Some might be surprised that Sam Kinison's dad was a preacher, given Kinison's obscene style, abrasive persona, and performances laced with profanity and off-color subject matter. Born in Yakima, Washington, young Kinison spent most of his childhood in Peoria, Illinois. Because of Kinison's later irreverence around which he built his act, few people realize that Kinison, too, spent time as a Pentecostal preacher before taking the stage as a comedian. Kinison would draw on his preaching experience throughout his career, both in his subject matter and in the style through which his material was delivered, as the U.K. edition of GQ explains.

After finding little success as a preacher, Kinison turned to stand-up comedy. Unbelievably, Sam Kinison lacked much stage presence as a preacher, according to his older brother, Bill Kinison (via GQ). "He never had one year that he made more than $5,000 being a minister," Bill Kinison said. The transition from the church to stand up comedy seemed only natural. "I'd already been banned from a couple churches for my jokes. So one day I woke up and decided it was time to start living for myself," Sam Kinison later described (per GQ).

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qL7Up56eZpOkunCElmluanBfrLWiwIysmKZlm567qr%2FOp6pmnpmjrq150q2Yp5xdqr1ur86mnJ2xXaWys7LOq6SappOaerit0majoqOVZA%3D%3D