The Kids in the Hall
Hamilton Place 10 MacNab Street S
I’m a huge fan of The Kids in the Hall. I discovered reruns of their cult hit sketch comedy series years ago and made it one of my “bucket list” goals to one day meet them and see them live. I was lucky enough to get to cross that off my list during their 2008 Live As We’ll Ever Be tour. I was so excited at the chance to see them live that I made it to three shows (Niagara Falls, NY and two in Toronto) and got to meet them after each show, as well as connect with a bunch of fans from all over. I still keep in touch with those friends today. There’s a real kinship amongst us KITH fans; we just get it. That’s the thing with KITH, it’s either your bag, or it isn’t.
I was so pumped when Hamilton was announced as a stop for their most recent tour. KITH fever hit me again!
Two weeks before their show at Hamilton Place on April 27th, we got a surprise visit from one of the Kids. Mark McKinney made a special appearance in Hamilton to do some press. Having watched the show so much (and subsequent movie, mini series, and other projects) and having met them before, I just feel like I know them. The troupe, rounded out by Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Bruce McCulloch and Scott Thompson, are all the nicest people. I got to have a chat with Mark, take some pictures, and he signed one of my dvd sets (and then presented them to me like I won an award)!
There really is no such thing as a casual KITH fan; everyone at the show was pretty diehard. The show opened with the five Kids in wedding dresses, and it was game on. They’ve still got it. KITH are so unique in that they have remained a troupe for this long and that same dynamic between them is always there. In fact, it seems like now they are having more fun together than ever. The pressures of their early careers are gone and now they can choose when to regroup and you could feel that sense of play and joy to just be up there onstage together.
The show was a mix of old and new sketches, but mainly classic sketches from the television show. A couple of the sketches were even revived from their 2008 tour, which were awesome to get to see again. What I love about KITH is that individually they are all so different – different comedic voices and rhythms. Each one solo is fantastic, and then together they are magic. Broken up into pairs, you get even more distinct comedy styles (nothing like a classic Dave/Kevin sketch or a Mark/Bruce pairing).
Even though the audience would have been familiar with so many of the sketches, it was hilarious to see them live. When we saw a bed set up with the characters Fran and Gordon, we knew “Salty Ham” was coming. It was fun seeing which sketches made the cut. And even though we knew the punchlines, there was room for them to riff and get even weirder than the original sketches, at times.
At the end of the show, they were selling copies of Bruce’s new book Let’s Start A Riot and he did a signing. It’s such a great book – a must-read for any KITH fan (and anyone, really! It’s so good.). I had my copy with me and was able to tell him how much I enjoy it. Bruce is like, the philosopher of the comedy world, and the book is equally hilarious, moving, and thought-provoking. I love the way his brain works.
A few weeks after the show, I sat in on an episode of The Hamilton Comedy Hour on 93.3 CFMU to talk about the show. Thanks to Jordan Scherer for inviting me on. Check it out!
This totally could have been written by myself (also says every KITH fan)
I was also able to scratch meeting them off my bucket list years ago but have since given up on the “Marry Dave Foley” (#895 on said bucket list).
Cheers!
That’s amazing! Glad you could scratch that one off your list, too! There’s still time for Dave, you never know. – Kristin