Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Kevin McDonald: Toronto Mike'd #557

Episode Date: December 12, 2019

Mike chats with Kids in the Hall founder Kevin McDonald about the Kids in the Hall, The Odds' Heterosexual Man, Brain Candy, Death Comes to Town, his appearances in Seinfeld, Friends and elsewhere, and his rock opera.

Coincidence? Coincidence? Welcome to episode 557 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, StickerU.com, Bryan Master from KW Realty, and Banjo Dunk from Whiskey Jack. I'm Mike from torontomike.com, and joining me this week is a founding member of Kids in the Hall,

Kevin MacDonald. Hi. I'm 557. That's a lucky number. Did I tell that car to go away? I forget. The car that drove me here? I hope so, because that'll be expensive, right? Yeah, That's a lucky number. Did I tell that car to go away? I forget. The car that drove me here? I hope so, because that'll be expensive, right?

Yeah, it's a little. You're on the clock? Yeah. Because, you know, this show doesn't have a budget for, like, transportation. I'll be sending you the bill anyway. At the door, I said, okay. I think that guy's gone. Hopefully long gone.

I don't know. But I can tell you that I did know I was getting Kevin MacDonald from Kids in the Hall. I never for a moment thought I was getting the Scottish director, Kevin MacDonald. There you go. Oh, that's your tie-in. Yes. Yeah, it happened again. I got another

phone call from somebody who wanted me to have a lunch with them. But the biggest story is that Steven Spielberg wanted to meet me for lunch to talk about me directing a spy movie. That happened? Yes. Because we have the same agent, Willie Morris.

I also got the IRS. Apparently he's behind $300,000. Is that true? Yeah. This was like five years ago. Oh, wow. Wow. So I was charged $100,000.

I said, no, it's a more talented Scottish director. I got to be honest. I never heard of the Scottish director, Kevin MacDonald, until I heard about this confusion on the Marc Maron podcast. But you've seen his movies, Last King of Scotland. Oh, yeah. I see a Forrest Whitaker. Yeah.

Okay. Very good movie. Very good movie. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Forrest Whitaker is full value, that guy. Full value. And he actually won an Oscar for Best Documentary because he was a documentary filmmaker before. very good movie very good movie yeah yeah yeah Forrest Whitaker's full value that guy full value and he actually won an Oscar for best documentary

because he was a documentary filmmaker before and it's something about climbing a high mountain okay that's what it's called climbing a high mountain okay

not to be rude but would you mind leaving I'm going to get the other Kevin on he sounds like he'd be fantastic well actually I'm dying to leave

to see if the car left because I didn't get my thing from Lipsync that I've that it's over oh did you want to go check I don't know like we're live

but I can yeah could you talk for 10 seconds okay yeah please I want want to go check? I don't know. Like we're live, but I can. Yeah. Could you talk for 10 seconds? Please. I want you to be comfortable because we're going to do a deep dive here. This is conceptually interesting. Yeah.

Let me address my people. I'll do some sponsoring. Okay. So, but on your way back, don't hit your head. Oh, I will.

Imagine Kevin. So Kevin, who I'm very excited to speak to from Kids in the Hall. Of all the shows that shape my sense of humor, the top two are Kids in the Hall and The Simpsons. This is actually a big deal to me, so I can't wait to have Kevin on. Thank you, Palma Pasta.

Fantastic partners of the program, palmapasta.com. Cater their events. Doug Mills, I heard you got an event for 70 people catered by them. Thank you very much. And Great Lakes Brewery, thank you very much. Great partners. And Sticker U, Queen Street location near Bathurst. Watch your head, Kevin McDonald.

Kevin's back. He's gone, but I haven't been charged yet. Huh. Okay, we'll have to address this afterwards, the transportation mechanisms. I'm into the interview now. You were doing some business that you probably have to do. Well, I wanted to give a shout out to the valuable sponsors

that help fuel the real talk. So thank you Banjo Dunk from Whiskey Jack. I urge everybody to go to whiskeyjack.com and Banjo Dunk. If you buy a book or a CD from Whiskey Jack prior to December 15th, you can win a Stompin' Tom Connors ornament that plays the hockey song

and it lights up and that's fantastic. And they'll ship it to you the next day. So definitely do that. And thank you, Brian Master from KW Realty. Write him at letsgetyouhomeatkw.com and get on his mailing list. Brian Master. Okay, Kevin.

Yes. Do you identify as being from Montreal, LA, or Toronto? Toronto. Good. Now I'll let you stay. from Montreal, LA, or Toronto? Toronto. Good. No, I'll let you stay. Oh, I didn't mean to say sad. Oh, yeah, because you're all about Toronto. Toronto night.

The reason I said it's sad-like was because, I guess I should say Montreal, because I was born there, but I was only there until I was seven. Right. And Los Angeles, like I always wanted to, actually I lived there when I was a kid in Burbank. My dad was transferred there. He was a kid in Burbank. My dad was transferred there. He was a dental equipment salesman.

Okay. So that makes sense that he was transferred there when I was seven. That's where all the dental equipment salesmen end up, I think, in LA. I'm giving him a $5 tip. Oh, good. Yeah, you'll get a higher rating that way. Yes. So I always feel part of that.

I lived there for 14, 15 years. I'm living in Winnipeg at the moment because I met a woman in Winnipeg. But we're going to move back to Los Angeles. And yet, people say where are you from? Because I take things literally like where am I from? I was born in Montreal. I'm living in Winnipeg, but I'm going back to Los Angeles. But Toronto. Without thinking

with just feeling Toronto. I'm a Toronto guy. Though, I did grow up in Mississauga. I think that counts. That's a Toronto guy. Though, I did grow up in Mississauga. I think that counts. That's the same thing. Same difference. Then I spent 15 years in Toronto when I moved from Mississauga as an adult. My buddy, Mark Hebbshire,

who hosts Hebbsy on Sports, he wants me to ask you a question right off the top here, which is why did you love Ally Afraidy so much? Yeah, I remember that because I remember Dave Foley and I loved him

and we would see him a lot, Mark,. Yeah, I remember that. Because I remember Dave Foley and I loved him and we would see him a lot, Mark, and we would tell him that. And I remember he told us that Ally Afraidy listened to heavy metal. And that made us like him even more, even though we're not fans of heavy metal. He had great

long rushes and he had a wicked shot, like a hurting person shot. Yeah, a fast skater And a hard shot A fast skater And I forget Was he actually good defensively? Uh

You know All those teams Are so terrible I don't know how he could tell Was he before I forget It was a bad era Was he before Dougie?

