Kill Tony, for the uninitiated, is not a Netflix survival thriller in which comedian Tony Hinchcliffe is hunted down each episode by a rival comic who has been the target of his insult humor. While that’s a great series premise, Kill Tony is a concept developed by Hinchcliffe more than 10 years ago, in which aspiring comics get a minute of stage time in front of an audience, live band and a panel of their peers.
It became a podcasting and YouTube phenomenon, then a touring version that returns to Las Vegas in the wake of the premiere of Kill Tony, the limited Netflix series. The first episode debuted April 7, a Monday night in the traditional weekly slot that Kill Tony fills at Joe Rogan’s Comedy Mothership venue in Austin. Rogan was on hand for the filming of the episode, as were Tom Segura, Adam Ray, Shane Gillis, Kyle Dunnigan and special guest Ron White.
Hinchcliffe will undoubtedly have special guests for his latest stint inside Resorts World Theatre. In September, he was accompanied by co-host Brian Redban, Ray’s Dr. Phil alter ego, Harland Williams and six musicians for nearly three hours of comic relief and cringeworthy bombing from invited regulars and standbys whose names are pulled from a bucket.
Some standbys become regulars. Some regulars that resonate with audiences become scene celebrities. “Estonian Assassin” Ari Matti had his name projected on Resorts World Theatre’s backdrop in letters several stories high last year and went on to be the opening comedian on the Netflix special. Kill Tony superstars Kam Patterson and William Montgomery appeared at Resorts World Las Vegas and on Netflix as well.
Kill Tony is more than a high-concept open-mic experience. It creates an empathic bond between audience and would-be entertainer, buoyed by encouraging words from panelists when 60-second sets are successful and stinging barbs when they are not.
The barbs are usually taken in stride by the talent because they understand it’s all for the sake of stand-up. It’s not personal. Hinchcliffe and his comic colleagues believe self-filtering can result in stifled creativity and lost ideas. Roasting tests boundaries. The Kill Tony gang loves testing boundaries.
Comic crescendos are achieved when bucket-pulled comedians who just bombed retaliate with comebacks that cause Hinchcliffe to look like he’s laughing to the point of tears. Hinchcliffe may have the thickest skin of all, reveling in unexpected answers to the questions he asks in his unmistakable, unplaceable drawl during post-set interview segments.
Hinchcliffe was raised in Youngstown, Ohio, where he developed a sharp sense of humor to deflect aggression. The skills he developed to survive served him well, as “Roastmaster General” Jeff Ross recognized Hinchcliffe’s talent for insult comedy and gave him work as a writer in the early 2010s.
The seed for Kill Tony sprouted at the Comedy Store in 2013 and migrated to Austin after Rogan opened the Comedy Mothership. Whether Netflix orders more than three episodes remains to be seen, but Hinchcliffe and company have already cultivated a new generation of comedians while perhaps convincing a few aspirants to keep their day jobs.
Resorts World Las Vegas. 8 p.m. May 10, starting at $49 plus tax and fee. rwlasvegas.com
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