is sometimes overlooked in the fancy celebratory lists and gifting of invisible internet trophies. A person who I believe has perfected so many of the essential tools a great comedian must come to use. And that person is Kathleen Madigan.
Admittedly, Kathleen is not someone whose comedy I’ve known for a long time. Like so many great surprises, I stumbled across her work while cleaning my sneakers as a comedy playlist shuffled in the background. Still, she has quickly become one of my favourite comics to listen to and learn from. Kathleen manages a skill that is rarely celebrated enough in stand-up comedy: she finds herself in every joke. To be clear, I don’t mean “she finds herself” in some philosophical way where each bit is a journey of self-discovery and star gazing. I mean that Kathleen makes herself present in each bit. Jokes that could easily become vague or generic are always peppered with a perfect dose of Kathleen’s personal experience; and thus, she makes it so that she’s the only one who can properly live in the nuance of that observation. By connecting her personal stories to each bit, Kathleen creates an intimacy with subjects that otherwise feel meaningless. On her most recent album, ‘Bothering Jesus’, Kathleen takes a bit of material about noodling -- a white trash method of catching catfish by using just your arm -- to express her deep frustration with the community that raised her. Noodling in and of itself is a funny concept, but when Kathleen connects it to her upbringing it becomes something much greater.
Even more magically, the person that Kathleen is asking her audience to get to know is not always a person concerned with being liked. Kathleen doesn’t spend a great deal of time crafting a character rooted in decency. She is forward, she is harsh and she speaks in a voice that sounds like an aunt who mixed one too many drinks with her blood pressure medication. I’m not even sure that if Kathleen and I ever met there’d be much we agree on. Despite this, she proves that there is something silly to enjoy even in the things we oppose, and she reminds me that comedy is much more about unique honesty and laughter than it is about proving your own bravery on a microphone.
Kathleen Madigan makes comedy the way it was meant to be made: a little messy, a little too personal, and way too funny. And as I venture off to face my first Edinburgh experience, I hope that I can do a little bit of the same.
Langston Kerman performs ‘The Loose Cannon’ at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe from 1st – 25th August (not 12th). Tickets and more information: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/langston-kerman-the-loose-canon