Sean Kent
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| Sean Kent | |
 The cover to Sean Kent's first CD
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| Born | May 31, 1974 Austin, Texas |
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Sean Kent (born 1974) is a stand-up comic and television writer originally from Austin, Texas, now residing in Los Angeles, California. Kent is best known for his appearances as a series regular on the NBC show Last Comic Standing (seasons 1 & 3). His comedy can be classified as dark, satirical, self-mocking and more often than not political. His debut CD "Sex, Drugs, and Politics" has been hailed as "An instant classic!" by XM Radio.
During the 2004 election season Kent occasionally co-hosted a political talk-show - "The Free Speech Show" on radio station KMPC (1540 AM) in Los Angeles. Despite being the only political show on an all-sports station "The Free Speech Show" received a higher share of listeners than any other programming on the network. Guests Sean interviewed included authors Arianna Huffington, Craig Unger, New York City mayoral candidate Mark Green, Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist David Cay Johnston, and BBC journalist Greg Palast.
Kent also has worked as a writer in Hollywood, authoring the CBS special "Super Bowl's Greatest Commercials", doing punch-up on the CBS show "Yes, Dear," and working on staff for the "Best Damn Sports Show Period" on Fox Sports Net.
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[edit] Early years
Kent attended Hyde Park Baptist Private School until he was 18. He credits the daily contact and fierce intellectual (and physical) clashes he had with Evangelical Christians for helping him to develop his distrusting view of organized religion.
After high school Kent attended the University of Texas at Austin for 2 years, dropping out in 1994 to move to Los Angeles and pursue stand-up and acting.
[edit] Big breaks and bigger obstacles
While Kent was in Hollywood writing for "Best Damn" in 2002 he was diagnosed with cancer (stage III Hodgkin's Disease). Kent did not leave his job but underwent chemotherapy one day a week and worked the other four, sometimes putting in 50 to 60 hours a week writing despite his weakened condition.
After undergoing three months of chemotherapy and a month of radiation therapy he was pronounced in remission. Shortly after finishing treatment, Kent auditioned and was subsequently chosen as a series regular for Last Comic Standing Season One. He wore a beat-up cowboy hat on stage to cover his head, which was covered with the fuzzy, uneven hair regrowth common to people just out of cancer treatment. NBC jumped on this and played him up as a "cowboy comic", which Kent loathed. In addition they edited his stand-up act to the point of non-recognition, cutting the punchline completely off one joke and running his bits out of order so that the segues made no sense. They also made it appear as if he still lived in Austin even though at that point he'd resided in Los Angeles for over eight years.
Almost immediately after Last Comic Standing Season One wrapped Kent received the news that his cancer had returned. He then underwent an intensive chemotherapeutic procedure known as an Autologous Tandem Bone Marrow Transplant which involved radically high doses of chemotherapy and long stays in the hospital. During one particularly arduous stay at City of Hope Medical Center Kent developed an infection in his chest port and lost 40 pounds. He also required abdominal surgery at another point. It took 28 staples to close his incision and Kent says it was the most pain he's ever experienced.
The entire process took 9 months to complete during which Kent was unable to work and the first season of Last Comic aired nationally. He calls this the low point in his life, saying, "You know you're at your nadir when you're lying in a hospital bed getting chemo and watching episodes of a reality show you've already been kicked off of."
A week after finishing treatment and getting out of the hospital in October 2003, Kent (then reduced to a self-described "hairless stick-figure") went on a month long road trip around the U.S. with his (now ex)wife, saying, "I had seen too much ugliness in the recent past. Too many hospitals. I needed to stand on a cliff and soak up something beautiful, something bigger than the death I had been surrounded with for 9 months." Spiritually and physically rejuvenated after his travels, Kent returned to stand-up with a new energy and passion.
[edit] Today
In August 2004 Kent was asked by NBC to appear on Season 3 of Last Comic Standing, which he agreed to only after receiving assurances that his performances would not be edited in any way.
In September 2004 Kent competed on season 3, making it through 6 of 8 total episodes before being voted off. His unedited performances were praised by critics who labeled his routines "daring and funny".
It was especially meaningful to Kent that season 3 filmed and aired in September 2004 because exactly a year earlier he had been lying in a hospital bed at his weakest point. Says Kent about the experience, "I was bald, skinny, and supposedly in the last months of my life. A visiting friend of mine, Christine Pechera, told me I'd be healthy again one day, that I'd be on TV again doing what I loved to do and that all this would be nothing but a painful memory. Right then I was in the midst of a blacker desperation than I knew existed, so I basically told her to shut up and get out of my room because I didn't believe what she was telling me. I mean I thought I was dying, I didn't want to talk about my comedy career! Well it turns out Christine was more right about my future that I could have possibly known. In fact, she was in the front row of the audience when I filmed one of my appearances on season 3. She just kept looking at me like, 'See? I told you so!' I couldn't have asked for a sweeter moment in a million years. If you put it in a script no one would believe it. But it happened. I was there and it happened."
In 2005 Kent was asked to give the keynote address at the 29th Annual City of Hope Bone Marrow Transplant Reunion, which was attended by over 5000 people. It was the first time he'd spoken in public about his experiences battling cancer. His speech was well received and he now regularly speaks at cancer fundraisers, most recently sharing a bill with comedian and actor Will Ferrell.
Most often now Kent can be seen as a national headliner at comedy clubs and colleges across the United States.
[edit] Recordings
In August of 2005 Kent recorded and released his first hour-long comedy CD, "Sex, Drugs, and Politics".
Kent had previously sold some recordings of his act to the record company Laughing Hyena Records for use on a compilation CD but had yet to release his own full-length album.
The CD deconstructs pop-culture, politics, drug laws, and attitudes about sex in America, including a now-famous riff on the Terri Schiavo affair. It differs from a normal comedy album in that it is an almost completely unedited recording of a live show, as opposed to most comedy CDs which are heavily chopped up in post-production in order to smooth out any rough portions. Kent wanted his debut disc to contain a rawer, more immediate feel and many feel he succeeded in capturing it. It also includes an outtake track of Kent battling a drunk woman in the audience plus a song that has become something of a cult classic - "Your Genitals are Evil", which was co-written with Tom Von Doom, formerly of the band Cycle Sluts From Hell.
[edit] External links
- www.seankent.com - Sean Kent's official homepage (includes audio, video, essays, etc.)
- CD REVIEW - A review of Sean's CD "Sex, Drugs, and Politics"
- www.seankent.com/audiopage.html - Sample tracks from "Sex, Drugs, and Politics" - Sean's first CD
- myspace.com/seankentcomedy - Sean Kent's official myspace.com page
- www.seankent.com/schedule - Sean Kent's Live Performance Schedule
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