Definitely before Dougie I think he went to Washington Before Dougie Yeah I remember But I remember He was with Wendell A couple years at least Yes

Because Wendell shows up In like 86 I guess I shouldn't say this Go ahead No I can't No you have to Is it about Wendell a couple years at least, right? Yes, because Wendell shows up in like 86. I guess I shouldn't say this. Go ahead. No, I can't. No, you have to. Is it about Wendell? No, no.

My Captain? Oh, I'm afraid there was some kind of... Oh, Gary Lehman. Yeah. I mean, every Toronto... That's been well documented. Well documented, in fact. But Mark told us that.

We didn't know that back then. We didn't know that. It was Mark that told us that. Mark McKinney? Who? Mark Hepsher? Oh, Mark Hepsher. You know why?

I heard Mark. Mark McKinney would have... I was thinking Mark Maron Mark McKinney Mark McKinney's favorite sport is the opera we're going to talk about the opera actually I'm lying he's a big football fan and we're in the same fantasy league

I would never have guessed that I want to let me play a little jam here I'm going to ask you something very specific when you were a kid... What do you want to know? Who do you want to know? You liked seven things as a child, okay?

Here's my crack research, okay? Yes. The Beatles, Get Smart, Jesus Christ Superstar. I don't know the other four. I'm hoping you'll tell me. Yes. What are the other four? Why'm hoping you'll tell me. Yes.

What are the other four? Why did I not say them? Oh, because I was making it up. Oh, yeah. I mean, I hadn't really made a list, but those would be on my list. What else? The Monkees, Pet Sounds, The Beach Boys. Oh, yes.

Which influences The Beatles, so it all kind of comes full circle. How old did I say I was in that? Seven. Okay. Batman. How many is that? Like the TV show Batman. Right.

With the bam, pow. Yeah, yeah, with Adam West. How many are we at now? I feel like that might be close enough. But I'm playing Jesus Christ Superstar, which you loved. Yes. And maybe still do love, because you played and sang the part of Judas in Catholic high school. First of all, shout out, which Catholic high school?

It was St. Martin's. Is that in Mississauga? Yeah, Mississauga, in Glen Eyre and Woodlands. No idea. I'm assuming it's still standing. It was new. You say you're not much of a singer, though, but you got a singing job. Yeah, and yet I'm doing a rock opera.

It was new. You say you're not much of a singer, though, but you got a singing job. Yeah, and yet I'm doing a rock opera. Yeah, they wanted you to do a soliloquy, and I sang the Judas... I don't want your blood money! Whatever it was. And you don't think you're much of a singer.

It's funny. When I mock it, I'm better. You know, I'm doing Shakespeare in the Park in May, and I'm remembering lines. I'm only not horrible if I mock all the Shakespeare. Okay, so let's talk about this rock opera right off the top here before I dive into my annoying questions. Okay.

Tell me, tell Toronto right now, where can they see this rock opera and what the hell is it? First of all, they can see it at the Rivoli, where the Kitchen Hall started. I'm a failure. I'm back after 30 years. I'm kidding. I love the Rivoli. I want to go to the Rivoli. I'm a failure. I'm back after 30 years. I'm kidding. I love the Rivoli.

It was my, I want to go to the Rivoli. I'm kidding. At Friday, December 13th on the 730 show and or the 1030 show and or,

yeah, they want to see both and it's a rock opera I wrote from my podcast because I do like an hour and 15 minute podcast. I don't know why it's so long

where it's like a radio show where, what's it called? Kevin McDonald's Kevin McDonald show. That's the creative title i average 3 000 listeners maybe it's because of the title and um we uh what i do uh i do um like monologues i have funny riffing with a guest announcer um that's usually conceptual and the audience never laughs and then i uh do a sketch i do a story this is important for the rock opera yes i do i write a different song and then i thought i was going to seattle i'm i'm about to name drop i'm

friends with ben gibbard of um death cap for cutie this was two years ago september 2017 and i had this story this epic story it's a true story that involved dave scott and i'm that took place in toronto new york um uh there's a disgusting part in the middle, which I have a pretty song over in the rock opera. And I thought, why not make the whole podcast this rock opera and get Ben Gibber to play the part of Dave Foley?

I play the part of Kevin MacDonald. I had to audition. It's the joke I've been using this morning. And thank you. There were a few callbacks. And so we did it, and it's gone pretty well, joke I've been using this morning. I like it. And thank you. There were a few callbacks. And so we did it, and it's gone pretty well. And I perform every weekend, and I'm running out of shows, so I'm starting to do my rock opera now.

This is the sixth time I'm doing it. But, of course, it's the most important time to me because it's my Toronto and my Rivoli. And Alan Piggins is playing the part of Dave Foley. Amazing. Okay, so if someone wants to buy tickets To see this rock opera at the Rivoli Do you know where they should go or they just Google this thing?

I guess Is there such a thing as a Rivoli.com? Okay, so go to the Rivoli website and there's going to be detail there That's great because that is your route So we're going to get to that You can also buy tickets at the door Right, okay, and what day is it again? It's Friday, December 13th

Oh, that's soon Doors open at 7 and for the first one doors it again? It's Friday, December 13th. Oh, that's soon. Doors open at 7 for the first show and doors open at 10. Yeah, it's... What's today? Thursday? Thursday is tomorrow. Yeah, it's tomorrow. Okay. Yeah, of course. Imagine I put this on after the event.

That would suck. I'm going to put this online 15 minutes after we take our photo together in the front of this home here. Can I shower before the photo? Yes. Of course you can. Why would I say no to that? Of course.

Oh, by the way, is this your first time doing the new media, which means in someone's home that has a studio in the basement? Like, is this your first experience doing that? Oh, is this setting me up? Well, no, actually, I've done it once before in a garage.

Mark Maron. He was very nice. He drove me. I was staying in Los Angeles Hotel because I already moved to Winnipeg because of a woman. And so he picked me up. And then, no, he didn't pick me up.

He had his friend pick me up because then he'd be bringing me right to the garage. Started right away. Like I'd been saying before, we'd been talking for 10 minutes before I knew that I was on. And then I mentioned the Sex Pistols that I was 16 when Nevermind the Bollocks came out.

And then before he drove me back to my hotel, but before he did, we played Nevermind the Bullocks while sipping tea. You're the first guest I shared with Mark Maron. So, of course, he's had Obama on that show where I go with Ed DeSoc. That's the difference between the two shows. You haven't had Dave Foley or Bruce McKellar?

