Sam Kinison / Perry Caravello Conspiracy

Be aware: This information was provided to me by a man I met on the bus in West Hollywood who said he had been very close to Sam Kinison but wishes to remain anonymous. This person told me he is one of only 2 or 3 people who know the full story. I have not researched any of this information myself. I'm sure there are more connections to be made.

The real story of the death of Sam Kinison

The official story of the death of Sam Kinison is that he was driving on Route 95 in Southern California, on April 10^th, 1992, when a drunk 17-year-old in a pickup truck swerved into the wrong lane and hit his car head on, killing him instantly. 

But there’s more to the story, much more. 

What really happened

In reality, Kinison survived the crash, but was horrifically disfigured and suffering from severe brain damage.

Not wanting the world to see the monster that he had become, Sam worked with the police and some of his closest friends to fake his own death.

Sam Kinison

After months of reconstructive surgery, organ transplants and physiotherapy in a secret hospital room, Sam was a completely new person. He had lost his looks, his talent, his skill with language and his intelligence. He could no longer be who he once was, and Sam decided the only thing he could do was re-invent himself as an aspiring comedian and actor. 

"Perry Caravello" (formerly Sam Kinison)

He chose a name for his new identity: Perry Caravello. He chose the name Perry, because it rhymed with the first word out of his mouth when he saw himself after his surgery: Scary. He gave himself the nickname "Scary Perry."

Sam invented a back story for Caravello. He'd been in a car accident when he was a teenager, leaving him mentally disabled and brain damaged. It was an old lady, Sam (now Perry) said, who had crashed her car into his. Perry brings up this incident constantly, like a subtle hint about his true identity.

Sam tried desperately to begin doing comedy again, but with his brain injury leaving him talentless and his new look too disgusting for any audience, he was unsuccessful.

He tried to keep his trademark scream, but it was now weak and powerless.

His wit and classic style had become forced and uncomfortable. See: Perry Caravello (formerly Sam Kinison) doing Stand-up Comedy vs. Sam Kinison doing Stand-Up Comedy.

In June 1992, just 3 months after the crash, Sam landed his first role as an extra in a TV Commercial for Alvarado Hospital. After the commercial, Sam became desperate. He met with the casting agent who had given him the job, Randy Callahan, and begged Callahan to help him get work in the film and television industry. This moment has become known to Perry Caravello fans as “the Randy Callahan incident.”

After nothing came of that incident, Sam turned to an old acquaintance, someone who feared him, respected him, and who would keep his secret forever.

That’s how Don Barris, of the World Famous Comedy Store, became complicit in the conspiracy. Don speaks in depth about knowing and fearing Kinison on episodes of WTF with Marc Maron and The Ari Shaffir Skeptic Tank podcasts.

To this day, Don Barris continuously tries to drop hints about Kinison’s secret to his fans.

Clues and coincidences

• Big 3 Podcast
• Don Baris constantly presses “Perry” about his lies, asking him repeatedly to come clean. 
• Don pretends to confuse the spelling Perry’s last name, always spelling it Karavello with a K, K for Kinison.
• Windy City Heat
• Bobcat Goldthwait was a notorious enemy of Sam Kinison. He was also the director of the film Windy City Heat starring Perry Caravello. This was arranged by Don Baris, to punish Sam, both for mistreating him in the past and for lying about being Perry.