6/27/07: Them Keener Boys (1999)Before there was YouTube, Them Keener Boys struggled to be appreciated via Flash animation and humble word of mouth. They ended up being unfairly ignored as New York City’s best sketch comedy act. We did our own small part in trying to promote them, but Dave Keener and Tom Keener—possibly real brothers; we never bothered to ask—faded away while less-talented comics launched their continuingly unfunny careers.
The problem might have been their politics.
We were certainly won over when Them Keener Boys launched their live show—and their sole album—with the rollicking fun of “That’s My Kind of Show.” Dave begins by singing about how much he enjoys folks a-clappin’ and toes a-tappin’. He also likes girls a-dancin’ and everyone romancin’, not to mention funny men in baggy pants starting with the yucks.
Tom tells Dave that he prefers another kind of show—“a kick-ass downtown New York City East Village performance art kind of show.” Dave’s never heard of that kind of show. Tom explains further:
When the whole idea of gender
Gets stamped "Return to Sender"
That’s my kind of show
When bisexual minorities
Finally get to tell their
stories
That’s my kind of show
When nobody can sing or act or write worth a damn
And a madwoman whose rectum is obstructed by a yam
Tells all the white boys where they can go
Brother, that’s my kind of show
Dave gives this some thought: “Gee, Tom, I don’t know if I’d like that kind of show.”
“That’s because you’re a racist, David.”
They were mainly performing in the East Village, of course.
Them Keener Boys is full of catchy songs that outclass all of the serious songwriters that were then playing the clubs. They should’ve at least opened for They Might Be Giants.
But, again, maybe the problem was their politics. We witnessed a few dour club patrons finding Them Keener Boys to be deeply unfunny when performing the swell lite-funk of “The Story of My People”:
This is the story of my people
And our lack of dignity
And our struggle to find justice
And good role models on TV
This is the story of our journey
Across the desert and the seas
To the Department of Social Services
And then back home to watch TV…Them Keener Boys is 16 tracks of genuinely daring comedy. They paid a price for that. We haven’t heard anything from the act since 2001, and the website is long gone. But here’s a glimpse of the Keener comedy that went unrecorded. The last time we saw Them Keener Boys live, they performed a cover of “The Young New Mexican Puppeteer.” This was one of Tom Jones’ more unfortunate hits from the ’70s, and remains painful as the story of a young man who tours the land with his puppet shows featuring Abe Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Mark Twain, and Jesus Christ.
We were a little disappointed to hear the song. It seemed like an easy way to get laughs. Like most New Yorkers, we weren’t giving Them Keener Boys enough credit. They only performed “The Young New Mexican Puppeteer” so that they could then demonstrate what a puppet show would look like that starred Abe Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Mark Twain, and Jesus Christ. It’s the funniest thing we’ve ever seen performed in a New York City nightclub. Too bad that we didn’t bootleg the show.
Make it your own: As it turns out,
Them Keener Boys isn’t as lost as we thought. It’s both pleasant and tragic to report that
plentiful cheap copies can be found.