No, you're actually my first kid in the hall. I mean, it took me, what? I'm looking at the number now. Where are we at now? 500 and whatever episodes to get to my first kid in the hall really which is i mean i took me what i'm looking at the number now where are we at now 500 and whatever episodes to to get to my first kid in the hall even though of the two i mentioned this when you're upstairs trying to get rid of the uber guy or lyft guy or whatever but like the two programs that most shaped my sense of humor i would say were kids in the hall and the simpsons like these were the two that uh influenced my sense of humor oh that's good so i know what age you are yeah the simpsons it was a the two that influenced my sense of humor. Oh, that's good. So I know what age you are. Yeah, The Simpsons.

It was a good period. I mean, Seinfeld was starting, and that was funny. And Get a Life with Chris Elliott. Oh, I watched that too. And Seinfeld, of course. I still quote that daily. I know I'm supposed to be cooler because it was such a big hit. I'm not supposed to say Seinfeld.

Well, I was going to say change sitcoms, but it didn't. It should have. Well, since you mentioned Seinfeld, I do an episode every day on Festivus, which is December 23rd with my buddy Elvis. So that's coming up. But you, you're in the Festivus episode of Seinfeld. I am in the Festivus episode. And you know what I saw when I was going to other interviews?

This is my favorite, though. I saw signs for people that really celebrate festivus and i wondered did that happen because of seinfeld show and i googled it and do you know the story of it no but uh oh no please remind me it's a very short story so don't worry uh the seinfeld writer who wrote the episode i forget his name but his father wrote a satire book where he invented the festivus but no one bought the book so he took the festivus idea and now it's a popular iconic thing because of the writer. And I was in the episode.

Yeah, well, to me, being in an episode of Seinfeld, that's eternal. Yeah, and I'm lucky enough that it was a famous one. I had nothing to do with the Festivus part. But still, you read it. Yeah, yeah.

I wouldn't even introduce myself as kid in the hall Kevin MacDonald. I'd be like, in the Festivus episode of Seinfeld, Kevin MacDonald. Can I tell you an amusing anecdote yes please first the short one

is that because Dave Foley was on news radio Jerry Seinfeld kept calling me Dave all week but the other the real amusing anecdote is that when we're

filming the last episode the last part of the my part where we're out in the New York street we shot in LA but they had a gigantic fake New York street

and I see Julie Louise Dreyfuss and I forget the joke that I had to say to her but Jerry Seinfeld he wasn't a director but he was telling the director what to do. He was a very good director. I forget his name. But he didn't like the joke so in front of me and Julia Louis-Dreyfus

him and the two writers of the episode they start jamming jokes and then I had just left just left. We're always together. The Kitchen Hall Show had just stopped a year earlier. Right. And that's what we did, right? So I forgot who I was.

And I suggested a joke. And then the whole crew got silent. I looked at their feet. The skies went black. There was thunder. And then Jerry Seinfeld turned to me and said, No! Which I totally understand.

Oh, that's funny. You encroached. Yeah, I encroached. And I did. I admit it. Now, so I mentioned I You encroached. Yeah, I encroached and I did. I admit it. Now, so I mentioned I loved Kitten Hall. I loved The Simpsons.

I also watched X-Files and of course there was a character on the X-Files, the cigarette smoking man. Yes, there's a connection. You're setting me up. Yeah.

That's what I do on this show. I set him up. You're supposed to knock him down. All right. Put the ball in the tee and I'll miss it somehow. So was the cigarette smoking man like a professional and an inspiration to you?

Well, here's the story. Before I met Dave Foley in Second City Workshops, the reason I got there is because I was kicked out of Humber College, which is close to here. But it was a different campus. I studied. By the racetrack, right? Yeah. Like by Woodbine.

Yeah. Yeah. That's how I should tell people where it is. So I, uh, Rexdale maybe. Rexdale. Yeah.

Where I also lived for a year or two. Um, uh, so, um, I was there, it was a three year program and I was in college for acting cause I didn't want to, like,

I knew I was funny, but I knew I wasn't a standup though. I do that now. And, and I prove it every weekend so i um but i was kicked out after three months uh for being a one-legged actor because this leads up to the because one-legged meaning comedy but the guy that kicked me out jerry smith he was a one-legged actor because a lighting grid had fallen on his leg three years previously during a

production of pippin so he was limping around me telling me I was a woman. That's too good to be true, this story. I know, but it's true. It's true-ish. And then I told all my classmates and they all cried and we cried and I left. I left the campus and it was a long walk to the bus stop. It was still in the campus, but it's such a big campus. But anyway, I was sad because I was thinking, oh no, I have to tell my mother she was right that that i shouldn't actually you're not an actor kevin you

should write and then um um my uh that's some tie-in with what you're saying my um improv teacher no actually he's my performance teacher he came out uh but we had done improv and plays by the way uh when they get actor um i got a% for doing a scene from The Owl and the Pussycat, where I played the George Segal part. The Owl and the Pussycat went to sea in a beautiful green pea boat. Is it named after a famous rhyme? They took some honey and plenty of money wrapped up in a five-pound note. I didn't know that.

I think this is a famous poem I memorized in grade three or something. I bet that play is named after the poem. And it became a movie with Barbra Streisand and Jared Segal. But he also taught me improv and he came running out

and he said, I just heard, it's crazy. You're not a one-legged actor. And then he handed this performance teacher, he handed me a strip of paper and said,

this is the phone number for Second City Workshops. Please keep doing improv. And how I met Dave Foley. So it was good that I checked it out. But anyway, that teacher's name was William Davis, who plays the Smoking Man. And a few years later, he became famous as the Smoking Man.

Big time. Big deal. That's amazing, Ty. Now, 1984, I'm memorizing The Owl and the Pussycat. Canada is doing very well at the LA Games. And I think this is amazing. Then I learned later that Russia and East Germany and all these countries didn't actually show up. So this

is where I discovered Brian Williams telling me the time. The time is 1017. And then I, what else? Oh, the Pope visited Midland or something. A lot of stuff I felt was going on in 84. I felt like this is a very exciting world I'm in. Also, this is when...

I'll take your ball. I'm putting it on the t okay is this when you four kids in the hall all hook up for the first time yes um four of us plus scott thompson uh because we know we had hooked up before but there were like 11 or 12 of us and but everyone else got successful they got writing jobs for tv shows though though they never aired. And Sandra Seamus, she was in the troupe, but she became, like, gigantic. And Leanna, she was hired by Second City. So it was the four of us, Mark McKinney, Bruce McCullough, Dave Foley,

and Kevin McDonald, and myself. I was going to make sure, I was going to ask you, do you remember the four members of Kids in the Hall? But you just, you do. And then Mark wanted Scott in the troupe. I guess it happened before the 84, and Dave and I were against it because he was an actor.

He had studied acting in New York. He had successfully studied acting. At least I proved I was a bad actor by getting kicked out. And so Scott would always say, you want me out of the troupe because I'm gay? And we'd say, no, no, no, because you're an actor.

