I'm relatively young, too young to be old enough to have appreciated Sam's comedy when he was still alive. I do remember a little bit of hostility between him and Andrew Dice Clay though, and was wondering if anyone remembers why it existed? Was there a specific event that began it all?
shareI do recall this quite well. Some thoughts, for what they are worth...
They were both Comedy Store comics, and they both were 'discovered' by Rodney Dangerfield and put on Rodney's cable special. I cannot tell you how big this was at the time, cable TV was 'special' and standup was 'special' and within the comedy renaissance of the '80s both acts were very unique. So there was some competition there.
Clay was a 'sweater comic' originally, doing impressions and talking about mundane observational topics. He evolved into this 'character', a cartoony x-rated Fonzie. Kinison's comedy was always based in his personal truth. So there was some resentment about the 'purity' of the comedy (Dice's nursery rhymes were old drinking songs, and much of his material was repurposed street jokes).
Dice actually was a much bigger live draw, and for a much longer time, than Kinison was. Dice also drew controversy (for instance, when he hosted SNL a NRFPT Player walked off the show) but didn't do the drugs and didn't total his sports car, and didn't make a #2 on himself, and didn't get too high/drunk to make his television appearances. So, there was another source of resentment about the 'purity' of the portrayed lifestyle; Kinison was really an alcoholic that punched people and carried a loaded gun. Dice was a quiet guy that disappeared into his privacy offstage.
They both did a lot of appearances on the Howard Stern radio show, which was the biggest national media venue at that time. They were both funny, and neither one made a point to disparage the other. But fans of comedy could not help but compare, and most fans like them both but preferred one over the other. The closest I can compare it to is 'Twilight' fans who prefer either Jacob or Edward; but they all like 'Twilight.'
There really was no overlap in material, never accusations or personal animosity. Just two acts that were very cutting edge and x-rated at a very fun and creative time for comedy. I don't recall anybody who liked one saying that the other one 'sucked'. Both acts really don't hold up that well as the years have passed, but they were really fresh for the time. Well, that's my two cents.
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