Outside of Monty Python and the early years of "Saturday Night Live," there’s never been a sketch comedy troupe more revered than Kids in the Hall. During the Kids’ TV run in the late '80s and early '90s, the five-man Canadian crew created a host of memorable recurring characters (Cabbage Head, Buddy Cole, the Cathys, Head Crusher) and made cross-dressing look easy. This year, the guys have returned for a series of new live shows that, unlike past reunions, is comprised of almost entirely new material. We caught up with KITH's Bruce McCulloch to see if this was a good idea.
During your reunion shows back in 2000, you guys were cracking each other up on stage.
That has stopped. It’s a rule! Actually, we’ve only done a few shows so far on this tour. Once we get it tight, we like to fuck around with each other on stage.
It does get harder. Actually, now we just tend to play chubbier women, and we do address that fact in the show. The only thing we don’t do now that we used to is play teenagers. I don’t know, I just get this vision of Bob Hope with a fucking baseball cap on his head, pretending to be a kid.
Who did you base the unbelievably sexist and desperate character of Cabbage Head on?
Believe it or not, it came from a feminist impulse. I had this girlfriend at the time, a smokin’ redhead, and she couldn’t go out without getting hit on. So I created this guy Cabbage Head, who hit on everything, but I mixed in a little shame, and had him use his bad childhood and the fact he had a cabbage on his head as an excuse to get laid.
Did you have a favorite sketch?
Not really. Kevin had a thing called "The King," about a guy who promised his friends everything and ended up disappointing them. It’s not one that would stand out to most people. Oh, and we also did a short surreal film called "Love and Sausages" that I love that almost broke up the troupe. The first cut was 20 minutes long.
Why reunite now?
Well, it’s been close to 25 years since we’ve started. And I think it's become sweeter with age. When we were young, we were all dependent on each other, and there was some tension because of that, whether it came to costs or time off or whatever. But now we just want to make some new shit! I mean, I have a show at ABC (Carpoolers), I've written films and done albums, and everybody is doing their own thing, too. So now we just do it to flex a creative muscle.
What’s your favorite part of the new material?
All the things I wrote. (Laughs). Can you add in "LOL" after that? I love that. We have some new ideas, some new short films we show. Scott’s character, Buddy Cole, has a taken on religion.
So this is pretty much all new material?
It's absolu-tute-ly new. Some of it is morphed from old ideas, but I'd say it’s 85 percent new. We just started writing, like in the old days, and found we were just really enjoying being with each other. It’s hard to get us together now—it's like getting five chickens in one bag. But oddly, the writer’s strike freed up some time.
Are there newer comedy shows you like?
Actually, I’ve just become interested in sketch again after years of not doing it. Human Giant and Derrick Comedy, both from
Are there any sketches you regret?
Oddly, it’s the other guys’ stuff that comes to mind (laughs). We always make fun of each other’s material. “Chalet 2000,” a sketch that Scott does where his character Buddy Cole fucks the Queen and flies around, is maybe one we make fun of.
We voted on you as the member we’d like to interview. Does that make you the most popular Kid?
No, just in your freaky little office. Actually, I’d say I’m the least popular…I don’t perform anymore, and the other guys do. I have a specific thing I do, comedy-wise, that I guess hits a lot of counter-culture cats. You don’t smell money with Bruce McCulloch. As my wife says, everything I touch turns to cult.
