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fandomhigh_ooc2007-10-14 09:09 pm
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Spotlight on Fandoms - Kids in the Hall
My fandom's a little hard to explain, Jerry. You see, my fandom is really a compilation of many things. A hodgepodge, if you will. Step into ... The Kids in the Hall.
THE SHOW
Kids in the Hall was a Canadian TV show that ran from 1989 to 1994, starring a sketch comedy troupe made up of five guys: Dave Foley (the one from NewsRadio), Bruce McCulloch (now directing, mostly) Kevin McDonald (you know him, seriously), Mark McKinney (he spent a few years recently on SNL, and what a waste), and Scott Thompson (out-and-proud during his time on the show, and now hosting My Fabulous Gay Wedding). The group name was taken from a joke by Sid Caesar; whenever a particular joke bombed, he'd say that one came from "the kids in the hall." Yes, I got that from Wikipedia. Shhh.
"Sketch Comedy" usually calls up mental pictures of Saturday Night Live, but KitH was much closer to Monty Python in origin and tone. They left celebrity impressions and pop culture satire by the roadside in order to frolic around in the absurd. Sketches would get weird, make a left turn into crazy, and then end abruptly, only to crash in again three sketches later. Breaking the fourth wall happened pretty regularly; the guys would monologue sometimes as themselves (or, really, playing themselves, such as the sketch where Scott announced he wasn't gay any more and the rest of the troupe flailed). During a different sketch - involving a guy picking up a dead girl's ashes for a date - Mark McKinney came out to go "Isn't this a terrible sketch? And you're paying for it! Screw you, taxpayer!" And, of course, a man was asking his boss for a raise, by pointing out the lovely sketch he'd written of a man asking his boss for a raise, but unfortunately, he forgot to write an ending ... leaving the two trapped in the sketch forever.
RECURRING CHARACTERS
Most of the characters featured unique one-shot situations, such as a man telling another man he was trapped in a basement for the entirety of the 1960s and had never heard of these ... Beatles, did you say? Supposedly, the Kids weren't that crazy about the idea of recurring characters, but the network was. I'm guessing they considered it a compromise to have the recurring characters be as insane as possible.
Here are just a couple of the memorable ones:
THE SIZZLERS
Jerry and Jerry Sizzler are only in three sketches. Ever. There's a limited canon if you're ever going to find one, huh? I figure that excuses me giving a breakdown of all three.
Their first appearance is in season 2, episode 203, where a news broadcaster announces that two clearly insane people have broken out of an asylum. There's a follow-up report that two donkeys have been stolen, and we cut to a night club where Jerry and Jerry are insisting they are two lounge-singing sisters, and not two clearly insane people, and thus, they should be allowed to perform. They ask if there's a piano player. While looking right at him. And then ask if he has fingers. Good! Introduce them or die.
Their performance is a rousing success, especially when they realize the late Roy Orbison is in the audience. No, he doesn't look anything like Roy Orbison. Well, and they run the piano player off, for trying to intrude on their a capella act, and they stop during "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" to lie on the floor and count all the ribbons they can see. (It's one hundred.) And then they dash away again. As you do.
Several sketches later, there's a phone that won't stop ringing, and clearly it's an evil phone! A phone like that time in 'Nam! ... No, it's just the Jerries chanting PICK UP THE PHONE.
The Sizzlers show up again in season 2, episode 205, where they attempt to rob a bank. They order everyone to swap shoes, tell two people to fall in love, and then try to deposit money into their checking account. When the coppers arrive, the blonde Jerry shoots the dark-haired Jerry and both run away screaming "It's a madhouse!"
They aren't heard from again until season 3, episode 316, where a very normal Dave Foley answers the door and finds - HIS SISTER JERRY! Dave informs still-crazy Jerry that they're actually two guys named Lester and Jean-Pierre and that he should take the meds, because they work. They really do. And Lester has a life now, thanks, and a job and a wife and he likes it, and please don't let this get screwed up? Which of course means he's back to Jerrying by the end of the sketch, and the two exit stage left singing "On the Road Again."
And that's it. Jerry canon in its entirety. The Kids in the Hall lasted two more seasons, but Jerry and Jerry never appeared again.
POST-KITH
The Kids also put out a movie in 1996 called Brain Candy, which we won't talk about here because wow, was it a flop, and somehow, not all that funny. I'm amazed, too. Let's just move on.
