Sometime in 1994 I travelled to Dublin for Microsoft business, accompanied by my colleague Faith. One evening we were walking around, taking in a city that was new to us both, when Faith advised that she needed to find a bathroom.
The nearest public place was a McDonald’s. I was waiting for her in the main eating area when I noticed someone sitting alone nearby. He looked very familiar, and I thought it might be someone famous, someone I never would have imagined I’d run into this country – let alone at a McDonald’s.
“Are you Scott Thompson?” I asked. That person was one of the Kids in the Hall, a Canadian comedy troupe based in Toronto who I was greatly familiar with, as I was a huge fan of their off-the-wall humor.
He acknowledged that he was, indeed, who I thought he was. He might have been just as surprised to be recognized as it was for me to have run into him. I asked him why he was in Dublin and he replied that he was on vacation, and was waiting there for a friend.
I mentioned that I lived in Toronto at one time (which I touched on in my tribute to Rush drummer Neil Peart), and rattled off the names of the bands I worked with as a lighting designer. I first mentioned Ken Tobias and Lynx, and Thompson acknowledged he had heard of both of those. I then recalled briefly working for Downchild Blues Band, figuring he probably heard of these Canadian legends. That was confirmed with his response: “They’re huge.”
Shortly afterward Scott’s friend appeared, and we bid each other good night. The only other time I saw any of the Kids in the Hall in the flesh was when I attended their performance on May 14, 2003, at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle, where for much of the show the group performed their “greatest hits” from their TV shows. The lineup has remained consistent throughout their existence, featuring Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Bruce McCulloch, Mark McKinney, and, of course, Scott Thompson.
For the uninitiated, the members of the Kids in the Hall didn’t initially start literally as kids, though that label is generally applied to young adults. The origin of their name came from none other than Jack Benny. That’s what he labeled the fledgling young joke writers who would accost him outside his office, offering up jokes in hopes that Benny might find the material funny enough to use on his radio show in the 1940s.
Kids in the Hall recently went through what some might call a reboot for Amazon Prime. They actually consider this a long overdue sixth season of their creative sketch comedy show. There is also Comedy Punks, a two-part special following the troupe’s history that includes archival footage from some of their earliest shows at the Rivoli in Toronto – courtesy of the man in the towel, Paul Bellini.
In the documentary, there are testimonials from young comedians who identify as GenX and consider Kids in the Hall as one of their own. While this comedy troupe is a part of that generation, it can’t be denied that funny transcends time: I can list the Marx Brothers, Steve Allen, Rocky and Bullwinkle, the Firesign Theatre, Monty Python, Airplane!, and Angie Tribeca as a few of my own comic favorites who influenced me with their absurdist humor. I immediately and effortlessly latched onto Kids in the Hall’s brand of comedy, even though I am a proud if aging Baby Boomer.
The documentary is chock full of information and will have something to offer both longtime devotees and newbies. It outlines how Kids in the Hall came together from various Canadian comedy outlets, leading to their development from undisciplined stage performers to experienced television professionals. After producer Lorne Michaels plucked two of them to (unsuccessfully) write for Saturday Night Live, he realized that the sum was greater than their parts. Michaels helped them to launch their own sketch show, which first ran on HBO then later on Comedy Central.
At the end of the five-year series run, they were at a crossroads and were thrown into turmoil when Foley became a lead on NewsRadio. That role may have negatively impacted the writing and production of their film Brain Candy, which failed at the box office and with critics. They reunited in 2010 for the eight-part miniseries Death Comes to Town, where the five would portray numerous characters, sometimes with a member playing more than one role in the same scene.
But the proof is in the pudding. In addition to the new series, Amazon Prime has resurrected the aforementioned miniseries along with all five seasons of the sketch shows – an embarrassment of comedic riches. While the segments can be self-contained, they would occasionally bleed into other, unrelated ones, and occasionally break the fourth wall. Kids in the Hall shows were always original and offered the unexpected, where you might think you know where it’s going but will be thankfully yanked out of that comfort zone.
They didn’t shy away from the men portraying women, much in the same manner as Monty Python. It was never males mocking females for their gender, but it would have been disingenuous to not subject their female characters to the same indignities that they would put their male characters through. For that, Kids in the Hall was an equal opportunity offender.
Scott Thompson’s participation provided a breakthrough. He didn’t hide the fact that he’s a gay man, and scripts were written to embrace any laughs that derived from it. His sexual orientation didn’t define him, yet it would inform sketches that involved gay characters. At the same time, the fact that he was gay wasn’t a constant, and similarly the other members would portray gay characters when called for.
They rarely would spoof real people, but in the new series producer Lorne Michaels figures prominently, with McKinney as Michaels rattling about the shows. Michaels was a fellow Canadian, and Kids in the Hall didn’t hide their heritage, where their accents would be as thick as a chatty lumberjack eating poutine at a Tim Hortons. (Or, in my day, a Mr. Submarine — though maybe they didn’t serve that iconic Canadian dish at either place.)
Hopefully another tour will manifest at some point, maybe even a movie where unlike on Brain Candy they’ll all be in sync. If the extended Death Comes to Town is any indication, they have the talent to create a very clever long-form comedy.
In the meantime, check out the new season and documentary on Prime, and if it’s in your wheelhouse explore Kids in the Hall’s entire catalog. You might find yourself crushing heads before you know it.
© 2022 Mike Tiano. All Rights Reserved
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