Sam Kinison

The power of technology resurrects Sam Kinison with a hypothetical today: lines of laughter etched into a face that once howled with comedy’s fire. Known for his brash humor and trademark scream, he shook the 1980s comedy scene with an ex-preacher’s ferocity. His stand-up specials and “Saturday Night Live” appearances captured an energy that was as confrontational as it was comedic.

Sam’s life was cut short at 38 by a tragic car accident on April 10, 1992. This digital recreation imagines an elder statesman of comedy, perhaps softer, but with a twinkle still suggesting that the wild comic spirit endures beneath the calm.