Kids in the Hall: Tour of Duty

Unlike the previous comment, I think the Kids in the Hall can definitely lay claim to being Canada's favorite troublemakers. Just because the series was filmed in Toronto, doesn't make them a Toronto comedy troupe. If you look at where they each came from, you will find only one of them is from Toronto...the rest are from Edmonton, Ottawa, Montreal and North Bay. Pretty diverse example of Canadiana, I think.

There seems to be a misconception that only Martime/Newfie humour (This Hour..., Rick Mercer, Codco) makes up good Canadian humour. Not all good Canadian comedy has to come from the Atlantic Coast...as the Kids and Brett Butt (Corner Gas) have proved.

I bought this DVD after seeing it at a local store and for the most part it brought back memories of their old CBC series. "Tour of Duty" was a bit uneven.

There was a mix of classic characters and new sketches but some of the sketches seemed to have no ending.

The best bits were "Pit of Ultimate Darkness:Multiple Personalities", "Headcrusher", "Kathie/Cathy: Is He?", "Citizen Kane", and in the Bonus scenes "Joymakers".

I have to say that Kevin McDonald is my favorite "Kid". In "Tour of Duty" he is the spark in many of the bits. He also tries several times to break up the other guys by doing something off the script or changing a line.

Dave Foley - my second favorite looks like he put on some weight since I last saw him on "News Radio". He doesn't look like a stick anymore.

Scott Thompson sure can sweat.

Mark McKinney's and Bruce McCulloch's bit poking fun at the US and infomercials was a hoot.

I guess to sum up, it came across as rehearsed and it seemed better when Kevin went off the script. Still it is a good concert overall.

If you are a core KITH fan buy the video, if you aren't then rent it.

Basically the whole tour show (well, not the whole thing I guess, but the best parts). The DVD contains bonus footage which is worth getting: a seven minute version of Joymakers with a twist ending, plus a song from Bruce and some stuff from Craig Northey. It also gives you a chance to see what happens behind stage. Same Guys New Dresses gave us sneak peaks of the tour shows and a look behind the scenes, this gives us the reverse.

All in all, I think they will mostly be remembered for their stage shows. It's what they do best. They even ran their show as one half hour stage show, as if they were playing live. Only, while they tour their sketches are cut off at appropriate moments or punchlines. Their show usually gave time for the sketches to have an ending, but this wouldn't work on tour because there's no mix between sketches. The show usually gave an quiet ending to the sketches just for the sake of having an ending, while the live shows now end in a laugh. Either way, it's still good to see them together again. Their performances still keep getting better. Even when they crack up it's still funny.

I was at one of the dates on this tour. The DVD basically is the whole thing. It wasn't a very long show. It was, however, just as fun. They did improve alot of things in the skits. Some of the parts of the skits were not in the show I saw. Lines were different. It was/is a fantastic show and I highly recommend it.