The Kids in the Hall

Whether you love 'em or hate 'em, you have to admit that there's never been anything like the KIDS IN THE HALL. Sure, sketch comedy shows are a dime a dozen, but these guys set themselves apart from all the rest with their unmatchable brand of bizarre, surreal, and often gender-defiant skits. The show is usually downright hilarious, although some of the jokes do miss their mark on occasion. But even the most unfunny sketches are entertaining, simply because of how insane they are.

The humor in KIDS IN THE HALL is, for the most part, purely unexplainable, and sometimes it's actually subtly disturbing--an experimental sort of comedy that best fits in the "either you get it or you don't" category. When watching KITH with a group, the viewer response will invariably be split: one half will be teary-eyed from laughter while the rest of the gang will be hopelessly confused or frustrated, making condescending statements like "I don't see how you think this is funny!"

It's clear that these lovable Canucks decided from the get-go that they were going to do exactly what they wanted, without too much concern for genre standards, formulas, or even success. And that, I think, is the secret to their success. Whether they intended to or not, these five KIDS succeeded in carving themselves a very distinct niche in the world of sketch comedy, towering above even SNL because of their fresh style and consistent hilarity.

Kids in the Hall has always been one of my favorites. I remember once watching a KITH Marathon on TV that ran for something like 12 hours. It was hilarious, and I've often wondered how people could create comedy that was so completely over the edge.

Favorite skits: David Foley as a banker on a blind date with the Chicken Lady (who sounded, for the most part, amazingly normal,) and Kevin McDonald's turns as a cop suffering from terminal demoralization (particularly the one where Foley's character is getting robbed at home and doesn't seem to mind it all that much!)

I've probably seen every episode of this show's six year run,could probably recite most of the sketches and I keep track of what each of the five from Canada is up to. And I still wish this show were back with new programs. Alas,that would be folly,as they all have moved on and gotten much older,thus making them not really "Kids" at all.

I've often wondered which of the five was my favorite. Long story very short:I can't really decide. They're ALL very funny and talented! (I suppose if pressed,I'd say I tilt slightly more toward Dave or Mark) Their ability to mimic people's foibles and quirks,male OR female,and the writing's ability to capture the raw humor in absurdity and behavior made this show quite the stand-out of sketch comedy programs. This show had the rare distinction of claiming three(count'em,three!)networks as its home before each member decided to mutually end the show in late 1994/early,early 1995. It's kind of a shame that their careers didn't really take off(Dave and Scott had reasonable amounts of success since.Kevin works very steadily.Bruce directs and Mark...well,other than touring with the boys on their reunions,I'm not sure exactly how much this guy's working!),but they will always be remembered as the natural successor/Canadian cousin to "Monty Python"IMHO. I look forward to getting some of the eps(perhaps someday all)on DVD someday soon.

All of all the sketch comedy shows I have seen, The Kids In The Hall is the best damn comedy show ever. The Kids are outstanding and they are very funny and it was a shame that their show ended. I love them!! I was almost into tears when the show ended. I hope that someday they can do another reunion show. The coolest sketch comedy show i have seen in years.

This comedy series is just Hilarious in a freaky and silly way that nobody could match until this day! You will laugh the whole way through starting from the way they look, the way they talk and the topics they raise. It's hysterical. Represents not only transexuality, gays, women, couples, relationships and friendship but also deeper emotions and conflicts like being lonely, desperate, being the odd one, higher authorities, bosses and prison, dancers and shows, ego-related issues, socializing, 'being normal', belonging and mingling with others and 'being shameless, disinhibitied and open about oneself'. Imagine all this shown in the mid 80's and in the funniest way ever! Painful subjects acted by an absolutely talented crew. Funny all the way and every episode is unique. Best of all their freakiness makes you giggle in disbelief!