Kyle Mooney was recently doing something silly with his two-year-old daughter, a natural thing for him both as a professional sketch comedian and as a dad – when she suddenly stopped him.
“I thought I was a lion,” he says, “and she was like, ‘No, don’t be a funny dad. Be a real dad.’ Which hurts,” he deadpans. “It’s like: I’m a clown again. And she could see right through it.”
The “real” Kyle Mooney, the recording artist known as “Kyle M” on a new album he wrote and performed, is also a slightly-Kaufman-esque character who is supposed to be that authentic Kyle, a heartfelt songwriter who pours his heart out in songs about his blue car, being bullied in high school, and the ills of our “digital society.”
The album is titled “The Real Me,” and the whole thing is a charade — and very Kyle Mooney.
Mooney, 41, remained committed to a bit of an interview over hot dogs and beer at the Volta Bar in Eagle Rock, near his home. With his long curly hair and an open blue button-down shirt with black stripes, he was perfectly himself the entire hour—sweet, slightly awkward, not performative and not promoting it—but when I mentioned that he clearly finds the sound of breathing or awkwardly handling a microphone to be funny, he picked up and looked at me.
“The album is not a comedy,” he said bluntly. “So, you know, leaving the microphone sounds there … it was just something that I didn’t really understand. And it’s also just me, maybe being new to the recording experience — like, it was actually recorded in my bedroom, which I feel like a lot of people probably don’t even know.”
Former SNL comedian Kyle Mooney insists that his new musical persona “Kyle M” and album “The Real Me” are not a comedy, despite the obvious comedic setting.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
He took the “real” Keel songs on the road this summer — a tour that culminates Wednesday at the Lodge Room. The stage show also features some of his best-known characters — including Todd, a San Diego dude who hosts the show “Inside SoCal,” and Chris, a pop-punk rocker who wears all black and, according to Mooney, “thinks he’s a badass.” And for this final hometown date, he’ll reunite with his old sketch band, the Good Neighbors.
Which makes the “Kyle M” gimmick just a little confusing: Mooney really is sweet, sincere, and serious IRL.
“He’s so talked about how he’s kind of making fun of awkward people,” says Vanessa Bayer, Mooney’s friend and fellow “Saturday Night Live” alum, “but he’s not really having fun.
Since he made early Internet videos, Mooney has specialized in variations on that awkward kid at your school in the late 1990s—or maybe it was you —who walks up to a stranger and mumbles a half-baked attempt to sound cool and smart, or the one who gets carried away and sings off-key to a cringey, self-indulgent rock song he wrote. His characters don’t know what to do with their hands or where to focus their eyes; they make what they consider RAD music videos with their friends at the skate park or in their mom’s kitchen.
Viņš atveda daudz šo varoņu līdzi uz “SNL”, un viņš nesen spēlēja spin-off-stoner, kurš strādā video nomas veikalā-A24 komēdijas un korpusa filmā “Y2K”, kuru Mooney bija rakstījis un režisējis.
Viņi visi ir “joprojām ir manis versija”, Moonejs saka. “Es jūtu, ka, ja cilvēks var ar to attiekties, tas, iespējams, ir tāpēc, ka viņi ir kaut kāda tā versija. Un, jā, tas ir pārspīlēts, bet es visu laiku daru un saku neveiklas lietas. Par laimi es varēju kaut kā izvēlēties attēlot, piemēram,“ Kas ir šī lieta, ko es piedzīvoju reālajā dzīvē, un kā es varu dažādot to izmantot vai izmantot? ””
Rašela Zeglere, viena no “Y2K” zvaigznēm, smejas, kad viņa atceras, ka Mooney nāk pie saviem jaunajiem aktieriem, kas uzstādīja “dot mums virzienu, un viņš būtu tāds kā:” vai nē. F – es domāju, ”un, piemēram, ejam prom. Mēs skatāmies viens uz otru, piemēram,: Es nezinu, vai viņš joko vai nēApvidū Bija arī daudz brīžu, kad viņš dotu virzienu un būtu līdzīgs: “Un, starp citu, puiši, liels paldies, ka esat šeit.” ”
Viņi abi kļuva par draugiem filmēšanas laikā – lielākā daļa cilvēku, kas strādā ar Mooney, vēlas palikt viņa draugs – un Zeglers saka, ka “īstais” Kyle pret mīļi uncīto ir “neskaidra līnija. Tā īsti nebija, kamēr es kopā ar viņu pavadīju ārpus darba, kas man bija: Ak, labi, tas ir tikai tas, kas tu esi.”