The Kids moved on to solo careers, with varying degrees of success, and went on a reunion tour in 2000 and another in 2002. (I saw the latter in Cleveland, and it ruled.) They also performed at the Just for Laughs festival in Toronto, with new material, and someone needs to tell me how I can get my hands on that, please.
WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH
... Okay, if the chicken lady and Jerrying didn't convince you, I'm not sure what will. It's insane. It's weird and hyper and meta and hysterical and bizarre. Want some clips? Let's check out some clips.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL-HZpZ2ato <-- Dave Foley is your friendly neighborhood axe murderer. Can he borrow your axe?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjMYQyhjiYA <-- He's not being sarcastic. Honest!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjw55UAcGi8 <-- Chronic bad luck in marriages.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kBmmFFC_gY <-- Okay, this scar sort of looks like a swastika ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySOobUqOhwY <-- So, are you painting that chair? That certainly looks like you're painting that chair ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYDOsr1Zrpo <-- The trappers, which is where my OOC icon comes from.
(NOTE: Broadway Video likes to police their copyrights, so vids keep coming down from YouTube. I have no idea how long these will stay up.)
WHERE YOU CAN GET IT
Comedy Central reairs the episodes, but it's hit and miss when they do. There are clips on YouTube, but again, Broadway Video likes to pull those down, which is why I don't have any Sizzler clips for you, sorry.
Your best bet is to go out and get the DVDs. I promise, they're worth it.
WEBSITES
KITHfan.org - transcripts, interviews, trivia, images, and info on all five Kids
KITH on Wikipedia
Kids in the Hall Audio Archive - which lets me link to this clip of Kevin's Jerry, even if I can't show you Dave's.
QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? RADIOACTIVE SQUID?
ETA: I just now found Sizzler clips on YouTube. I have been looking for months.
Lounge Singers
Bank Robbery
THE SHOW
Kids in the Hall was a Canadian TV show that ran from 1989 to 1994, starring a sketch comedy troupe made up of five guys: Dave Foley (the one from NewsRadio), Bruce McCulloch (now directing, mostly) Kevin McDonald (you know him, seriously), Mark McKinney (he spent a few years recently on SNL, and what a waste), and Scott Thompson (out-and-proud during his time on the show, and now hosting My Fabulous Gay Wedding). The group name was taken from a joke by Sid Caesar; whenever a particular joke bombed, he'd say that one came from "the kids in the hall." Yes, I got that from Wikipedia. Shhh.
"Sketch Comedy" usually calls up mental pictures of Saturday Night Live, but KitH was much closer to Monty Python in origin and tone. They left celebrity impressions and pop culture satire by the roadside in order to frolic around in the absurd. Sketches would get weird, make a left turn into crazy, and then end abruptly, only to crash in again three sketches later. Breaking the fourth wall happened pretty regularly; the guys would monologue sometimes as themselves (or, really, playing themselves, such as the sketch where Scott announced he wasn't gay any more and the rest of the troupe flailed). During a different sketch - involving a guy picking up a dead girl's ashes for a date - Mark McKinney came out to go "Isn't this a terrible sketch? And you're paying for it! Screw you, taxpayer!" And, of course, a man was asking his boss for a raise, by pointing out the lovely sketch he'd written of a man asking his boss for a raise, but unfortunately, he forgot to write an ending ... leaving the two trapped in the sketch forever.
RECURRING CHARACTERS
Most of the characters featured unique one-shot situations, such as a man telling another man he was trapped in a basement for the entirety of the 1960s and had never heard of these ... Beatles, did you say? Supposedly, the Kids weren't that crazy about the idea of recurring characters, but the network was. I'm guessing they considered it a compromise to have the recurring characters be as insane as possible.
Here are just a couple of the memorable ones:
| A sexist jerk who has a cabbage for a head. And tries to score, a lot, and fails, a lot, and likes to point out that you're just oppressing him because he has a cabbage for a head! If you fall for his fake-weeping, he'll probably try to cop a feel. | |
| The chicken lady. Her dad was a redneck and her mom was ... a chicken. She has issues. And so will you, if you end up on a date with her. You poor thing. | |
| Watch your head. Because he is crushing it. He is at one point vanquished by someone holding their thumb over where he should be and announcing "There is nobody home!" | |
| Simon Milligan, the host of "The Pit of Ultimate Darkness", and his sidekick, Manservant Hecubus. Who is here to serve you, Master ... aaaaaaand Satan! The show failed at evil but succeeded at winning at life, which is far more important. | |
| Surely you recognize these two, Jerry! |
THE SIZZLERS
Jerry and Jerry Sizzler are only in three sketches. Ever. There's a limited canon if you're ever going to find one, huh? I figure that excuses me giving a breakdown of all three.
