THE REAL ME

Kyle M, 2025

IDEA | ALBUM

This is a familiar joke. The comedian who suddenly declares that he’s changing tack to become a serious artist, professing to his fans that it’s not a joke, all in the attempt to amplify the absurdity of the joke further. But it’s definitely rare to see this kind of bit committed to beyond the basic norm. When the line between joke and reality truly becomes blurred.

For instance, we absorb something like this, and we know almost immediately that it has to be a joke. And more so if we’re already familiar with the work of Kyle Mooney. From his comedy sketches with the Good Neighbour Stuff group to his long standing presence on Saturday Night Live. But typically, a joke of this nature is like a trick. There’s the classic video to establish the joke, but no substance to back it up. Whereas, in this case, zero elements of this entire project ever concede and claim to be just a joke.

These days, we receive meta-humour like this quite often. Jokes that force us to question the nature of comedy itself. For instance, when the comedian tells us that he’s turning into a serious musician, and then releases a whole album and has serious critics in serious magazines like Stereogum, AV Club, Vulture, all treating the album like it’s just another cool experimental debut from an up-and-coming artist — Well, then, we wonder where the line is between the joke and reality?

There is no traditional trace of a joke to be found here. Even strangers in the comments section of the video all commit to the joke without needing any heads-up. It’s like a professional killer who has flawlessly cleaned up his crime scene and organised his alibis. There are no loose ends.

And so the humour here assumes this weird intellectual, invisible, cerebral context. As if it is our pursuit of the truth that is the joke.

Kyle Mooney (Kyle M.)

Kyle Mooney is a character who has always been committed to the bit.