Luckily, These Kids Always Misbehave
Courtesy of The Boston Globe
By Michael Blowen
February 18, 2000
They're not kids anymore, but judging from the sold-out venues on their current tour, this quintet hasn't lost a step. The Kids in the Hall, a group whose television show was in production from the late '80s into the '90s, is back.
The Canadian comedy troupe is winding down an extensive tour with a sold-out pit stop tomorrow night at the Orpheum Theatre. Unlike the revolving door that defined ''Saturday Night Live'' - a show that's become synonymous with comic entropy - this group has maintained a sharp edge with its ensemble humor.
Dave Foley, who went on to star in ''NewsRadio,'' has been hired by Fox to develop a show poking fun at the Discovery Channel. Scott Thompson, after several years playing Hank Kingsley's aide on ''The Larry Sanders Show,'' tours as a stand-up with his alter ego, the marvelous Buddy Cole. Kevin McDonald was a writer on ''The Martin Short Show'' but recently left over the vaguely hostile ''creative differences.'' Bruce McCulloch played the Carl Bernstein character in ''Dick'' and recently directed ''Dog Park'' and ''Superstar.'' Now they're back together again. And more popular than ever.
In the case of the Kids in the Hall, the whole is more than the sum of its parts.
In 1993, CBS aired ''The Kids in the Hall'' late on Friday nights. There were immediate problems. The Kids' biggest comic targets are pomposity and cliches. Their trademark is tangy, cross-dressing, character-driven comedy. They satirize religious figures and use sexual permutations to create original comic characters. It was too much for CBS and the show was canceled after just one year.
They're more popular since ''The Kids in the Hall'' ended production in 1994. The half-hour sketch comedy program is in syndication and plays three times every day (2 p.m., 2:30 p.m., and 3 a.m.) on Comedy Central. Originally, there were women in the group for the so-called relationship sketches. But, every female comic/actor they invited was subsequently swept away by the more prestigious Second City comedy troupe. Out of necessity, the men started performing many of their skits in drag.
For those who can't get into the Orpheum, Rhino Home Video has released ''The Best of the Kids in the Hall'' on home video.
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