Hall Pass: An Oral History of Kids In The Hall
December 5, 2013 7:08 AM Subscribe
It's a drug....that gives worms....to ex-girlfriends!
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:38 AM on December 5, 2013 [8 favorites]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:38 AM on December 5, 2013 [8 favorites]
Is Dave Foley's life straightened out at all? I know he was having some major issues with his ex-wife.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:39 AM on December 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Chrysostom at 7:39 AM on December 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Nice, I'm going to see them tonight at the Isabel Bader Theatre.
posted by gman at 7:44 AM on December 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by gman at 7:44 AM on December 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
So, my sister is an MD, and when she was in med school, I was visiting her one day when I made a "So long as there aren't any…flipper babies!" joke, which she laughed at. But what makes it so great is the next week she was learning about thalidomide in one of her pharmacology classes, and they were showing pictures of people with deformities caused by using it during pregnancy, and all she could think of was me doing the bit, so she had to stifle laughter the entire time, while getting understandably dirty looks from her classmates.
That's what big brothers are for, though.
posted by Elementary Penguin at 7:46 AM on December 5, 2013 [6 favorites]
That's what big brothers are for, though.
posted by Elementary Penguin at 7:46 AM on December 5, 2013 [6 favorites]
Is Dave Foley's life straightened out at all? I know he was having some major issues with his ex-wife.
Dave Foley is one of my childhood favorite actors, between KitH and Newsradio and I have just completely stopped following his career because the sort of situation he is in is not one you can easily or painlessly extract yourself from and it's just god, I want to give him a hug.
posted by griphus at 7:55 AM on December 5, 2013 [8 favorites]
Dave Foley is one of my childhood favorite actors, between KitH and Newsradio and I have just completely stopped following his career because the sort of situation he is in is not one you can easily or painlessly extract yourself from and it's just god, I want to give him a hug.
posted by griphus at 7:55 AM on December 5, 2013 [8 favorites]
Elementary Penguin: So, my sister is an MD, and when she was in med school, I was visiting her one day when I made a "So long as there aren't any…flipper babies!" joke
I work in a pharmacy, and I have to refrain from making a there have been... a few flipper babies" joke on a weekly basis.
posted by Rock Steady at 7:56 AM on December 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
I work in a pharmacy, and I have to refrain from making a there have been... a few flipper babies" joke on a weekly basis.
posted by Rock Steady at 7:56 AM on December 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Oh, and Scott Thompson has a recurring role on Hannibal as an ME, if anyone misses him as much as it turns out I did.
posted by griphus at 7:57 AM on December 5, 2013 [5 favorites]
posted by griphus at 7:57 AM on December 5, 2013 [5 favorites]
It's Lah-na, not Laa-na, and shut up!
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:28 AM on December 5, 2013
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:28 AM on December 5, 2013
I went on a road trip with 6 or 8 friends to watch a taping of the show. It was great fun. The guys all came out after to shake hands and say hi. My friend Jerry actually got to touch Paul Bellini. I wonder if he still has the photo.
posted by putzface_dickman at 8:29 AM on December 5, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by putzface_dickman at 8:29 AM on December 5, 2013 [3 favorites]
I suspect KITH are indirectly responsible for my young idea of "Oh, this is what Canada is like!" as a girl, and realizing upon marrying a Canadian and relocating to said country that was not inaccurate.
posted by Kitteh at 9:00 AM on December 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Kitteh at 9:00 AM on December 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
I am crushing all of your usernames as I read this thread.
posted by obscure simpsons reference at 9:01 AM on December 5, 2013 [14 favorites]
posted by obscure simpsons reference at 9:01 AM on December 5, 2013 [14 favorites]
Kids in the Hall and Absolutely Fabulous shaped so much of my young life, along with Beavis and Butt-head and Daria, that it totally explains why I am a bizarre, sarcastic drunken weirdo.
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 9:04 AM on December 5, 2013 [11 favorites]
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 9:04 AM on December 5, 2013 [11 favorites]
So sorry that they had to wait a full NINE MONTHS struggling before getting a TV show, though.
posted by Old Man Wilson at 9:24 AM on December 5, 2013
posted by Old Man Wilson at 9:24 AM on December 5, 2013
My Pen!
