Kevin Nealon Is on the Loose in His First Comedy Special in More Than a Decade

Loose in the Crotch, now streaming for free on 800 Pound Gorilla Media’s YouTube channel, is Kevin Nealon’s first comedy special since 2012. Not that he’s been idle. He has amassed roughly 40 film and television credits (including two movies premiering at Austin’s SXSW film festival in March). He published a book of his celebrity caricatures, I Exaggerate: My Brushes with Fame (his artwork is available for purchase at kevinnealonart.com). He attended SNL50, where Bill Murray ranked him among the show’s top 10 “Weekend Update” anchors. He also hosted five seasons of the off-the-beaten-path celebrity talk show, Hiking with Kevin.

But the stand-up stage is Nealon’s natural habitat, and Loose in the Crotch finds him in peak silly and absurdist form. To quote comedian Pete Holmes, Nealon is “funny in a fun way,” and that is a welcome quality these days.

He spoke to The Saturday Evening Post about what he’s been up to, including his most prestigious credit yet as an executive producer of the profoundly moving Oscar-nominated documentary Come See Me in the Good Light, available on Apple TV.

Donald Liebenson: In comedy, timing is everything. It’s been more than 12 years since your last special. Why now for a new one?

Kevin Nealon: It was organic — I didn’t have any plans. I’ve been doing my stand-up over the years and I was dropping a lot of good material. It’s some of my best work. I thought I should document it and make it available. I’m excited people will discover it.

DL: Like the treasured pair of blue jeans that give your special its title, your comedy is very comfortable and makes you feel good. We could use that right about now.

KN: That is my persona. I like to have a good time. I don’t like to make anything too serious because it makes me feel uncomfortable, I guess. I’ve been told my comedy sneaks up on you.

DL: When you were preparing your special, did you watch other specials? Are you a good audience?

KN: No, I’m not the audience you want for comedy. I watched a lot of Netflix specials. I’ve been doing this for 46 years, and I’ve seen every style of comedy. I usually know where they’re going with a joke. I’m too analytical, but occasionally I’ll let myself just enjoy somebody.

DL: You have an original comic voice. Growing up, was there a comedian who inspired you or shaped your sensibility?

KN: Every comedian was probably influenced by somebody, whether it was another comic or family or friends. When I was a teenager, I would watch people like Stanley Myron Handelman and George Miller on The Tonight Show — they all influenced me. But when I started thinking about comedy more seriously, I loved the originality of people like Andy Kaufman, Steve Martin, and Albert Brooks. Garry Shandling, too. He was a mentor to me; he taught me a lot about the art of writing and the craftsmanship. When comics are starting out, they emulate people until they find their own voice or style.

DL: You’re a member of Adam Sandler’s stock company. What is it like to hang out on a Sandler set?

KN: It’s a great hang. When we did the first Happy Gilmore, there was a lot of playing basketball, golfing, eating a big meal, and playing the guitar. A lot of laughing.

DL: You attended the SNL50 celebration. Reflecting on your near-decade on the show, do you remember the first laugh you got in a sketch that made you think, “I’m going to be here nine years”?

KN: The first sketch I did was my character Mr. Subliminal. I was about to go on — there was maybe 10 seconds before they came back from a commercial break — and Lorne came over to me, put his hand on my shoulder, and said, “Are you sure this is what you want?” But it did go over well. The very next day people were stopping me on the street to say how much they liked the character.

DL: A successful sketch can become a viral sensation. But on the flip side of that, what is it like being in a sketch that bombs on SNL?

KN: I wrote a sketch for Christopher Walken where I was an obsessed fan and all I wanted to know about was him. I asked him a question, like “What do you do in your spare time?” and he said, “I like to go to the shooting range with my uncle,” and I interrupted him to say, “I don’t want to hear about your uncle, I want to know about you,” and we had a back-and-forth. About 20 minutes before the sketch aired, Lorne came up to us and said we need to cut that down by two minutes or we can save it for another show. When you save something for another show, it never gets on. I cut it and it just didn’t do it justice.

DL: In addition to your stand-up, acting, and hosting Hiking with Kevin, you can add executive producer to your credits. How did you get involved with Come See Me in the Good Light, which is nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary?

KN: I was in Marchmont Village in Los Angeles with my wife and son. [Comedian] Tig Notaro was walking down the street. I asked what she was up to, and she said she was putting together a documentary about poet laureate Andrea Gibson, who was facing a diagnosis of terminal cancer. It’s about how she faces that with radical joy.

DL: At what point in the production did you get involved?

KN: We got on board that day. I said, “Sign us up.” It’s a thrill to be a part of it.

DL: I saw it on demand alone in my living room and it was a powerful experience. What is it like to see it with an audience?

KN: I can never see it enough times with an audience. It’s so life changing. It really is. When people hear about it, they think it will be a downer, but, really, it’s uplifting. Life is short, and it reminds you to be grateful for the amount of time you have here.

DL: How did it impact you?

KN: It was inspirational and motivating. Watching them get up on stage at the end to do spoken word, and seeing the reception they received from that adoring crowd — that’s where it got me. It is really impactful. Fortunately, she survived to see the film win at the Sundance Film Festival.