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Kevin talks about mental health issues, standup comedy and more
AB: You share your name with a certain wrestling personality. Has it been a fun experience writing about wrestling with that name? Has there ever been a case of mistaken identity?
KS: Do you think it’s been fun? (laughs) I would not say it’s been fun. Outside of online it’s rare that I run into anybody who knows who that is. But there are some people online, who with all due respect are really stupid. I’m on Twitter and I still get messages sometimes from people who are asking if I really killed Chris Benoit. Usually, they are teens or pre-teens, but if you look at my bio, there’s a picture of me and a clear bio that says I’m not Kevin Sullivan, the former booker of WCW. I still get messages to this day asking me when my next appearance is going to be. I joked at the beginning, saying that I’m going to get Michael Hayes to come too.
AB: There have been several tough years for you with mental health in your personal life. Is that something you’re comfortable talking about?
KS: No that’s fine. I think that if I can’t talk about it then more people can’t. The more people that talk about mental health, the better it is. I was just recently diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder but apparently, I have been living with it for at least a decade, especially those years in Indianapolis. I went through a lot, like drinking too much, not understanding why I was doing things. I had a really good support system of friends. My family is good too, my mom is awesome, my fiancee, Anna, her mom is awesome. They really got me through a lot of that.
If I didn’t have friends who let me stay when I bipolared my way out of an apartment, then I would not be where I am now. Then finally it was about finding professional help like seeing a psychiatrist. I had gotten diagnosed with depression and ADD before that, but getting diagnosed with bipolar disorder has really made my life 100% better.
AB: While you were in Ireland were you stranded without any money? Is that something you’re comfortable talking about now?
KS: I had gone there for my 26th birthday. I had this really great job and was making a lot of money, way more than I ever had before. I had always wanted to go to Ireland, but right before I go I lost my job. I already had the plane tickets and I had already paid the advance. I had to sell my car, took the money from that with me. I spent too much of my money at the pubs and I left Ireland with 5 euros. I had to take a bus to get to the airport and all I had was this five euro bill. They did not have any change for it, so this nice lady paid for me and did not even take it from me. I almost ended up stranded.
AB: Anyone who knows you knows that you have an amazing sense of humor which leaves people either in stitches or cringing. I have first-hand experience with the second part. Have you ever considered a career in Stand-up Comedy?
KS: Absolutely. It was when I moved from Indianapolis back to Cincinnati. I had moved to Indianapolis right after my divorce and got into a toxic relationship. When you’re in one of those and you have undiagnosed bipolar disorder - good times! I decided the most therapeutic thing that I could do around that time was to turn it into jokes. This was after three bad breakups. I can say that the last breakup left me stranded in Iowa. I was back in Iowa before going to Cincinnati. I was stranded there because of a girl. At that time I was like I am going to write a five-minute set and take it to Go Bananas which is a really awesome comedy club right outside of Cincinnati.
They have an open mic night, so I start doing that. I started doing open mics in bars around town. I made connections and made friends with really good comedians. A lot of my friends from there are still from my time in comedy. The reason I don’t do this anymore, is because since moving to Austin I could not quite get into the Austin comedy scene. I love Austin. I met my wife and well, I didn’t really meet my daughter, well actually I did -- after she was born(waits for my applause for that joke before continuing).
It just was not the same and I was not enjoying comedy here. I decided that since I was not enjoying it and I’m signed up on a show I’m taking a spot on the show that someone else who likes it might use.
AB: Is there any comic who inspired you to look at life from the funny side?
KS: The biggest thing that affected my comedic thing other than Monty Python and some of the weird sketch comedy shows, my comedy came from some clips of stand-up comedy shows from Comedy Central back in the day. There was a show called Mystery Science Theatre 3000, which really got me learning to look at things from different angles. I do that while writing for Sportskeeda. I look at stories from different angles and think about what the stories and angles remind me of or how it relates to something else. I try not to pitch ideas that won’t make people laugh.
Up next: Kevin talks about visiting WWE shows