Kids in the Hall were so much of my late teens/early 20's.
They made those Thursday nights bearable at university, when you had to stay home and watch TV (on CBC, one of the maybe 4 channels we got because we couldn't afford cable!) because you didn't have any money left for food let alone beer or the $5 cover to see Plasterscene Replicas again at Call the Office.
posted by chococat at 9:26 AM on December 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
Kids in the Hall were so much of my late teens/early 20's.
They made those Thursday nights bearable at university, when you had to stay home and watch TV (on CBC, one of the maybe 4 channels we got because we couldn't afford cable!) because you didn't have any money left for food let alone beer or the $5 cover to see Plasterscene Replicas again at Call the Office.
posted by chococat at 9:26 AM on December 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
It has always been my life goal to touch Paul Bellini
posted by Ber at 9:26 AM on December 5, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by Ber at 9:26 AM on December 5, 2013 [4 favorites]
Weird - they found a picture of a bunch of old guys that look sort of like the Kids in the Hall.
posted by dirtdirt at 9:38 AM on December 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by dirtdirt at 9:38 AM on December 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
“I remember Scott getting upset that he couldn’t show come on TV. ‘But it’s the stuff of life!’ ‘Yes, Scott, but we still can’t show it on TV.’” – McCulloch
This is perfect. Thanks for the great post!
posted by dialetheia at 9:51 AM on December 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
This is perfect. Thanks for the great post!
posted by dialetheia at 9:51 AM on December 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
I've only seen my mom laugh so hard she had trouble breathing twice. The first time was the scene in The Naked Gun where Drebin is stumbling around the outside of the villain's apartment and winds up hanging by a statue's dick. The second was the KITH skit where the Chicken Lady goes to a strip club.
posted by The Card Cheat at 10:08 AM on December 5, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by The Card Cheat at 10:08 AM on December 5, 2013 [3 favorites]
“I remember Scott getting upset that he couldn’t show come on TV. ‘But it’s the stuff of life!’ ‘Yes, Scott, but we still can’t show it on TV.’”
Between this and the brutal censorship of 'Hitler Fucks a Donkey'.... I don't even know how they could handle the oppression.
posted by FatherDagon at 10:52 AM on December 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Between this and the brutal censorship of 'Hitler Fucks a Donkey'.... I don't even know how they could handle the oppression.
posted by FatherDagon at 10:52 AM on December 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Love the KitH, thanks for posting. So many great bits, and so deeply weird. To this day, I can't see someone drinking a daiquiri without thinking of 'Girl Drink Drunk.'
(Looks like the entire run is on Netflix, btw)
posted by Bron at 11:19 AM on December 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
(Looks like the entire run is on Netflix, btw)
posted by Bron at 11:19 AM on December 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
I got the box set for Christmas last year (5 seasons and Death Comes To Town) and usually watch an episode during breakfast. I'm amazed at how much of it still holds up and makes me howl with laughter.
posted by Twicketface at 11:44 AM on December 5, 2013
posted by Twicketface at 11:44 AM on December 5, 2013
Don't have time to read this right now; I'm in the middle of a big bike race!
posted by ShutterBun at 11:57 AM on December 5, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by ShutterBun at 11:57 AM on December 5, 2013 [4 favorites]
Girl Drink Drunk and "damn salty ham" are regularly occurring phrases in my daily life, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
posted by misskaz at 12:08 PM on December 5, 2013
posted by misskaz at 12:08 PM on December 5, 2013
Earlier this year, the company for which I work won a "Best Places to Work" award. Gentleman Caller said it was good that I don't work in PR, because I'd probably say that working here is like one of the Cathie & Kathy sketches on The Kids in the Hall.
