It’s 'round 5pm in Los Angeles on 20 April and comedian Kevin Tate has been celebrating in style.
Kevin’s got a couple of things to celebrate. First, it’s 4:20 and Kevin partook in the festivities by “rolling a fatty and taking it easy”. Second, it’s also the day ‘Grow House’ is released, a film written by DJ Pooh (‘Friday’) and featuring Kevin alongside Snoop Dogg and a host of weed icons.
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Most importantly though, Kevin is making his first trip to Australia this month for his ‘I Could Have Stayed Single’ national tour, where audiences will get their first live taste of the fast-rising US comic. “I’m real excited about Australia,” Kevin says.
“I heard it was a nice-ass place, I heard the people are nice, I heard the people are nice. I heard there’s more kangaroos in Australia than there is people, what the hell? I’m looking forward to it but I really don’t know what to expect. It’s a good place and I’m real excited about it.”
Kevin’s observational comedy largely revolves around relationships and the problems thereof, particularly his own trust issues that have come to rear their ugly head in the past. “First of all, the ‘I Could Have Stayed Single’ tour is just that in itself: I could have stayed single, not necessarily should have, but I could have,” he explains.
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“That means if I’m in a relationship I don’t like a whole lot of extracurricular activities going on with my girl on the outside. I pretty much talk about the ill-wills [sic] of going through relationships with trust issues and that’s what it’s all about. It’s like, Kevin in real life on steroids on stage. It’s kind of blown-up a bit on stage but it’s the truth, baby.”
Hailing from Detroit, Michigan and raised on the infamous 12th Street, (12th St is now Rosa Parks Boulevard and was the site of violent riots in 1967, comparable in scale only to the 1863 New York draft riots and the 1992 Los Angeles riots), Kevin was inspired to pursue comedy by his brother.
“Honestly, my brother tried comedy when we were kids and when he came back to the neighbourhood there were some people who said he did good [sic] and some people who said he wasn’t that good.
“But all I remember is that everyone was talking about him, man, and it inspired me and stuck with me. I’ve always been the guy with some humour 'round the class, but after college I really wanted to get to it. So I was inspired at an early age.”
The thing about Kevin Tate is that what you see is most definitely what you get. He doesn’t pull any punches and when it comes to writing material, he draws naturally from the comedy of the everyday and the things that make him laugh. “Normal day-to-day stuff,” he says.
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“Normal situations and private moments made public. That sort of thing cracks me up. Things we’re not meant to see; natural reactions to everyday things that we all go through. That is where I’m inspired and that’s what makes me laugh.”
Kevin’s eagerness to get to Australia is palpable as he offers one final message to audiences across the country. “Just let them know that we’re about to get down, no holds barred,” he says.
“Australia, we’re in for a good time and I can’t wait to meet you all; I want to talk to you, I want to touch you, I want to be in the place to be.”
Kevin Tate Shows
Thu 25 May - Springwood Hotel (Brisbane)Fri 26 May - Hamilton Hotel (Brisbane)
Sat 27 May - Lonestar Tavern (Gold Coast)
Sat 3 Jun - Reggio Calabria Club (Melbourne)
Sun 4 Jun - The Comic’s Lounge (Melbourne)
Sat 10 Jun - The British Hotel (Adelaide)
Sun 11 Jun - The Signature Club Lounge (Adelaide)