But finally, one night before the 84th he did an improv with me that was really good and afterwards Dave and I led him in the troupe by singing what was the theme song at that time of our stage show which was the kids are alright Scott is alright Scott's in the troupe and he cried and cried and that's how

we got in so we started in the summer of 84 as the five of us amazing okay so now I want to know how you decided on the name kids in the troop and he cried and cried and that's how we got in so we started in summer 84 is the five of us amazing okay so um now i want to know how you decided on the name kids in the hall well when the original kids in the hall which were before we met mark and bruce when they were still in calgary before we knew scott thompson we may have known scott thompson i forget um uh it was like 82 83 um we were uh the original kids in the hall were Dave Foley, myself, Luciano Casimiri, a brilliant writer. He never said this, but he quit the troupe. I always figured it was because of stage fright,

but I have no idea. He's like the fifth Beatle. He's the fifth Beatle. Luciano. He's way funnier than me. I copy a lot of things from him. You know, like Lenny Bruce, the guy Joe Ancus, where everyone said he copied from Joe Ancus. Have you read Lenny Bruce? Okay, yes, yes. I'm watching this show called The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

I get the name mixed up all the time. And Lenny Bruce is a character on this show. I wonder who plays Lenny Bruce. A guy, Luke Kirby from Hamilton. He's actually really good. Yeah, I know.

I actually knew the answer which surprises me as well. I'm like a rain man over here. So Luciano, Fifth Beetle. Yeah, yeah. The three of us, we were at a thing called theater sports and um some guy who had he was a canadian but he had success in los angeles

he'd uh created let's make a deal with monty hall wow but he was back from that high and he was back in toronto and he was creating some kind of cbc variety show and he wanted luch dave and i to be in the troupe in the show as the comedians, even though we were really young. I think Looch was 18, Dave was 19, I was 20, like something like that. And we, but the show never happened, but we had a great party at the producer's apartment and he cornered us in the kitchen and he said,

we didn't have a name. We had a director at the time in theater sports who made us call ourselves Mixed Nuts. Oh, yeah. We didn't have a name. We had a director at the time in theater sports who made us call ourselves Mixed Nuts. Oh, yeah. We didn't like that. And he says, because you're all nuts in a different way. So we were the kids, and he said, the producer said, you guys remind me of the kids in the hall story.

And we were comedy historians, but we had never heard of this. And then he explained to us, Sid Caesar. It's been said as Jack Benny, but it's really Sid Caesar who coined the phrase. I think Jack Benny had a similar thing. But Sid had his writers. And if he wasn't happy with his writers, there were young comedy writers literally pacing the hall. And Sid would go there, any jokes, sketch ideas,

and if they sold enough, they would become writers. And the three famous ones are ready kevin yes i'm ready i'm ready uh woody allen wow mel brooks and neil simon wow yeah kids in the home that's the origin story and then we left the party and went on the subway before we all split up in different ways luch it was luch that said i think that would be a good name for us because we're young we won't last more than a year. He didn't say that part. And this is all before you meet Lorne Michaels. Am I right?

Oh, yeah, yeah. Lorne Michaels was from 84 to 85 when it was the five of us. And we did the Rivoli every Monday. And we got better and better and better. And in the summer of 85, we did a Best Of show. And then Lorne Michaels discovered us through Yvonne Fassan, who later became the president of CPC. Yeah, he's still involved in a whole bunch of big TV stuff, for sure.

He's really the reason why we got TV. Like, he saw us, and he told Lorne Michaels, because Lorne Michaels had taken five years off from 80 to 85, and he was getting back to Saturday Night Live. And then Yvonne told him about us, and then, oh, yeah, this is interesting. Yeah. And then Lorne, he didn't want to, like, pay five flights for us to go to New York to audition for Saturday Night Live. So he sent Franken and Davis. Do you remember Franken and Davis?

No. Al Franken? Al Franken, I know, of course. Yeah. Well, Franken and Davis were like. Stuart Smalley was his big character. Yeah, yeah. But they were a comedy team from Minneapolis.

And they were like writers. And they had a recurring sketch on Saturday Night Live. And I loved them. And they came and they saw us. We did a Rivoli show with just them in the audience and Dave Thomas, because his wife Pam Thomas was our agent. Oh, wow.

And Dave Thomas knew Franklin and Davis. So we did, for four people, we did like a really long show because everybody wanted to shine. And then they just hired Mark and Bruce, who really were not only the older ones, but the best. And they were in Calgary, right? So they were in Calgary.

Yeah, but they'd come to Toronto in 83. So we'd been with them since 83, and then it became the five of us from 80 to 45. I could tell the story in a less confusing way, but it'd be more boring. No, I'm with you. I'm totally with you right now. So before you get sent to the comedy boot camp or whatever in new york uh i need an

update a health update can you please tell us how paul bellini is doing paul bellini's doing great it's funny it just hit me um paul bellini um had a little problem in the hospital he went for a hernia and then um some complication and he was in trouble for a while but he uh but i think he's back to normal but here's the bad kevin mcdonald thing trouble for a while but I think he's back to normal. But here's the bad Kevin McDonald thing. Scott's been telling me how he's been doing. So in my mind I've been contacting Paul but I haven't. You're contacting Scott.

Yeah. So I better And Paul, is he the gentleman we'd see in the towel? Yes, Paul Bellini he was a writer in the show and he and we put him in a towel and poked him with a stick. I remember all the towel guy moments. And he's Scott's great partner many, many times.

Yes, and he went to York University with Scott as well. So he was studying film. Well, I'm glad he's doing better because I was following the – there was some concern there for a while. And did you hear Dave's classic joke? It's a famous joke now already. Tell me. He told us in the conference call and then it got such big laughs

he put it on Twitter. He said, I always knew the Bellini was too boring to die. No. Too lazy. I ruined the joke. But they're both funny.

They're both funny. You workshopped it. Yeah, I workshopped it. Because you learned that in the comedy boot camp. So tell me, Lorne Michaels sends you to New York?

Yes, for six months. I think it was five, but I say six because it's a month better. It's a rounder kind of half a year. You're getting the truth out of me. Five to six months. In 87 and 88. Late 87 and 88. He brought us to...

Oh, I didn't mean to... No, no, I just want to change my tone of voice. They went there To write the pilot And then Lorne Michaels Thought that they should Perform on the weekends Because he felt The New York audiences

Were toughening them up So they performed At a place called The West Bank Cafe Every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday And did this This helped you guys As a foursome?