The proof is in the pasta!
posted by pxe2000 at 12:28 PM on December 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
The proof is in the pasta!
posted by pxe2000 at 12:28 PM on December 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
It has always been my life goal to touch Paul Bellini
I met him briefly once, told him I enjoyed his work, and shook his hand.
posted by ovvl at 12:44 PM on December 5, 2013
I met him briefly once, told him I enjoyed his work, and shook his hand.
posted by ovvl at 12:44 PM on December 5, 2013
totally explains why I am a bizarre, sarcastic drunken weirdo
Oh, I'm not being sarcastic. Nooooo, this is just a little speech impediment. I can't help it.
posted by obscure simpsons reference at 12:44 PM on December 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
Oh, I'm not being sarcastic. Nooooo, this is just a little speech impediment. I can't help it.
posted by obscure simpsons reference at 12:44 PM on December 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
What did my mother always say about taking care of my eyes?
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:51 PM on December 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:51 PM on December 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
I'm pretty sure it was "Kill Danny".
posted by Elementary Penguin at 12:51 PM on December 5, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by Elementary Penguin at 12:51 PM on December 5, 2013 [3 favorites]
I have a memory stuck in my head of a poster on a telephone pole from the days when they were doing the Rivoli: Kids in the Hall - Too Cynical to Fuck. But maybe it never really existed or I'm mixing it up with something else (Bunchoffuckinggoofs posters were all around at that time too). Last winter I saw Scott Thompson on the subway, seemingly just another aging guy who no one recognized travelling alone on a Saturday night. It was a bit dispiriting, to see someone who would be a local hero to your time and kind of people so apparently anonymous. But then a short time later I saw him be absolutely hilarious MC'ing the Doug Wright Awards at the Toronto Comics Convention. Maybe it was a small gig, a zero budget geek fest that was interrupted by a fire alarm that went on for 15 minutes, but he was great at tossing it all off, giving so earnest Seth a hard time the whole night.
posted by TimTypeZed at 1:19 PM on December 5, 2013
posted by TimTypeZed at 1:19 PM on December 5, 2013
A master's class in playing a straight man: the first Chicken Lady sketch. The real star is Dave Foley. Watch his responses. He's brilliant.
posted by Joey Michaels at 4:34 PM on December 5, 2013 [7 favorites]
posted by Joey Michaels at 4:34 PM on December 5, 2013 [7 favorites]
Never put salt in your eyes.
posted by jewzilla at 4:55 PM on December 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by jewzilla at 4:55 PM on December 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
"I'm wearing a house dress with nothing on underneath and I'm hot... hot for you..."
I'll repeat this line endlessly as an example of bad dirty talk, however, to date only a few of my friends have laughed, but they gentle readers, and now my best friends.
posted by 1f2frfbf at 5:35 PM on December 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
I'll repeat this line endlessly as an example of bad dirty talk, however, to date only a few of my friends have laughed, but they gentle readers, and now my best friends.
posted by 1f2frfbf at 5:35 PM on December 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Please tell me I'm not the only one who's spent the past twenty years suppressing the urge at meetings to sing Alouette because of this.
posted by Dr. Zira at 5:43 PM on December 5, 2013 [7 favorites]
posted by Dr. Zira at 5:43 PM on December 5, 2013 [7 favorites]
SAUSAGES!!!!!
posted by Rev. Syung Myung Me at 5:46 PM on December 5, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by Rev. Syung Myung Me at 5:46 PM on December 5, 2013 [3 favorites]
I took some photos at tonight's show. They were fuckin' hilarious.
posted by gman at 7:25 PM on December 5, 2013 [5 favorites]
posted by gman at 7:25 PM on December 5, 2013 [5 favorites]
Those are great, gman, thanks! Bellini, Gavin, what's not to love. And is that the dipping areas sketch? I adore the dipping areas sketch.
posted by dialetheia at 7:35 PM on December 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by dialetheia at 7:35 PM on December 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
Oh the beaver, what were we thinking!
posted by Ber at 7:39 PM on December 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Ber at 7:39 PM on December 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Each day I feel the darkness. Each day I feel the blackness.
posted by PROD_TPSL at 9:40 PM on December 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by PROD_TPSL at 9:40 PM on December 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
That was a great article. Such fun reminiscing about those great old sketches. Wish I had more time to enjoy them, but it's getting late, so I'd better get g--TRY IT NOW!!!
