KD the Comic performs at Mohegan Manor on Aug. 23
By Ashley M. Casey
Associate Editor
Kelly “KD the Comic” Doane’s comedy career is coming full circle. The B’ville native, who now lives in Richmond, Virginia, returns to his hometown for a standup show Aug. 23 at Mohegan Manor.
“It’s kind of a coming-of-age tale because I started in standup comedy about 13 years ago. I’ve been in the entertainment realm for 23,” Doane said.
Doane’s first standup show was at Mohegan Manor, and this homecoming will be his last hometown show.
“Baldwinsville is my hometown and where it started. It’s really cool to be able to come back home and do it for my friends, family, fans and people I went to school with,” Doane said.
Doane, who turns 43 on Aug. 23, attended Palmer Elementary School before his family moved to San Antonio. The Doanes returned to Baldwinsville for KD’s last year of high school. He has fond memories of playing basketball and fishing with friends and getting in trouble with girls and local shops — the type of teenager fun only found on TV these days, he said.
“We used to run those little Four Corners,” Doane recalled. “I love B’ville Diner and their gravy fries — my first thing I gotta have when I come home.”
KD honed his comedic chops by going toe-to-toe with his family members.
“I’m the runt of the litter, so I had to be able to defend myself with comebacks,” he said. “My father is one of my inspirations he’s always able to come quick with a joke.”
Doane used to tag along with his father to a B’ville bar, watching his old man shoot pool and trade barbs with his friends.
When he first started doing standup, Doane’s muses were the original cast of “Saturday Night Live,” late comedy great George Carlin and mid-‘00s sensation Dane Cook, but Doane has since cleaned up his act. His standup is now free of Carlin’s famed seven words, and he brands his act as “humor for ages 8 to 88.” Through his King of Kings Comedy Show, Doane and a group of fellow comedians perform at churches, benefits and other faith-friendly events.
Doane’s two-decades-long entertainment career has included “a little bit of this, a little bit of that,” he said: standup comedy, television commercials, wrestling, a DJ/wedding entertainment company he runs with his wife, and most recently, a feature film.
“I’ve been blessed to be able to do some feature film stuff lately,” Doane said. “That is definitely a bucket list [item] that I can mark off.”
Doane plays a U.S. Marshal in “Harriet,” the upcoming biopic about Harriet Tubman.
“I’m a glorified background extra,” he said. “During the trailer — you can’t blink or fall asleep — about the 1:09 mark you can see me.”
The role was exciting for the self-described historian not only because he got to rub elbows with Academy Award-winning cinematographer John Toll, who won Oscars in 1994 and 1995 for his work on “Legends of the Fall” and “Braveheart,” respectively. Doane said “Harriet” is the first film to perfectly replicate a pin worn by U.S. Marshals in the 1800s.
“They never were able to duplicate it, but they finally found it, so the pin in this film is the first time they’ve been able to make it,” he said.
“Harriet” hits theaters Nov. 1. Follow KD the Comic’s adventures at kingofkingscomedy.com and kdproductionsentertainment.com.
If you go
What: KD the Comic: “Once I Was Blind, Now I Can See”
When: 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 23
Where: Mohegan Manor, 58 Oswego St., Baldwinsville
Tickets: $10 on EventBrite; $15 at the door.
