The stand-up comedian Tony Hinchcliffe took the stage early in former President Donald J. Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, hurling a wave of insults and vulgar statements at minority groups including Jews, Latinos and African Americans.
Many in the crowd, which was predominantly white with a significant number of Latinos, groaned when Hinchcliffe said Puerto Rico was a “floating island of garbage,” and when he called out a Black man in the audience with a reference to watermelon.
His comments drew swift condemnation, including from Bad Bunny, Jennifer Lopez, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ricky Martin and other celebrities with ties to Puerto Rico.
Hinchcliffe has made a name for himself by making offensive remarks, including a tasteless joke about the N.B.A. star Kobe Bryant the day he was killed in a helicopter crash in 2020. While Hinchcliffe may not be widely known, he is a fixture in comedy circles as a frequent guest on “The Joe Rogan Experience” and as a host of the weekly podcast “Kill Tony.”
Here is what to know about Hinchcliffe and his brand of comedy.
He is known for a ‘roast’ style of insult comedy.
Hinchcliffe is a touring comedian based in Los Angeles who appears regularly at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles and hosts an online course on how to “roast,” a comedy style in which a guest of honor is the subject of sharp jokes and off-color comments.
He has written for eight Comedy Central roasts, according to his website, and has roasted celebrities like Snoop Dogg. This year, he was among the comedians who roasted Tom Brady in a Netflix special that was viewed 13.8 million times in its first week on the streaming platform.
Don Rickles is his comedy hero.
In a 2019 interview with The News & Observer of Raleigh, N.C., Hinchcliffe said his first taste of comedy came in the first grade, when he insulted a classmate for being taken to a bus stop by his grandmother. “I called him a dork,” Hinchcliffe said. “He punched me in the mouth.”
After moving to Los Angeles in 2007, he began opening for popular comedians like Rogan and Jeff Ross, according to Variety.
He has said that his comedy hero is Don Rickles, the acidic stand-up comic who earned a name for himself in the 1960s by making derisive comments about people’s looks, their ethnicity, sexual orientation and just about anything else.
“I remember watching him when I was a little kid when Johnny Carson was still on the air,” Hinchcliffe told The News & Observer. “I loved his rapid-fire delivery and how he made fun of everyone. He was an imaginative beast.”
He has hosted the ‘Kill Tony’ podcast for nearly a decade.
In 2013, Hinchcliffe started a podcast called “Kill Tony” with the comedian and podcast producer Brian Redban. The weekly show, recorded live from Austin, Texas, is perhaps best known for its “Bucket of Destiny” segment, in which aspiring comedians get 60 seconds to perform before a panel of judges.
Millions tune in to the podcast each week and it is among the most popular offerings on Spotify. The show also has more than 1.8 million subscribers on YouTube.
Hinchcliffe has faced backlash before.
After a 2021 set in Austin, Hinchcliffe was criticized for using a racial slur to describe Peng Dang, an Asian American stand-up comedian and actor, after a clip of the performance circulated widely online. Hinchcliffe has refused to apologize.
“I knew that what I had done was not wrong,” he told Variety. He added, “My stance is that comedians should never apologize for a joke, should never stop working if everyone comes after them and should never slow down. In fact, they should utilize anything that happens to them for more material.”
He targeted many at the Trump rally.
In his appearance of about 12 minutes, Hinchcliffe directed a number of insults and tasteless comments at a wide range of people, including President Biden and Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the Democratic former House speaker.
He also took aim at Travis Kelce, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end and Taylor Swift’s boyfriend, calling him the next O.J. Simpson. He mocked Palestinians as rock-throwers and Jews as cheapskates.
“Censorship is amongst us, people,” Hinchcliffe told the crowd. “It’s a very, very, very big deal and I’m just here to say that you guys are for the right candidate.”
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