posted by ShutterBun at 10:38 PM on December 5, 2013
posted by ShutterBun at 10:38 PM on December 5, 2013
MetaFilter: Thirty Helens Agree
posted by not_on_display at 11:34 PM on December 5, 2013 [7 favorites]
posted by not_on_display at 11:34 PM on December 5, 2013 [7 favorites]
My favorite part about Thirty Helens Agree is that it ends up being a season-long setup for the Twenty-Nine Helens Agree gag,
posted by Elementary Penguin at 1:06 AM on December 6, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Elementary Penguin at 1:06 AM on December 6, 2013 [1 favorite]
Well, I'm sure the Great Leader is just some sort of twisted ass freak.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 4:25 AM on December 6, 2013
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 4:25 AM on December 6, 2013
I took some photos at tonight's show. They were fuckin' hilarious.
Oh man, they did the dipping areas?? That is such a transcendently great sketch. My brother and I have often used that as an example of how unique the KITH's humor is...On paper you wonder why anyone would find such a mundane concept funny, but they make it hilarious. Something about four grown men discussing this really dumb problem so seriously, as if they're trying to unlock a safe without the combination. It's a toughie.
I clearly recall seeing my first KITH sketch when it first aired on HBO (at a friend's house, no HBO at mine). It was a Weston and Virgil sketch in an episode in season 1, and was my first exposure to sketch comedy that wasn't SNL or SCTV.
At the time, the more I watched the more impressed I was that not only did they not do direct spoofs of pop culture (which SNL and SCTV did constantly), but they rarely even referenced anything like that. Their comedy came across as smarter to me by seeming to leap out there without those kinds of nets. They certainly were the first to really open my mind to the possibilities of comedy about real life, as opposed to pop cultural commentary.
posted by doctornecessiter at 5:03 AM on December 6, 2013 [3 favorites]
Oh man, they did the dipping areas?? That is such a transcendently great sketch. My brother and I have often used that as an example of how unique the KITH's humor is...On paper you wonder why anyone would find such a mundane concept funny, but they make it hilarious. Something about four grown men discussing this really dumb problem so seriously, as if they're trying to unlock a safe without the combination. It's a toughie.
I clearly recall seeing my first KITH sketch when it first aired on HBO (at a friend's house, no HBO at mine). It was a Weston and Virgil sketch in an episode in season 1, and was my first exposure to sketch comedy that wasn't SNL or SCTV.
At the time, the more I watched the more impressed I was that not only did they not do direct spoofs of pop culture (which SNL and SCTV did constantly), but they rarely even referenced anything like that. Their comedy came across as smarter to me by seeming to leap out there without those kinds of nets. They certainly were the first to really open my mind to the possibilities of comedy about real life, as opposed to pop cultural commentary.
posted by doctornecessiter at 5:03 AM on December 6, 2013 [3 favorites]
“Kevin and Scott were living in L.A. at the time as well. I started calling Kevin up and inviting him over and hanging out with him. We’d go to movies together and became friends again. Then I did the same thing with Scott. We put all the fights behind us. When we’d go out together, we’d see how people were affected by seeing us together and started thinking, ‘Wow. What we had was something really special.’” - Foley
It's a good thing that during the time that they were broken up I didn't happen to be walking down the street and see Dave Foley hanging out amicably with another Kid In The Hall. I probably would have lost my shit with glee and started crying or thrown up on them and Foley would have freaked out and they never ever would have gotten back together.
posted by doctornecessiter at 6:02 AM on December 6, 2013 [1 favorite]
It's a good thing that during the time that they were broken up I didn't happen to be walking down the street and see Dave Foley hanging out amicably with another Kid In The Hall. I probably would have lost my shit with glee and started crying or thrown up on them and Foley would have freaked out and they never ever would have gotten back together.
posted by doctornecessiter at 6:02 AM on December 6, 2013 [1 favorite]
« Older Shoot that poison arrow | Furtherfield's 17 years of oppositional agency Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by Rock Steady at 7:35 AM on December 5, 2013 [10 favorites]