Remembering Kyle “Chicago Kyle” Brandner

On Monday, September 29, 2025, our world changed. We lost our friend Kyle Brandner—“Chicago Kyle,” “Kyle B. Smile”—suddenly, at just 33. Writing those words doesn’t make them real. It just makes the silence louder.

If you knew Kyle, you know that laugh—the kind that cracked the heaviness in your chest and made you look up. You know his stubborn, beautiful commitment to truth and fairness. He didn’t just believe in doing right; he did it, especially when it meant standing up for people who get pushed to the margins. He met strangers like neighbors and friends like family. Even if you only crossed paths once, he made you feel respected and included.

Kyle loved music and he loved the work of building moments—literally. In Columbus, he spent years with the Paddy Wagon food truck and countless nights rigging and lifting and hustling as a stagehand with Rhino Staging and other production companies, helping create the concerts and events thousands will remember. He volunteered his time to help set up for Cbus's own - Comfest for several years. He’d just taken a step he was proud of, joining the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees—a new chapter he was ready to write.

He is defined by his people and his love: his father Mike, his stepmom Celia, his girlfriend Angie, and his mom Susan—and by the wide circle of friends and coworkers who were changed by his presence. He is defined by the laugh that still echoes, the fairness he fought for, and the way he showed up, even when it was hardest for him.

This loss was sudden, and the practical burdens are heavy. We are asking for help to cover funeral expenses and travel costs so Kyle’s loved ones can get to Columbus to say goodbye and hold each other up. If you can give, please do. If you can’t, sharing this page means more than you know.

No amount eases the grief. But every act of generosity is a hand on the shoulder of someone who can barely stand right now. Let’s bring his people together. Let’s honor him with the same love and solidarity he gave so freely.

Thank you for keeping Kyle and his family in your hearts. May we carry forward his laugh, his courage, and his fierce sense of justice—for him, and for each other.

Daniel McCarthy

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