Comedy: The Kids in the Hall
Courtesy of the New York Times
December 3, 1987
by Stephen Holden
The Kids in the Hall, a promising five-man comedy troupe
from Toronto, exude the fresh-scrubbed youthfulness and
puppyish charm of a bunch of bright college kids doing skits in
a dormitory lounge.
The group, which is appearing at Caroline's at the
Seaport (89 South Street) through next Thursday, includes Dave
Folly, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney and Scott
Thompson. When they first appear on the stage, one of them has
a garden hose wrapped around his head, and they intone a
dolefully ironic song saluting "the power of the suburbs." A
recurrent theme of their hourlong show, during which members of
the troupe play both male and female characters, is the
suburban torpor of dead marriages, fizzled parties and overall
apathy.
The ensemble's funniest skits at Tuesday's show gently
satirized social stereotypes and rituals. In one, Mr.
McCulloch, Mr. Folly and Mr. McDonald portray a trio of
sensitive hardhats swapping male braggadoccio. One man
anticipates "dimming the lights and breaking out the haikus."
Another growls: "A woman like that can make you forget about
Hiroshima. I'll build her a home--I'm talkin' spice rack!"
In another skit, Mr. McKinney, wearing a skirt and
speaking in a falsetto, plays Tiffany, a demure young woman on
her first date with Bradley (Mr. McCulloch). As they negotiate
the evening ahead, they decide not to go out because they have
already eaten and sell the local movie. After agreeing to skip
the coffee and get to the romance, Bradley suggests they "skip
the romance and go right to the sex." Tiffany responds, "Let's
skip the sex and go right to the guilt," and the date fizzles.
In an age of abrasive hostile humor, what distinguishes
the Kids in the Hall is their collective sweetness. They
succeed in making small satirical points without a trace of
mean-spirited outrage.
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