NOTE: Numerous spoilers follow!
Tonight's KITH show at the Orpheum Theater, Los Angeles, was a
delight. It's only the second time I've seen them live; the first was
several years ago, a "greatest hits" series of sketches with mostly
old material. This evening's show featured almost completely new
material with some well-chosen running characters. No opening act;
they went on at about 8:15 and performed until about 10. "Sets" were
minimal, with the occasional chairs and maybe a table; a series of
slides provided most of the ambiance. I enjoyed the show very much. I
was especially gratified that it was almost completely new material,
and it was damned funny. Hope they put this out on DVD or fa****on a
new TV special out of it. It will be a big hit with longtime fans.
Here's a rundown of what they did:
1. Show opens with a videoclip, the "Let's rape Kevin" bit you can
find online. My only gripe was that the Orpheum's AV people had not
bothered to aim the film directly at the screen, and the ratio was
also incorrect. It took them nearly a full minute to put it right. I
was embarrassed for all concerned, but glad I had seen the clip online
already.
2. The Kids come out and take their bows. Scott does a funny bit where
he produces a bouquet of flowers and throws them down on the stage,
pretending somebody in the audience threw them there for him.
3. Hateful Baby - Couple Dave (male, here after M) and Kevin (female,
hereafter F) visit new parents Mark (M) and Bruce (F) for the purpose
of seeing their new baby. Initially excited, Dave and Kevin soon
become horrified when they realize the baby is "hateful," or
"Auschwitz in a swaddling," according to Dave. Mark and Bruce want to
make a horrified Dave and Kevin the godparents. A very cute bit.
4. Buddy Cole on "Why Jesus Was Gay."
5. Gut Spigots -- Mark and Bruce's "marketer" characters pitch their
weight-loss gizmo. It was OK, but the boys gesticulated to the point
of utter absurdity.
6. Drunk Time Machine -- Kevin and Dave are at a bar when "last call"
arrives. It makes little difference to Dave, who has an ace up his
sleeve for getting more booze. Hilarious!
7. Gavin Meets the Jehovah's Witnesses -- Mostly a rehash of the
original TV sketch, with some different patter thrown in.
8. Kevin's song -- The joke is that he's only finished about three-
quarters of the song (and just learned how to play the guitar that
day). Cute bit.
9. Kathy and Cathy -- They run into each other at a bistro; Kathy
reveals that the secret of her trim figure is that she's been tweaking
meth. It was funny, but I thought they sold out the character for some
cheap laughs; the "cute and perky" Kathy with a K that we know would
never do drugs.
10. Mark's monologue -- Can't remember a thing about it, and I saw it
about an hour ago.
11. Car ****ers - A videoclip featuring Kevin (F) wanting to know why
it's taking so long for mechanics to fix her car. Dave had a critical
bit at the end of this. Very amusing.
12. My Imaginary Girlfriend -- This was the highlight of the evening's
entertainment, harkening back to the series' sketch where Kevin was
suing himself for ***ual harassment. In this one, Dave visits Kevin,
despondent that his imaginary girlfriend is cheating on him. (Kevin:
"Are you crazy? Camille would never do that to you. She loves you!")
Four stars --I hope someone has bootlegged this bit.
13. Chicken Lady has Phone ***. Self-explanatory. Not bad; great crowd-
pleaser. Best gag: "I shave my feathers down there."
14. BJ on Your B-Day -- Bruce (F) administers oral *** to her husband
Dave on his birthday. This had one of the best punch lines of the
whole night.
15. Gay Scandal -- Two gay couples (Dave & Scott and Mark & Kevin)
deal with the fact that one of them has left his mate for a....woman.
Bruce does a nice bit as a ***y Swede who doesn't really speak English
OR Swedish. That said, this was one of the weakest sketches.
16. The Dance Rap -- A Bruce song; he starts it and is later joined by
the others. "In 10th grade I danced like this..." "In 11th grade I
danced like this..." Marginally amusing.
17. Drunk Time Traveler #2
18. Superdrunk -- A superhero who uses his powers of inebriation for
good, rather than evil. Silly but amusing.
19. Curtain call
20. Head Crusher Encore -- Mark crushes the heads of everybody in the
audience, then all of the other Kids in the Hall, and finally himself.
He used a camcorder, the feed of which we all got to see on the big
screen. (Note to the girl he filmed and then threw a flower to: I took
a photo of you while your face was on the movie screen!)
I think that's everything!
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