"'Death Comes to Town' twist on old format"
I was surprised to find this in the London Free Press this morning, so I found it online and thought I'd share.
Also, for Canadians, Death Comes to Town is on Tonight (Jan 12) at 9:00pm on CBC.
(There's also a lovely full-page add for it in the January issue of Famous Magazine found at Famous Players locations. If there are requests I can probably scan it. I couldn't find it online.)
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
'Death Comes to Town' twist on old format
By Bill Harris, QMI Agency
Our interview with Scott Thompson of Kids in the Hall was just beginning, and the laughter quickly followed.
Seated in the vicinity were the other four Kids, doing separate interviews. All were promoting their new series Kids in the Hall: Death Comes to Town, which debuts Tuesday night on CBC.
“I DON’T WANT TO TALK TOO LOUD, BECAUSE THE OTHER FOUR ARE GIVING INTERVIEWS IN THE SAME POD AND I DON’T WANT TO TRUMP THEIR INTERVIEWS,” Thompson bellowed.
People turned around. Thompson and yours truly both were laughing. Fellow Kid Kevin McDonald looked at Thompson, bowed and said, “You are the champion, sir.”
Always on, eh?
“I’m not ALWAYS on,” Thompson yelped again.
“I’m actually not on now, I’M JUST LOUD.”
Kid Dave Foley looked over his shoulder and said, “That’s what made Broadway great!”
‘A great bit’
I reminded Thompson of that old SCTV routine with Dave Thomas playing the guy who couldn’t control the volume of his voice.
“That was a great bit,” Thompson said. “God, they (SCTV) were great. It’s just sad they couldn’t pull off what we’ve pulled off, a comeback. It’s sad.”
So SCTV is lazy, huh?
“SCTV IS LAZY!” Thompson screamed.
We barely could control ourselves, we were laughing so hard. It was around this point that an attractive PR person came over and politely suggested that Thompson and I might want to move to another location.
“No, no, we’re fine, my schtick is done,” Thompson said.
The PR person departed, reluctantly. “Wow, we got hell,” I whispered to Thompson.
“We did!” Thompson agreed. “I guess a schtick can go too far.”
Well, going too far is what Canada’s beloved Kids in the Hall do best, isn’t it? It’s one of the reasons the fan base has remained so loyal to Thompson, McDonald, Foley, Mark McKinney and Bruce McCulloch over the past 20 years.
Sketch comedy was the order of the day for the original Kids in the Hall television series, which ran in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Death Comes to Town puts a twist on the old Kids format.
A single story-line - specifically, a small-town murder mystery - propels the entire series, with the five Kids playing almost all the characters.
“Is there a tradition of this sort of thing?” Thompson asked. “I don’t know how much precedent there is.
“There’s the British series, The League of Gentlemen, which definitely was a model for us. But we all played only three to five characters each. It wasn’t like Brain Candy (1996 movie), where we each played eight to 12.
“I guess it’s difficult, but we like difficult.”
It’s nice to know that after all this time, the Kids still can work together and don’t merely hate each other.
‘Burned all that’
“It’s a testament to the human spirit and the power of friendship,” Thompson said.
He chuckled momentarily, worried about the corny quotient, but then continued.
“We’ve been through so much together,” Thompson said. “At one point we all probably have hated each of the other ones. There has been a feud, pretty much, with everybody. But now we’ve burned all that.
“We still fight, but there’s no scorched earth like there used to be.”
Frankly, there also is a pragmatism to the Kids’ renewed partnership.
“There’s just a time factor,” said Thompson, 50. “We want to have a second chapter - or, I guess, a third chapter, since the second chapter would be the 14 years in the wilderness, although we did three tours.
“But you know, it is a testament to how much we love each other. That’s embarrassing to say, but we do. We do love comedy, and there’s nobody who makes us laugh more than each other.”
That’s something even Scott Thompson can’t say loudly enough.
Death Comes to Town on the CBC Website
Also, for Canadians, Death Comes to Town is on Tonight (Jan 12) at 9:00pm on CBC.
(There's also a lovely full-page add for it in the January issue of Famous Magazine found at Famous Players locations. If there are requests I can probably scan it. I couldn't find it online.)
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
'Death Comes to Town' twist on old format
By Bill Harris, QMI Agency
Our interview with Scott Thompson of Kids in the Hall was just beginning, and the laughter quickly followed.
Seated in the vicinity were the other four Kids, doing separate interviews. All were promoting their new series Kids in the Hall: Death Comes to Town, which debuts Tuesday night on CBC.
“I DON’T WANT TO TALK TOO LOUD, BECAUSE THE OTHER FOUR ARE GIVING INTERVIEWS IN THE SAME POD AND I DON’T WANT TO TRUMP THEIR INTERVIEWS,” Thompson bellowed.
People turned around. Thompson and yours truly both were laughing. Fellow Kid Kevin McDonald looked at Thompson, bowed and said, “You are the champion, sir.”
Always on, eh?
“I’m not ALWAYS on,” Thompson yelped again.
“I’m actually not on now, I’M JUST LOUD.”
Kid Dave Foley looked over his shoulder and said, “That’s what made Broadway great!”
‘A great bit’
I reminded Thompson of that old SCTV routine with Dave Thomas playing the guy who couldn’t control the volume of his voice.
“That was a great bit,” Thompson said. “God, they (SCTV) were great. It’s just sad they couldn’t pull off what we’ve pulled off, a comeback. It’s sad.”
So SCTV is lazy, huh?
“SCTV IS LAZY!” Thompson screamed.
We barely could control ourselves, we were laughing so hard. It was around this point that an attractive PR person came over and politely suggested that Thompson and I might want to move to another location.
“No, no, we’re fine, my schtick is done,” Thompson said.
The PR person departed, reluctantly. “Wow, we got hell,” I whispered to Thompson.
“We did!” Thompson agreed. “I guess a schtick can go too far.”
Well, going too far is what Canada’s beloved Kids in the Hall do best, isn’t it? It’s one of the reasons the fan base has remained so loyal to Thompson, McDonald, Foley, Mark McKinney and Bruce McCulloch over the past 20 years.
Sketch comedy was the order of the day for the original Kids in the Hall television series, which ran in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Death Comes to Town puts a twist on the old Kids format.
A single story-line - specifically, a small-town murder mystery - propels the entire series, with the five Kids playing almost all the characters.
“Is there a tradition of this sort of thing?” Thompson asked. “I don’t know how much precedent there is.
“There’s the British series, The League of Gentlemen, which definitely was a model for us. But we all played only three to five characters each. It wasn’t like Brain Candy (1996 movie), where we each played eight to 12.
“I guess it’s difficult, but we like difficult.”
It’s nice to know that after all this time, the Kids still can work together and don’t merely hate each other.
‘Burned all that’
“It’s a testament to the human spirit and the power of friendship,” Thompson said.
He chuckled momentarily, worried about the corny quotient, but then continued.
“We’ve been through so much together,” Thompson said. “At one point we all probably have hated each of the other ones. There has been a feud, pretty much, with everybody. But now we’ve burned all that.
“We still fight, but there’s no scorched earth like there used to be.”
Frankly, there also is a pragmatism to the Kids’ renewed partnership.
“There’s just a time factor,” said Thompson, 50. “We want to have a second chapter - or, I guess, a third chapter, since the second chapter would be the 14 years in the wilderness, although we did three tours.
“But you know, it is a testament to how much we love each other. That’s embarrassing to say, but we do. We do love comedy, and there’s nobody who makes us laugh more than each other.”
That’s something even Scott Thompson can’t say loudly enough.
Death Comes to Town on the CBC Website