Well you know what You know what did help We're a fivesome You know what did Oh right that's right You're a fivesome You know what did help? We're a fivesome. Oh, right. That's right. You're a fivesome. You know what did help? By not stopping performing

for six months. That helped. Okay. And I do tell a story in my one-man show where the audience attacked us once in New York because we did a...

Well, you know, come see my one-man show, and when you get to the middle of it and I tell you the story of the AIDS fairy, that'll be the story. Okay, good, good. How did this song, by Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet,

it's, yeah, Shadowy Men on a Shadowy... It's Having an Average Weekend is the name of this jam that we've all heard, you know, hundreds of times here that opens up kids in the hall. How did this song get chosen? Do you know that story? Yeah. Well, the Shouting Men were a real band playing a lot.

And Brian and Reed from the band had gone to high school and were friends with Bruce McCullough, like in Calgary. And they also moved to Toronto. And we were big fans. We'd go see them perform at the Rivoli and that other famous place in Toronto down Queen and Bathurst. They play Least Palace too though. They play there too. What's the place that had the cockroaches painted on the...

I was just there! Queen and Big Bob? Where are we here? Queen and Bathurst? It's still there. It's famous. Horseshoe Tavern? Where are we here? Okay. The horseshoe is also famous but it's next to the Rivoli. It's still there. It's famous. Horseshoe Tavern? Where are we here? No. Okay, we're getting to it.

Yeah, anyway, the horseshoe is also famous, but it's next to the river. And so we always assume, with Bruce leading the way, we always assumed that they would do our music, which they did, besides our theme song. And I remember there were two songs we had to pick from to be the theme song. This one, which is called Having an Average Weekend, and another one called bennett surf but surf bennett surf was a famous humorist for all you young people um he was on a lot of game shows where he was witty um in the 50s and 60s um and the song was called bennett surf but it was spelled uh s-u-r-f and his name was c-e-r-f but no one knows that to enjoy the fun and the the other four kids in the hall picked this song,

and I'm the one guy that picked Bennett Surf. Oh, that's funny. Oh, that's funny. Because I can't now, you know, we know what it's like now. You can't imagine any other song heading into. No, no, I was wrong. I should hear Bennett Surf. I wonder if I could get it and see how wrong it was.

Yeah, I'm going to definitely dig that up. Bennett, B-E-N-N-E-T-S-U-R-F. Shadowy Man, Bennett Cerf. Okay, so I know, I'm a Toronto guy, and I know this show from being on CBC, but where did this show, where did Kids in the Hall air in the USA? The HBO.

That's Lauren first signed us to HBO, and then when we were in New York for six months, HBO was paying for all the apartments. But by the last month, they'd run out of money to do the show because they had paid us. They had already paid us like two-thirds of our salary and paid our apartments.

And so we didn't know what we were going to do. We didn't think that would be a problem because HBO is just like pre-Sopranos. They didn't have a lot of money yet. But Dream On, I'm trying to think of stuff that would be... Dream On was there and not the... Larry Sanders comes later.

Not necessarily the news. Yeah, Larry Sanders comes later. Yeah, Dream On was the big one. Boxing and that show about football. I did like Dream On though because it was the first time I was exposed to like a funny show with boobies in it.

You know what I mean? That's why I didn't like it. Okay. A, I didn't think it was very funny. Yeah, it was... I was a young person. Today, I don't like it. Okay. A, I didn't think it was very funny. Yeah, it was. I was a young person. Today, I don't think I'd find it as funny. And B, it insulted me that it got women to be naked

to cover up the fact that it wasn't funny. Yeah, it was gratuitous. Dave Foley and I talked about that a lot. So, we had an emergency meeting with our manager at the restaurant at the West Bank Cafe an hour or two before our show. And it was Bruce that said, well, Yvonne Fassan is working at CBC now.

He'd love to have the show. Maybe they can go in. And then we'd shoot the show in much cheaper Toronto than New York and blah, blah, blah. So Bruce McCullough, I don't think any kid in the hall remembers that, probably not even him. But it was Bruce McCullough that thought of the idea. And within a week, that's what was happening.

Oh, man. So that's how close we came to this thing being filmed in New York wow okay see I to me it's you know you're Toronto centric and you just you don't even realize there's a yeah more stuff out there and CBC paid in the sense that it was all their crews and all their studios and and all their studio time and And so it's what got the show going. Now, what kind of guy was Lorne Michaels to work with? Well, thank God, I've only seen, we didn't see Lorne that much, like a few times a year.

And he was amazing. He was amazing to us. Like he got us a TV show. We were like, I was a movie actor, arts and cinemas. And he always like, he said stuff that was smart and

he was comically smart he was always really good to us he flew us down to New York twice a year for like a what he would call

a meeting maybe just for us to have fun and like watch Saturday Night Live and go to the party afterwards I only have good things with Lorne Michaels

he is a comedy genius do you do a Lorne Michaels impersonation? I do I do. I do. Here I go. After he hired Mark and Bruce,

we didn't know that we were going to ever work with him. And then for that year, from 85 to 86, to set up this impression. And it's not funny. It's something he actually said, which sounds actually really smart. But that's the way I can do his voice um our agent pam thomas um i've been trying to talk him into a year of like hiring all five of us and trying to get us

a tv show and finally that year later he saw we did another um stage show at the factory lab i forget and um and we did it and it was a late show and not many people showed up and it was a bad show and then afterwards i mean it was probably dave because he many people showed up, and it was a bad show. And then afterwards, it was probably Dave, because he's honest like this. He said, oh, I guess you're not going to sign us. It was a bad show. And he said, no, no, you actually get more of the integrity of the act when you see them on a bad night.

Well, it's pretty good, because all I think about is Mike Myers doing his Dr. Evil or whatever. Well, you know, we did it in Brain Candy. Mark McKinney did it in Brain Candy. And we did it before. It came out a few months before... Austin Powers. But you know,

the first person who ever did it was Dana Carvey. Right. Okay. Like, just... Not like in a movie, but he was the first one. He's the one that started

the Learn Michaels Impressions. Well, it's ripe for impersonation, for sure. Okay, so on the CBC, everything, of course, flies fine, but I'm curious if you remember any specific examples of content you had to change for U.S. broadcast.

