Kids in the Hall Get Together for "More Ugliness"
Courtesy of the Chicago Tribune
Allan Johnson
February 11, 2000
You've heard the old song that laughter is the best medicine. In the case of Canadian sketch comedy group the Kids in the Hall, it was sick laughter that proved to cure what ailed the troupe known for its edgy comedy and not being shy about wearing women's dresses in some sketches.
It has been about five years since the Kids -- Scott Thompson, Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Bruce McCulloch and Mark McKinney -- worked together. They had since gone their separate ways and into other projects, with Foley in NBC's "NewsRadio," Thompson in HBO's "The Larry Sanders Show" and McKinney in NBC's "Saturday Night Live" having the highest profiles.
The Kids' lawyer made some calls to see if there was any interest in a reunion tour. A telephone conference call was established.
"This sounds terrible," said Thompson, "but Dave's father had a stroke. And so we were all like, 'How's he doing,' blab, blab, blab. And Dave said, 'Oh, he's fine. He's paralyzed on one side ... but it's not his drinking hand.'"
"And I know that sounds really awful, but that's when everyone kind of went, wow, that's dark. And we all laughed," Thompson added. "That was kind of a bonding moment for us. ."
The moment was diffused to where the Kids had more meetings, with "more ugliness," Thompson laughed. "That sort of made us think, gee, maybe we can bring this ugliness to stage.
"And," he added, " 'NewsRadio' luckily was canceled, and everything worked out."
Indeed, all of the guys were between jobs, so their reuniting had a better chance of success.
The guys got together to write some new material to go with some of their classic sketches from their HBO and CBS late-night comedy show, including the "Head Crusher" and "Chicken Lady" bits, and some filmed bits were also added to the mix.
The tour started several weeks ago, and is making two stops in the Chicago area this month -- at the Star Plaza Theatre in Merrillville, Ind., on Tuesday, and the Rosemont Theatre on Feb. 26.
For tickets and other details about the Kids in the Hall's Tuesday date at the Star Plaza Theatre, call 219-769-6600 or 312-559-1212; for information on the Feb. 26 engagement at the Rosemont Theatre, dial 847-671-5100.
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