Their first appearance is in season 2, episode 203, where a news broadcaster announces that two clearly insane people have broken out of an asylum. There's a follow-up report that two donkeys have been stolen, and we cut to a night club where Jerry and Jerry are insisting they are two lounge-singing sisters, and not two clearly insane people, and thus, they should be allowed to perform. They ask if there's a piano player. While looking right at him. And then ask if he has fingers. Good! Introduce them or die.
Their performance is a rousing success, especially when they realize the late Roy Orbison is in the audience. No, he doesn't look anything like Roy Orbison. Well, and they run the piano player off, for trying to intrude on their a capella act, and they stop during "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" to lie on the floor and count all the ribbons they can see. (It's one hundred.) And then they dash away again. As you do.
Several sketches later, there's a phone that won't stop ringing, and clearly it's an evil phone! A phone like that time in 'Nam! ... No, it's just the Jerries chanting PICK UP THE PHONE.
The Sizzlers show up again in season 2, episode 205, where they attempt to rob a bank. They order everyone to swap shoes, tell two people to fall in love, and then try to deposit money into their checking account. When the coppers arrive, the blonde Jerry shoots the dark-haired Jerry and both run away screaming "It's a madhouse!"
They aren't heard from again until season 3, episode 316, where a very normal Dave Foley answers the door and finds - HIS SISTER JERRY! Dave informs still-crazy Jerry that they're actually two guys named Lester and Jean-Pierre and that he should take the meds, because they work. They really do. And Lester has a life now, thanks, and a job and a wife and he likes it, and please don't let this get screwed up? Which of course means he's back to Jerrying by the end of the sketch, and the two exit stage left singing "On the Road Again."
And that's it. Jerry canon in its entirety. The Kids in the Hall lasted two more seasons, but Jerry and Jerry never appeared again.
POST-KITH
The Kids also put out a movie in 1996 called Brain Candy, which we won't talk about here because wow, was it a flop, and somehow, not all that funny. I'm amazed, too. Let's just move on.
The Kids moved on to solo careers, with varying degrees of success, and went on a reunion tour in 2000 and another in 2002. (I saw the latter in Cleveland, and it ruled.) They also performed at the Just for Laughs festival in Toronto, with new material, and someone needs to tell me how I can get my hands on that, please.
WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH
... Okay, if the chicken lady and Jerrying didn't convince you, I'm not sure what will. It's insane. It's weird and hyper and meta and hysterical and bizarre. Want some clips? Let's check out some clips.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL-HZpZ2ato <-- Dave Foley is your friendly neighborhood axe murderer. Can he borrow your axe?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjMYQyhjiYA <-- He's not being sarcastic. Honest!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjw55UAcGi8 <-- Chronic bad luck in marriages.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kBmmFFC_gY <-- Okay, this scar sort of looks like a swastika ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySOobUqOhwY <-- So, are you painting that chair? That certainly looks like you're painting that chair ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYDOsr1Zrpo <-- The trappers, which is where my OOC icon comes from.
(NOTE: Broadway Video likes to police their copyrights, so vids keep coming down from YouTube. I have no idea how long these will stay up.)
WHERE YOU CAN GET IT
Comedy Central reairs the episodes, but it's hit and miss when they do. There are clips on YouTube, but again, Broadway Video likes to pull those down, which is why I don't have any Sizzler clips for you, sorry.
Your best bet is to go out and get the DVDs. I promise, they're worth it.
WEBSITES
KITHfan.org - transcripts, interviews, trivia, images, and info on all five Kids
KITH on Wikipedia
Kids in the Hall Audio Archive - which lets me link to this clip of Kevin's Jerry, even if I can't show you Dave's.
QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? RADIOACTIVE SQUID?
ETA: I just now found Sizzler clips on YouTube. I have been looking for months.
Lounge Singers
Bank Robbery
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"... Uh ... never on the first date?"
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She'll make your life a living hell
Darcy!
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No. This is so easy!
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