We couldn't do... Later on Comedy Central, they showed it, but at first, I don't think we could show Dr. Seuss' Bible, where we crucify Jesus to Dr. Seuss' verse. They have no sense of humor down there when it comes to Jesus. They don't. And then later, HFL dropped us after three years, and the last two years,

it was always CBC, but in the States the last two years it was CBS. And we had more trouble with them. Oh, I bet, yeah. Scott had more trouble with them. Scott had to fight, and I don't think we were cowards. I think we helped him. I think the most brilliant thing Scott ever wrote where he was um where he's like a Tom Selleck type uh I

don't pick him because it has anything to do with the premise but like some um uh TV star who's been playing a detective um but he he's uh he's so secretly gay it's very funny the whole scene but the brilliant part at the end is the most brilliant part I think anyone's ever written and Scott Thompson wrote it and this is the part that he had to fight for. When he's dead,

he's still hiding the fact that he's gay and at the open casket, they say, I think he died of cancer and then you see the corpse go, oh, sorry,

I think he died of AIDS. Yeah, and the corpse go, cancer. So you couldn't, that for example could not air in the States.

I think it did. That is hilarious. I think that's one of the most brilliant things ever that came out of us, and Scott Thompson wrote it. He wasn't just an

actor. He and I were wrong. He was more than just Buddy Cole, right? But I mean, I watch. I'm no fakery. I'm sure you're going to do interviews with

people who have notes like pretending they were there watching Kids in the Hall. I'm no fakery. I'm sure you're going to do interviews with people who have notes pretending they were there watching Kids in the Hall. I watched this damn show. For example, let's say you're right. And Seinfeld too. Especially that Festivus episode.

But let's say the running, and I don't know if I can say the word, but the running F word. Was that on HBO? Oh, I think it was CBS is not going to air that No I think it was

I think we did do it on HBO and I forgot what we did I forgot what the CBC version was but it probably wasn't that and now could we do that in our live show? Actually we did do that in our live show

like five years ago but I don't know if we could do that anymore but here's my question can five white men get a TV show nowadays? I don't know I don't think I don't know i will tell you though the running f word i'm not against that by the way right i loved all the skits including that one and the problem is it was really catchy and yeah it's very dangerous were you a kid i'm doing the math i

was teenager probably but as it's one of those things where you kind of accidentally might break into it uh and you have to be very careful you're getting us all in trouble here you know what and before way before we had a tv show um we were just at 84 85 we uh were asked to do a university u of t show and we did that and then later the party a bunch of um drunk college kids we didn't like him and said said, we really like that scene. You really screw it to the, I can't finish that story. And we got mad, and then we yelled at them, and before they beat us up, we left. Now, you're singing at your show at the Rivoli, which is Friday.

You're singing. It's a rock opera. It's a rock opera. I'm singing. I'm playing the part of Kevin MacDonald. And I'm just going to play. And of Kevin McDonald. I found this on YouTube, and someone has a song underneath it, which is annoying because I can't extract that, but here's a little bit of you

singing on Kids in the Halls. We get a flavor of what kind of singer you are. The mother, the father, the serpent, the priest, the foreman, the woman, the widow, the beast. Aren't you glad that you're not one? There, that comes next. Puppies of purgatory.

All right, so anyways. I've got it a little better, a little better. Okay. And here's just another, since I'm going to play just a little more taste of you on Kiss in the Hall. Yeah, those are all hacked. Take care. Excuse me. Yeah? those are all hacked. Take care. Excuse me.

Yeah? Do you have the New Day Passion Mode record? Yeah, it's over there. But it sucks. I got applause. Do you have the latest Pixies album? We like the Pixies. But it sucks.

Fantastic. All that new stuff sucks. but it's over there. The new stuff sucks, huh? You know, actually, I was thinking of getting into something vintage anyway. I don't know. Maybe the Doors? Really? Never had you figured for a Doors fan.

I'm not really a Doors fan, but sure, I'd like to get into them. No, no, no, my friend. Doors fans aren't made. They're born. I think right now in Africa, there's some guy madly beating on a drum. He's a Doors fan. Or an old lady on a bus sucking humbugs.

She's a rider on the storm, but she ain't never heard the sounds. So what about you? Well, I heard a record of theirs last night at a party. Yeah? And I've always liked lover madly well if you become a doors fan lover madly is the only song you won't like i could i could spend the rest of this uh time with you just listening to these old skits actually

it's on gem by the way uh do you know this uh gem is uh oh let me educate you gem is the uh cbc streaming app oh right i have heard of it and i think as a canadian we have like some kind of like a right to access it free of charge or something as a taxpayer good that's good and i think they're there like i think people right now can like pause this and go watch you skin because they're gems they are they are gems uh quick question from a listener and then i want to play a music video i quite loved because you were in it so mike ragotsky wants to know which character is your favorite to play and why my favorite to play is the king of empty promises where um i promise to do things and the and dave says

did you do that are you gonna do that and i say we'll do yeah and the next day when i don't do it he says hey did you slip you? Slip my mind. And I wrote it with Norm Hiscock. And I like it because it's a more evil version of what I'm really like. I always promise things. And I mean it because I try to please people. Because once you have an alcoholic and then when it comes time, it's out of my mind and I forget to do it.

Well, we know you're a pleaser because here you are in my basement. 45 minutes early half an hour early maybe uh which is fine you know kevin mcdonald will make adjustments i thought it was a studio i was going to i thought there'd be a waiting room that i would just wait and also i thought it would take way longer than it did drive oh yeah right uh good time a day maybe i don't know where you came from but uh you were queen's key is that where you're okay yeah yeah so you just yeah you can come across the league show or something like that. And it was Mike Stafford.

We talked about this. We aren't sure, but we think you were on Stafford's show this morning. Stafford's an FOTM, so you don't know what that means, but it's very important to the listeners to know what that means. A football otter this morning? It's what you will be in about, let me look at the clock, in about 20 minutes you will be a friend of Toronto Mike and you will be an FOTM as well.

It only happens when it's over? It's already happened. And action. So I thought, do I pull the studio track? And I didn't want the studio track. I wanted the video. So we're going to do an improv for you. So what we want from you is a topic.

Heterosexual men. Okay, can we have a band in there? The Odds. And can we have a genre? Rock video. I'll get the funny hat. The Odds, our friends. I have a million stories.

All right, talk to me. I love The Odds. I loved this song and this video because you guys are in it. First of all, a little inside joke. We play an improv troupe. Do you know what we're called in that video? Mixed Nuts.

Yes. And now you know why. Now I know the rest of the story. As somebody once said. I have a million stories. But we met The Odds a few months before that in Vancouver because we were just starting a tour and we were playing a theater in Vancouver

and I went to our sound guy, Al Miller, because we all loved The Odds album. Neil Pollack came out. I think even Scott loved it. Mark was listening to Tony Bennett albums. But for sure, Bruce, Dave, and I loved the Odds. Right. And like obsessed love.

