Did Rockford Help Sam Kinison Become a Comic?

I'm a big of documentaries. I watch them a lot and about a ton of different subjects. The ones I tend to watch the most have to do with music, but I like to keep my options open. The other day I found one about comedian Sam Kinison on Hulu and decided to watch it. It's called Sam Kinison: The Scream Continues and they interview his brother Bill. Bill Kinison was also Sam's manager, so he knows the whole story.  In this documentary he sets the record straight on some stories surrounding the legendary comedian.

Before I started to watch, I knew some things already about the late Sam Kinison. For example his scream is pretty legendary, it's probably the thing he's most known for. His scene in Rodney Dangerfield's 'Back to School' is one of my favorites in the movie! His comedy was also pretty politically incorrect and harsh. But that was his appeal. People either loved him or hated him for it.

What I didn't know was that he grew up in East Peoria, IL and was originally a Pentecostal preacher. I also learned after a failed first marriage he came to visit his brother Bill and was doing some heavy soul searching. This is where the Rockford connection comes in. His brother Bill was living in Rockford at that time. I had to pause and rewind the documentary just to make sure I heard him right when he said Rockford, IL. It was during this visit with his brother in Rockford that he made the decision to go into comedy. So that got me thinking,if Sam Kinison never visited his brother Bill in Rockford would he have ever became the comedian his remembered for now?

Since Sam Kinison passed away in April of 1992, I guess will never know for sure. The documentary is pretty good too. So if you're a fan of his comedy, I suggest you check it out!