The late Kenny DeForest delivers an hour to remember him by, while Dina Hashem and Pete Holmes offer entertaining contrasts.
Kenny DeForest, ‘Don’t You Know Who I Am?’
Stream it on YouTube
When I was 9 or 10, I was picked last for a football game and, because of my thick glasses, immediately given a nickname: the Brain. This was no compliment. The quarterback on my team, after steering clear of me for most of the game, couldn’t continue to ignore that I was being left uncovered and grudgingly tossed a long spiral that fell firmly into my hands for a touchdown, changing my name. The Brain became the Brain Who Could Catch. This remains probably the greatest moment in my life.
The absurdity of glorying in such minor athletic triumphs has never been captured more lovingly and amusingly than in a special released this year by Kenny DeForest. This hour of jokes, which begins and ends with a game of one-on-one basketball, is titled “Don’t You Know Who I Am?” When DeForest died this month at 37, in a bike accident in Brooklyn, most didn’t.
It’s a peculiar kind of cruelty when a young comic dies, which only partly explains the outpouring of love on social media. DeForest, who took over as host of the Sunday show at the Knitting Factory years ago, was beloved by comics for his generosity, infectious spirit, easy smile and love of the craft of stand-up. The stories that have emerged about him offering support or simply brightening up a room are as inspiring as they are legion. One of the many awful elements of this tragedy is that he was exactly the kind of joyful, skilled comic who could help ease the pain of it.
“Don’t You Know?” is about coping with the end of something important, in this case his athletic career. “I really appreciate you being here,” he says at the start. “It’s a real honor to be able to pursue my second dream.” His first was basketball. That ended after he was dunked on by a future N.B.A. player in a high school game. Athletes struggle to move on, he says, because they don’t know what to do with their intensity, which he explores, along with struggles with depression and alcoholism.
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Source: Television - nytimes.com
