The Kids in the Hall

The Kids in the Hall was a Canadian sketch comedy group, consisting of comedians Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Bruce McCulloch, Mark McKinney and Scott Thompson. It was also the name of the group's television show that ran from 1989 – 1994 on the CBC, CBS, and HBO.

Related Topics:
Canadian - Sketch comedy - Dave Foley - Kevin McDonald - Bruce McCulloch - Mark McKinney - Scott Thompson - Television - 1989 - 1994 - CBC - CBS - HBO

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The name is taken from the Jack Benny program. Benny would describe some jokes as coming from "the kids in the hall," referring to a group of young writers hanging around the studio.

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Though it was produced by Lorne Michaels, who also produced Saturday Night Live, the show's sketches were more reminiscent of the British sketch show, Monty Python's Flying Circus for they were often of a quirky or surreal nature. One sketch featured a flying pig who amused bored people in bank machine lines, another featured a man who pretended to crush people's heads from a distance with his fingers. Another sketch dealt with the musings of two aliens conducting anal probes on humans, wondering "What's the point of it all? Why does the great leader have us do this?" and reflecting that perhaps the great leader was a fetishist and that this dominated their existence. Many of the sketches featured gay characters and themes; Thompson was openly gay.

Related Topics:
Lorne Michaels - Saturday Night Live - Monty Python's Flying Circus - Bank machine - Gay

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A noted comedy writer for the show was Paul Bellini, who often appeared in sketches with a white towel around his large gut.

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The show's unique flavor was in the way it traded on the 5 actors' likeability quotients and acting abilities during sketches in a manner very related to stage performances, and unlike most satirical sketch comedy. Rather than aspire to the skilled impressionism of SCTV or the cultured absurdity of Monty Python, the sketches come across as actors workshop pieces at times - though occasionally written as sharply as either of those shows. The show was also notable for reflecting and dealing with the youth subculture of its times, and for incisive sketches about big business and family units.

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Also involved in the show were various guest stars (including Neve Campbell and Nicole DeBoer) and a great deal of cross-dressing. In their final episode, after the cast was purportedly buried alive, their tombstone inscription read, The Kids in the Hall TV Show 1989-1995.

Related Topics:
Neve Campbell - Nicole DeBoer - Cross-dressing

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After the show ended its run, the troupe came together to produce a movie, Brain Candy, featuring a few characters from the show and many new ones. The movie was comic genius, and despite poor box office ratings, developed a cult following with their devoted fans.

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In 2000, the troupe came together for a successful North American tour, reprising many sketches from the show. The tour was chronicled in a documentary, "Kids in the Hall: Same Guys, New Dresses," which followed the next year. This was then followed by the "Tour of Duty" and a DVD based on those performances, released in 2002.

Related Topics:
2000 - North America - 2002

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