And our writers, Brian Hart and Norm Hiscock. And Brian Hart's in the video, too. And we just played it all the time in between writing and during it, like in the office. And so we went to Vancouver and I said to Al Miller, our tech guy,

for in-house music, why don't we play Neapolitan? Maybe they're here watching, who knows? And then it turned out that they were, the odds, just the theater they performed at,

they were big fans of the Kitson Hall. They get in for free, they ushered. That's great. and so afterwards they um they came um they came out and said hi to us and we hung out all night in their um uh right adjacent was their like their clubhouse they had like a club they were like the monkeys and i remember craig um he gave me the tape for their new album which was this which was going to come out soon and then craig called the office like a month later and said they were shooting a video.

And I was the only one in the office, so that's why I answered. Our assistant wasn't there. And that's why I got to be Craig's friend first. Well, because you collaborate. So Craig Northey of The Odds. He does stuff with us all the time. Bruce, me, everything. And Brain Candy.

Well, Brain Candy, but first Hammy and the Kids. Yes. A moment, if you will. first, Hammy and the Kids. Yes. A moment, if you will. What was Hammy and the Kids? Hammy and the Kids was a one-man show. When you do your first one-man show, it has to be about your drunk dad. So Hammy was my drunk dad, but the kids were the kids in the hall. So it was about a time in my early 20s where my drunk dad kept...

Where I was struggling with the kids in the halls. There was a lot of kids in the hall stories. And also where... And it's the kids in the halls. There was a lot of kids in the halls stories. And also where, and it's sort of a rock opera. There's way more talking, but I had songs in it. So it was about dealing with Hammy and struggling with the kids in the hall. Because Hammy's your father.

Yes, because his name is Hamilton. But as I say in the shows, he said, as I heard a million times in my life, hi, my name's Hamilton. Call me Hammy. I'd be called worse than that, hi. That was his thing, his catchphrase. And really, can you be funny without having a drunk dad?

I don't know, it's kind of hard. A drunk dad or a bad dad or a drunk mom or a drunk grandparent, you sort of need, or mean people. So, I mean, I don't mean to make light of this, of course, because this must have been a traumatic experience. Yeah, all the kids because this must have been uh yeah all the kids in the hall well not all the kids and all but a lot of the kids and i'll have that kind of um background and uh anyway there were seven or eight songs and craig nor the um he did the show with me a hundred thousand times we did it in just for laughs for like two weeks

it was way too long but yeah also here's an interesting thing um it's the second episode shown but i was in the first episode of um corner gas oh yeah and um i mean the first one they shot and then um uh but bud who was an old friend of ours said um can i have craig nori uh nori's phone number i want to ask him to write my theme song shout out to victor who said uh my favorite corner gas episode uh you know he says kevin was in my favorite corner gas episode with i'm not the tax man or a tax man right see i'd done that and then when i uh i lived in los angeles forever and i moved to winnipeg because of a woman we're going to move back to los angeles nothing against winnipeg uh the first time i got there people would drive by me and go i'm not the tax man i'm a tax man and i had no idea what they

meant and then until i was with someone who said it wasn't at the line you said in corner gas i I got there, people would drive by me and go, I'm not the tax man, I'm a tax man. And I had no idea what they meant. And then until I was with someone who said, wasn't that the line you said in Corner Gas? I completely forgot. Oh, that's funny. Okay. So Craig Northey. Now, okay.

So we'll just tie up some loose ends here. Kids in the Hall runs through 1995, right? So 89 to 95. Yes. Wow. And then the movie Brain Candy is 96. So how does that come to be, Brain Candy? And also, like, the show stopped airing in 95, but we stopped shooting in 94,

so we had a year and a half to work on the movie. And what did you say? How did that come to be? Yeah, like, how did you get a movie? That's pretty cool. Well, Lorne Michaels had just produced Wayne's World at Paramount, so he signed whatever it was,

a five movie deal, seven movie deal, I'm not sure what. And then I'd love to be flying the wall in the meeting where Paramount says, okay, Lauren, tell us what your next movie is.

We can't wait. Well, you know, it's my troupe, the kids in the hall. Who? And we got signed. Here's the bad part. Yeah.

We love Brain Candy. It wasn't a big hit, but we love it. We signed to do the movie before we Here's the bad part. Yeah. We love Brain Candy. It wasn't a big hit, but we love it. We signed to do the movie before we knew what the movie was. So it was hard. I'm very proud that we came up with a good movie. This is what I think. I compare the artistic world to the Beatles.

And what did the Beatles do? They started with From Me to You and She Loves You and I Want to Hold Your Hand and Got Better. And then it was Rubber Soul and Revolver. They worked their way to Sgt. Pepper. I think our movie should have been more of a comedy version of She Loves You and I Want to Hold Your Hand, like a fun gag fest.

I hear you, yeah. But God bless us. We tried to start with Sgt. Pepper. Or Revolver, anyway. I think we tried to start with Revolver. And it's a good movie. But we were so good, and in a sense so bad,

because we cared so much about the story, and we always made sure there were a lot of jokes and stuff, but there were less jokes, because that would have hurt the story sometimes. There are lots of jokes, don't get me wrong, but it wasn't the gag fest that probably our first movie should have been.

It should have been our third movie. Too smart for the masses. Well, I don't want to say that. I just did. I just did. I just did here. Did it do better in Canada than the States because of... I think it did a little worse.

Is that right? Okay. I think it did a little... Per capita. Per capita, yeah. I wonder. In the first... I read Variety in those days.

I stopped when I moved to Winnipeg because I can't get a Variety magazine. And we were in theiety magazine. We were in the first week. We were in the top 10. We were number 10 of grosses. We thought, oh my God, it's going to stay in the top 10 and make money. Then after that, the next week,

it was out of the top 100. All the people that wanted to see it saw the first weekend. The kids in the hall fanatics would be their opening day. Yes, and no one else wanted to see it. It's a brilliant movie. Yeah, I think it's a really good movie.

We reshot the ending to sort of make it a happier ending. But our version of happy, it's typical Kids in the Hall. It was a really sad ending originally, but the ending we have now, our version of happy is that the hero

might have escaped the bad guys and he might be underground with a scientist and he might be working on a pill. There's hope. There's hope, yeah. That's as happy as we can get. For comedians, that's as happy as we can get. Well, speaking of happy,

I also thoroughly enjoyed Death Comes to Town. Thank you. And that's 2010. So between 96 and 2010, that's 2010. So between 96 and 2010, that's a big gap, actually. We were together every four years doing tours. Okay. Because we

didn't know after the movie bomb, we thought that was it, right? There were some clashes in the group. Soon, between 96 and 2000, that was all mended. But what were the clashes? Are you allowed to say?ashes like are you allowed to say yeah I'm allowed to say Dave wasn't crazy

about the idea of the script and I was jealous of his success as I found out he was a psychiatrist so the truth was always this is how the truth worked

that's funny Mark and Bruce this is like 80% of how the truth worked Mark and Bruce would see things one way more artistically then Dave and I on the other one way, more artistically.

