Kyle Barnet is from Halifax and has been performing around the East Coast since 2014. In 2018, he won the CBC Open Mic Standup contest at the HubCap Comedy Festival. His comedy style blends standup with sketch, and includes creatively hilarious false stories about his life. We spoke with Kyle to learn more about his comedy influences, as well as his pre-show ritual and favourite bit, both of which (spoiler alert) feature karate.
How would you describe your comedy style?
Short, non-sequitur jokes that go nowhere mixed with long, meandering sketch-comedy style act outs that also go nowhere. Chaotic and stupid with little-to-no truth behind much of any of it.
Who are some of your influences?
Mitch Hedberg, my girlfriend and fellow comedian Luba Magnus, my creative friends Jim Temple and Brandon Michael, and The Simpsons writer John Swartzwelder. If you’ve seen an all-time classic episode of The Simpsons, it was probably written by him; he’s a genius.
Who was your favourite comedian growing up?
A tie between Jeremy Hotz or Steven Wright.
Who is your favourite comedian now?
A tie between Stavros Halkias or the kid who invented 6-7.
What is your pre-show ritual?
Meditation, eating a chocolate bar and pretending to do karate
What is your favourite place you have performed? Why?
Xeroz Arcade Bar in Moncton, New Brunswick!!! Joel Fowler, the owner, has let me produce my own shows there pretty much annually, and the supportive, punk rock vibe of the room and audience has let me build out my act there many times.
What is your favourite bit you have written and why were you proud of it?
A really long, acted-out piece where I am recollecting my high school graduation/valedictorian speech for the audience. It’s completely made up, but I frame it as if I was banned from attending, yell about having to fight my ex’s new boyfriend, and sensually dance to a fake rap song I wrote and recorded about karate. It took years and years to figure out where I wanted to go with it, but I love it like my own child, I suppose.
What is your favourite medium for listening or finding new comics/comedians?
Watching open mics and deep diving on Instagram for lesser-known weirdos.
Tell us a joke about your city.
“I’m a broken man on a Halifax Pier” ?? Yeah…get in line buddy!
Do you have anything to promote right now?
I’m at Sunday Scaries at the Oxford Taproom on August 9th, Bearly’s Comedy Hour on August 26th and Neon Sign Comedy at Trident Bookstore on August 27th. Also, the new Spider-Man movie is really good, so I’m promoting that as well. Go see “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” in theatres now!
Where can we follow you?
PAY IT FORWARD: Who is another local comic/comedian we should know about?
