Kids reunite with warped humor

By TARA DEMPSEY

The Kids in the Hall, that outrageous, off-beat and unconventional sketch comedy troupe from Canada, has reunited for their first North American tour in five years and they stopped in San Francisco last weekend for three sold-out performances at The Warfield.

For those unfamiliar with this cross-dressing cult phenomenon, an introduction (or should that be "explanation"?) is necessary. You may be asking yourself, "Why dresses?" Well, seeing as the group consists only of men (Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney and Scott Thompson), and they wanted a little variety in the show (i.e., female characters), it was a natural progression that they took on the roles that would normally be filled by women - and they got good at it. They do their best to look as realistic as possible (unless a role calls for them to look ridiculous), and they have no problem strolling around the stage with wigs and high heels on. Their biting sarcasm, insane characters and pure wit attack everything from religion to suburbia to the corporate life and beyond. Also, these "Kids" are all grown up Ð Thompson and McKinney are 40, McDonald and McCulloch are 38, and Foley, and baby of the group, just celebrated his 37th birthday.

Formed in 1986 by combining the comedy teams of Foley and McDonald, McColloch and McKinney and finally Thompson (who was last to join the group), the Kids were later discovered by "Saturday Night Live" producer Lorne Michaels. Their sketch comedy show ran from 1989 to 1994 on HBO (reruns can be seen weekdays at 2 p.m. on Comedy Central). After that, the guys embarked on solo projects but they always wanted to return to the stage for a tour, according to their publicist, Nina Zaborowsky. There was finally an opening in all of their schedules, and the Kids are back.

The doors at The Warfield opened an hour and a half before the show started Sunday night, and to relieve the restlessness of the 20-somethings in the audience, a slide show was prepared which began with just over 30 minutes left until show time. The slide show featured pictures of the group, as well as outtakes from the show, which would have been even more amusing if they actually had sound on instead of background music, and if the slides weren't repeated every 10 minutes.

As the slide show continued, an announcer came on the loudspeaker which said "it is now 12 to 42 minutes until show time," and explained The Kids in the Hall are five guys who "grew up in bungalows in a city called Canada." The announcer finally returned saying it was now time to meet The Kids in the Hall, and the simple but addictive bass and guitar of the show's theme song ("Having an Average Weekend" by Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet) blasted from the speakers. The troupe ran out on stage, all donning female attire, and after the cheers from the audience died down they went into their first skit: a reunion for the secretaries at the company A.T. and Love.

The show blended old skits with new material, which was a little surprising (and almost disappointing) because after five years one would think the guys would come up with completely new material instead of taking their reruns to the stage.

There were 14 skits total, and the transitions were very smooth and quick. The background was provided by changing pictures on the screens used for the slide show, and a minimal number of props were used.

McKinney, after playing Death in one skit, walked up to the front of the stage in his black cloak looking for more "victims," then pulled back his hood to reveal his "head crusher" character, in which he crushed the heads of those in the audience by squinting his eye and looking at a person with his thumb and index figure poised in front of his face. McDonald appeared in the audience as a heckler speaking in double negatives and McKinney yelled back, "Where did you learn your English - from Alanis Morissette?"

McCulloch brought back his character Gavin, a little kid full of trivia who always wears a baseball cap and a backpack and doesn't know when to shut up. Thompson's flamboyant martini-drinking Buddy Cole returned for a monologue on the New Year.

"Now if Celine Dion could just stay retired," Thompson said, "this might just be the best millennium ever!"

McDonald and Foley reprised their roles as Sir Simon Milligan and Manservant Hecubus - and their comical attempt at being gothic and "evil." McDonald caught Foley off guard after putting him into the "sleep of ages" trance by kissing him on the cheek ("He's evil, but he's so darn cute!" McDonald said). Foley's surprise was evident as his once serious expression was wiped away by a goofy smile that he could not suppress. McColloch and McKinney returned as their sleazy salesmen characters, pitching the newly renovated Jesus 2000 - "he forgives a lot faster," McColloch said.

Foley and McDonald seemed to be having the most fun on stage. A couple of technical glitches and ad-libs made the show all the more enjoyable, because the troupe was genuinely laughing along with the audience. It was a shame that old material was recycled for the new tour, but forgivable nonetheless as it was obvious the Kids and the audience both enjoyed the show. Foley happily slapped the hands of those in the front row as an immediate standing ovation and cheers erupted when McColloch thanked the audience for their support.