He Went to Prison at 13. Now He’s a Stand-Up Comedian | Kevin Lenihan

Kevin Lenihan was just 13 years old when a job driving a car to Miami turned into a 110-mile police chase, an arrest, and a prison sentence. Years later, tragedy pushed him to finally pursue something he had dreamed about since childhood: stand-up comedy. On Episode 6 of Origin Stories, Rich Bruckner sits down with comedian Kevin Lenihan to unpack one of the wildest origin stories we’ve had on the podcast yet. Kevin talks about growing up between Mastic, New York and St. Petersburg, Florida, getting into serious trouble at a young age, being tried as an adult, spending nearly five years incarcerated, returning to high school after prison, and eventually reconnecting with the father he had never known. And somehow, that’s only the beginning. Kevin tells the story of his father robbing the same bank twice in one day, the brutal Renaissance Fair punishment his mother came up with when he was in eighth grade, his early love of comedians like Bernie Mac, Theo Von and Daniel Tosh, and the tragedy that finally pushed him to get onstage and try stand-up for the first time. Since starting comedy, Kevin has thrown himself into it. He talks about performing hundreds of shows, acting in movies and music videos, producing his own comedy shows, the Long Island comedy scene, and why he believes treating comedy like a business separates the people who talk about doing it from the people who actually build something. This is Kevin Lenihan’s origin story. 🎙️ ORIGIN STORIES WITH RICH BRUCKNER — EPISODE 6 Follow Kevin Lenihan: Instagram: @blazinbobross Follow Rich Bruckner: Instagram: @richie_eyebrows / @richbrucknercomedy (backup) TikTok: @richie_eyebrows 🎟️ UPCOMING SHOWS Kevin Lenihan — October 9 Aragona’s Comedy Contest at Red Zone, Babylon [ADD TICKET/INFO LINK] Rich Bruckner & Friends — October 24 The Cleaners NY [ADD TICKET LINK] 📍 THE CLEANERS NY Origin Stories is sponsored by The Cleaners NY, a Long Island venue for live comedy, music and events. Website: cleanersny.com ABOUT ORIGIN STORIES Origin Stories with Rich Bruckner goes beyond the usual comedian interview. Each episode goes back to the beginning to find out where a comedian came from, what shaped their sense of humor, what went wrong along the way, and how they eventually found their way to stand-up. New episodes feature comedians telling the stories that made them who they are before they ever stepped onstage. #StandUpComedy #ComedyPodcast #OriginStories