A few years after San Kinison died in their arms, his brother and his best friend join comedians to talk about his life and humor. In 1978, after a divorce, Kinison gives up revival-style preaching to pursue comedy full time. He performs in Houston for several years, then goes to L.A. where he's a maitre d' for the Comedy Store, rarely getting on stage. Then, Rodney Dangerfield gives Sam six minutes on an HBO special, and he's a star. Between the commentary and analysis by Pryor, Miller, Tenuta, Leno, and others are long clips from Kinison's interviews on Larry King Live and from his loud, raunchy, angry, sacred, and profane performances: rock and roll meets standup.

Sam may have been outrageous, crazy, and many other adverbs and adjectives, but you'll know the real story when it's over. Get this and find out the REAL story. END

17 of 19 found the following review helpful:


More than just a loud mouth, a lot more  Jul 20, 1999
I watched "Why Did We Laugh" with great interest. Director Larry Carroll has found something deeper and much more interesting about Sam Kinison lurking just behind the noise and laughter. I didn't think it was possible but Kinison actually seems to have been a very human, very compelling character. Bravo.

11 of 12 found the following review helpful:


Choppy  May 16, 2004 By J. Johnson
If you really want to get into Sam's routine(s),don't buy this dvd. As soon as you start enjoying his material, it stops to interview someone else that knew him.

4 of 4 found the following review helpful:


Laugh til you hurt  Jul 23, 2005 By Elinor Mavor "Freelance Illustrator"
I have a guilty pleasure .... the late comedian Sam Kinison .... the guy who turned from being a screaming preacher to being a screaming stand-up, and if he strikes you the right way, you can laugh til you hurt.

He was really very religious and a great communicator. He was disillusioned with people like Tammy Faye Baker and hubby and their ilk .... the so-called religious people who raised money for shopping malls etc, and so he quit the evangelical circuit to communicate in a very different way. He was also someone very disillusioned by very bad relationships and he expresses his extreme rage at his ex-wives and lovers in a way that others who have been through the same thing can identify with in a very cathartic way.

I remember hating his screaming back in the 80s when I first heard him and then changing my mind when I saw this very same documentary about him about a year ago on A&E. He was in extreme pain and he dumped it on his audience who roared with uncontrollable laughter. Funny how that works.

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