Kids in the Hall 101

Months ago, back at DBC Episode 16, we did a babes of the month (back when we still did those) about The Kids in the Hall. I had put off featuring them for a long time because I was frightened of their wealth of material. There was too much KITH to choose from and I was too in love with it all to pick and choose (death for an editor). I knew that combining their plethora of clip-rich shows with my OCD would mean hours upon hours of obsessive editing in my basement...and I was right.

In the beginning, I was having a blast snipping up my heroes. It felt like I was having a conversation with them and combining my creative talents with theirs! It was like we were working in tandem, I was no longer just an armchair viewer, I was engaged! Then the hours ticked by and I began to resent them. I mean, what is so special about them anyway? They are just a bunch of silly comedians. Why should I have to spend every spare moment inside snipping seconds off their bits and building little montages with their segments?

This is the way every editing project goes for me, it is a pretty standard process. I begin euphoric and happy ("Oh boy, what fun this is!"), seeds of resentfulness and annoyance plant themselves ("This is stupid..."), transition into complete and utter hatred for my subject matter ("What a waste of time") and, weeks later when I am long done, find a new appreciation every time I watch the segment. I think this is my standard love/hate/love creation process. Love becomes hate and then returns to love once again (if I am lucky).

I experienced the same process with KITH and toward the end of my frantic editing sojourn, I was sick to death of KITH and couldn't see straight. It took me FOREVER to put together the KITH Babes of the Month segment and the mammoth beast ended up 40 minutes long which converted Episode 16 into a Kids in the Hall tribute episode by default. Weeks later when we were watching it on Channel 15, it began to grow on me and I forgave the Kids and fell in love with them all over again.

Of course, they are just too damn funny and too damn amazing not to feature. Years ago, when Margot and I were living in California, we were total KITH addicts. I had just moved to Cali and Margot was a grad student. We didn't really know anyone so the kids became our best mates. We watched their CBS late night episodes with a religious devotion and tape recorded every single episode. I think the kids might have saved our lives that summer as there wasn't much else to distract us from the sad reality of our lonely, slow summer days.

We eventually made it out to Toronto to see one of their final tapings and even had brief interactions with a couple of the kids. As it always is when you meet your idols, you find you have little to say to them. I mean, these could not possibly be the people you felt like you knew so well? These were some sort of faded shadows of the kids, body snatchers who appeared much shorter and fatter in person. But I am glad we went and that we shared this summer fling with the Kids, the best 5 boyfriends sisters could ever have!

Here is our babes of the month 40 minute Kids in the Hall segment in all its obsessive glory - cut up into 5 bite sized You Tube installments for your viewing pleasure:

BOTM: Kids in the Hall,
Part 1, Intro and breakdown of all their characters
Part 2, Dave Foley and Bruce McCullouch
Part 3, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney, Scott Thompson
Part 4, KITH Then and Now
Part 5, KITH Montage to They Might Be Giants, "Birdhouse in Your Soul"
(Part 5 is below)



And to double your KITH pleasure, please enjoy "Nobody Likes Us!"