The Kids in the Hall
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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.
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.
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 ATM lines, another featured a man who pretended to crush people's heads from a distance with his fingers. Many of the sketches featured gay characters and themes. A noted comedy writer for the show was Paul Bellini.
Also involved in the show were various guest stars (including Neve Campbell and Nicole DeBoer) and a great deal of cross-dressing.
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 received mixed reviews and did not do particularly well at the box office, stifling the chances for another Kids in the Hall movie.
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.
Sketches and characters include:
- Buddy Cole
- Chicken Lady
- Police Department
- It's a Fact!
- The Pit of Ultimate Darkness (Simon and Hecubus)
- Headcrusher
- Gavin
- Darrill
- White Trash Couple
- AT&Love
- Danny Husk
- 30 Helens Agree
- Francesca and Bruno
- The Sizzler Sisters (not two clearly insane people)
- Mr. Heavyfoot (M. Piedlourde)
- Steps
- Cabbage Head
- Flying Pig
- He's Hip, He's Cool, He's 45
- Fran and Gordon
- Rod Torfleson's Armada featuring Herman Menderchuck
- Tammy
- The King of Empty Promises
- Darcy Pennell
- Mississippi Gary
- Weston Esterhazy
- 30 Second Stories
External links
- KITHfan.org - "a whole lotta Kids in the Hall" (http://www.kithfan.org/)
- Kids In The Hall webring at WebRing.com (http://a.webring.com/hub?ring=kith)sv:Kids in the Hall