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Kids in the Hall: Comedy Punks

nytimes.com

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Re: Kids in the Hall: Comedy Punks

#41

Post by geocrasher »

CharlesW wrote: post #39
stormbrew wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At it’s best it’s a very quintessentially Canadian sort of absurdism, but then you have to define Canadian. That said i think this is no less true of Monty Python which is really a very British kind of absurdism. Weirdly i feel like there’s no really good, singular American equivalent (certainly SNL isn’t it - Canada’s SNL is probably this hour has 22 minutes). Maybe like… In living color or something. It rarely make…

> Weirdly i feel like there’s no really good, singular American equivalent… I recommend checking out The State: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O9Eo-rlZZc

And now I have tape, all over my face.

Re: Kids in the Hall: Comedy Punks

#42

Post by the_af »

stormbrew wrote: post #36
version_five wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Part of that I think is their humor is very niche, and I don't know how to describe the niche. I had friends who absolutely loved them, and I never found any of their stuff remotely funny. There is something either in the context that people were introduced to them, or in some subtelness of people's sense of humor that seems to completely make or break how they get perceived. Sort of like the comedy equivalent of Rus…

At it’s best it’s a very quintessentially Canadian sort of absurdism, but then you have to define Canadian. That said i think this is no less true of Monty Python which is really a very British kind of absurdism. Weirdly i feel like there’s no really good, singular American equivalent (certainly SNL isn’t it - Canada’s SNL is probably this hour has 22 minutes). Maybe like… In living color or something. It rarely make…

> Weirdly i feel like there’s no really good, singular American equivalent

What about The Whitest Kids U Know? For some reason they remind me a lot of the Kids in the Hall, and not just because both have "kids" in their names. There's the absurdist humor, but I also think they even physically resemble the other troupe.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Whitest_Kids_U%27_Know

Example skit: "Happier And With Your Mouth Open" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwjmUWh-ymo)

Then there is the absolutely fabulous Key & Peele, I can lose hours just watching random sketches on YouTube. But they don't resemble the Kids in the Hall at all.

Re: Kids in the Hall: Comedy Punks

#44

Post by xattt »

throw0101a wrote: post #22

In case anyone is curious, the theme song is "Having an Average Weekend" by Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuifllwrFe0 * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadowy_Men_on_a_Shadowy_Plane... Live performance at Sled Island 2012 reunion show (at a Legion hall of course): * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmU3FYlRZNM

Can we please talk about how the new intro is able to reproduce the feel of the original?

The music really sells it a lot.

Watching the old intro beckons nostalgia for the 1990s and a simpler time. It felt like it just didn’t exist anymore in the current day. Yet, the new intro brings the same feeling for 2020s.

I’ve watched it over and over to catch small details that help build the feeling. Things I’ve noticed:

- Obviously both were shot on 8 mm (minus film grain lost in the transfer-to-tape in the original version).

- Peoples’ expressions seem genuine and candid

- The new intro starts anachronistic but, through indirect exposition, eases you into the fact that it’s modern day. You don’t see modern objects until the fourth or fifth shot of the intro (Mitsubishi Outlander car, bike trailers, dogs in bike trailers, longboards, etc).

Anything else I’m missing?

Re: Kids in the Hall: Comedy Punks

#45

Post by [deleted] »

the_af wrote: post #42
stormbrew wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At it’s best it’s a very quintessentially Canadian sort of absurdism, but then you have to define Canadian. That said i think this is no less true of Monty Python which is really a very British kind of absurdism. Weirdly i feel like there’s no really good, singular American equivalent (certainly SNL isn’t it - Canada’s SNL is probably this hour has 22 minutes). Maybe like… In living color or something. It rarely make…

> Weirdly i feel like there’s no really good, singular American equivalent What about The Whitest Kids U Know? For some reason they remind me a lot of the Kids in the Hall, and not just because both have "kids" in their names. There's the absurdist humor, but I also think they even physically resemble the other troupe. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Whitest_Kids_U%27_Know Example skit: "Happier And With Your Mouth…

[deleted]

Re: Kids in the Hall: Comedy Punks

#47

Post by werdnapk »

at_a_remove wrote: post #33

I was a fan of Kids in the Hall even during their whole pilot, which many might have missed. Look up "Brian's Bombshell" as an example. My theory is that each member has some strengths they play to. Dave passes best as a young woman and is also fantastic as a glittery-eyed psychopath (Manservant Hecubus, Sarcastic Guy, etc). Mark is amazing at accents and really inhabiting a character (Dar- ryll ). Scott, once he bre…

Vacant Lot was a great show. One of the cast members is the brother of Mark McKinney.

Re: Kids in the Hall: Comedy Punks

#50

Post by deeptote »

the_af wrote: post #42
stormbrew wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At it’s best it’s a very quintessentially Canadian sort of absurdism, but then you have to define Canadian. That said i think this is no less true of Monty Python which is really a very British kind of absurdism. Weirdly i feel like there’s no really good, singular American equivalent (certainly SNL isn’t it - Canada’s SNL is probably this hour has 22 minutes). Maybe like… In living color or something. It rarely make…

> Weirdly i feel like there’s no really good, singular American equivalent What about The Whitest Kids U Know? For some reason they remind me a lot of the Kids in the Hall, and not just because both have "kids" in their names. There's the absurdist humor, but I also think they even physically resemble the other troupe. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Whitest_Kids_U%27_Know Example skit: "Happier And With Your Mouth…

That's about as close as you can get.

Americans are too earnest to be into absurdist humor.

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