Moonejs mantoja savu smieklīgo kaulu. Viņa mamma Linda, “bija patiešām muļķīga un skaļa, un tāpēc viņa aizņēma savu telpu,” viņš saka, bet tas tiešām vēroja savus divus vecākos brāļus Šonu un Raienu, veidoja skitu un smieklīgus video ar ģimenes videokampu, kas aktivizēja viņa vēlmi radīt lietas, kas cilvēkiem lika smieties.
Viņš sāka veidot videoklipus astotajā klasē – galvenokārt “policistu” parodijās -, bet viņš to pārcēla uz citu līmeni kopā ar savu draugu Deivu Makkeru, kurš uzauga kopā ar viņu Sandjego un kurš nošāva un rediģēja savus pirmos videoklipus. Tie ietekmēja lielu daļu Mooney galvenās estētikas; Retro, 90. gadu grafika, neveiklie labojumi un bailīgā tastatūra izklausās visi viņa neveiklie slidotāji un pametumi noteiktā laikā un vietā, un viņi ir daļa no tā, kas ir gan smieklīgi, gan mīlīgi nostalģiski par viņa komēdiju.
Viņam joprojām ir Oberheim DX, 1982. gada bungu mašīna, kuru viņš izmantoja tādos videoklipos kā viņa interviju sērija Man-on-the-street ar labu kaimiņu-grupa Mooney izveidojās 2007. gadā ar McCary un diviem draugiem, kurus viņš ieguva, studējot filmu USC: Beck Bennett un Nick Rutherford.
McCary pārliecināja Mooney doties uz nejaušiem cilvēkiem Lakers parādē 2010. gadā: “Man bija neskaidra varoņa izjūta, kaut kas, ko es darīju ap māju,” saka Mooney, “skatoties sportu ar Deivu un rīkojoties tā, kā es zināju, par ko es runāju.” Neliels kautrīgs puisis, viņš mēģina uzdot jautājumus, bet sintakse ir visu sajūsmināta un viņš pārtrauc vidū, izraisot sajaukt (un smieklīgas) svešinieku reakcijas. Dažādās konvencijās viņš vairākas reizes darīja raksturu vēl vairākas reizes.
Mooney says he was never scared: “But we always hoped that it never felt aggressive, and that it was more that this person, for example, has truly tried their best and has a lot of love in their heart.”
The performer has built a career portraying awkward, heartwarming characters who don’t quite fit in, from Internet videos to “Saturday Night Live.”
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
Both Mooney and Bennett were hired by “SNL” in 2013 on the strength of their Good Neighbor sketch. “Obviously, he was hilarious and very original,” says Carmen Christopher, a stand-up comedian and actor from “The Bear.” “When he was hired, it was cool to be like, Whoa. This is like a weird, funny guy. They’re in it. It’s kind of promising for comedy.”
Bennett left the show in 2021, Mooney a year later. They recently started a podcast, “What’s Our Podcast?” where they basically just hang out again with the added bonus of interviewing famously funny friends.
Christopher opened for Mooney on the “Real Me/Fake Me” tour. He’s been friends with Mooney for a decade, but says he was surprised by how seriously Mooney takes his silly character and songwriting.
Especially, perhaps, given how charmingly lo-fi and “sloppy” a lot of it seems on the surface.
“I think that’s probably why it’s so inviting,” says Christopher, “because it doesn’t feel pretentious in any way. Sometimes his videos feel like your friend on the block who made his first video. But you’re like: It’s so funny.”