Then Dave and I on the other end would be more, go for the comedy, go for the comedy. Scott would be like that vote, that American, I'm going to go American, I know we're talking about Toronto, but it's a better comparison.

Would be that centrist American voter that sometimes votes Republican, sometimes votes Democrat, depending on, yeah. The 10% or whatever. So he'd be the guy that, but everything was changed, the brain candy. I didn't agree with Dave, I agreed with Mark and Bruce. depending on the 10% or whatever. So he'd be the guy that... But everything was changed in Brain Candy.

I didn't agree with Dave. I agreed with Mark and Bruce. And I went to a psychiatrist about it. And Dave didn't think the script was ready. And he quit the troupe. But he quit the troupe after he signed the contract to do the movie. He was supposed to be the lead part.

The movie would be way better if he played the lead part. I'm not knocking myself. But I would just be better playing crazy, zany parts. And Dave, what did he do in news radio brilliantly? He was funny.

Not a straight man, but keeping the story going and being kind of the same thing. I would say a straight man. But like a funny straight man. Because Phil Hartman, rest in peace, what a tremendous,

Phil Hartman in news radio was tremendous. Yeah, but he's like, Dave's like a, oh yeah, Phil Hartman's a genius. I'm a Simpsons guy, so yeah. There you go. But Dave's like a funny straight man. Graham Chapman was funny, but when he was stuck with Brian and King Arthur, he was more of just a straight man.

But Dave has that talent of being funny and straight, so he would have been perfect at Chris Cooper. But anyway, we mended all that out, and Dave and I became best friends again. Dave did the work. He heard that I was in Hollywood, and he got my phone number, and he called me one day to ask, because he found out he was just a few blocks away from me, but I wanted to go to his house to watch the X-Files, actually.

Oh, yeah. And he didn't know this. I think I finally told him 10 years later, but I was in the bathtub naked when he called me in the apartment I was renting. And so we got back together with me wet and naked, which sort of makes sense. Well, it's funny that you mentioned going to watch The X-Files, and we talked about

Cigarette Smokey Man, and there's that line in the number one Billboard Hot 100 hit by Barenaked Ladies. They had a song called One Week with their biggest hit, and they had the line in there, I hope the smokey man's in this one. Do you remember this? I love Barenaked with their biggest hit and they had the line in there i hope the smoky man's in this one do you do you remember this so i i love bernie ladies but that song wasn't one of my favorites should i say that no no honestly i i think i've had tyler stewart on the show i'm sure i told him

you're right no if you're a bernie lady fan that's not your jam like that was for the again for the masses yeah yeah but i love them i still cry when i hear a million dollars, and there you go. But in 2000, we got back to do the first tour, and that's sort of it. Now we've been together ever since. We do things every four or five years. We have some exciting thing maybe happening next year. Can you give us a clue?

Well, people who have listened to my interviews, before I was lying and saying it's exciting and it's going to happen. And now because it's getting closer to the truth, I can't say it until it becomes the truth. Is it a tour? Or is it something we can stream? Can you give us a little bit of a... Bigger than a tour.

Bigger than a tour. Smaller than a monsoon. Smaller than a monsoon. I'm excited. Okay, I'm excited. I'm going to try to rough you up after the episode and see if you'll shake some more detail. I'll tell you off the record. Yeah, okay. Well, I can't wait for that.

Can't wait for that. You're a person of your word, right? You'll stay off the record? Oh, yeah. You don't get to episode whatever we are, 557, about keeping a few promises in the vault. Are you kidding me? Not even peach schnapps will open up this vault. But I mentioned Barenaked Ladies for a reason because you perform on

like their ships and dips. Yeah. Cruise, right? Dave Foley and I, yeah, that was fun. We said, first of all, you hear a cruise,

but then you hear Barenaked Ladies, The Odds, my favorite group at the time, The Mounting Goats, and The Weaker Thans. Oh, love them. Fantastic.

Also, the money was good. And then Sarah McLachlan, she had just had a child, so we never saw her. She had her own private thing up in the upper deck. So we never saw her. But to hang out with the Mountain Goats and the Weaker Thans, the odds were already best

friends and Bernica ladies every now and then. That was amazing. My buddy was on one of these. In fact, he was on the last one last performance with steven page in the band apparently was on this cruise that's okay so my buddy jason agnew shout out okay it's funny because he talks about how like they market to americans right so americans are on it and he says there's like sloan is playing over here oh yeah sloan i forgot i know i was missing another one of my favorite groups sloan yeah yeah i'm seeing sloan on uh next uh wednesday next wednesday i'm seeing where they're playing the phoenix concert oh phoenix is still around tell them i said hi i just saw them in winnipeg

uh a couple months ago right before i broke my elbow i broke my elbow and i hung out with them in their tour bus amazing because chris murphy's an fotm so you're in the same club here don't tell them all especially chris he's the only. He's the only one who talks to me. No, I'm just kidding. He talks to me the most. I'm working on Patrick. He might come on the show. All right.

Quick hits. I realize, oh my gosh, how quickly did 53 minutes go? So some quick hits. My five-year-old is a big fan of yours because you're in

Lilo and Stitch. Yes. I hear they're making a live action movie out of it. I wonder what young skinny guy they're going to get to play. Or will it be CGI? I don't know. Okay, so if people don't know, you are Agent Wendy Pleakley.

Yes, yes. And you've been able to do that voice elsewhere beyond the movie we've all seen. Well, I do that character in the TV show and stuff like that. But also when I do the other cartoons I do, that's the one voice that I have. By the way, I'm playing Outkast in the background. I was wondering. I thought that's a video. That's a great song.

I was really happy to be in that video. So how did that come to be? Basically, people don't know. Kevin MacDonald is in the Roses video. We're listening to Roses here. Great jam. The Outkast video. How did that come to be?

Oh, it's great. Yeah. Well, my manager at the time also was the manager of Eugene Levy and the producer I'm sorry, the director of the video he was a big SCTV fan and he asked for Eugene Levy and then

Eugene Levy wasn't in Los Angeles and my manager at the time said, well, I have a kid in the hall and then the Brian Barber said I'm a kid in the hall fan. Don't even tell me which one. Just send him. So he didn't care which one.

But he wasn't disappointed. It was Kevin. He didn't seem to be disappointed. You never know. Because if you're a psychiatrist, I would think that, because I, of course, I watched you all go off on your own and do different things

and I'd see Scott show up in like Larry Sanders show or whatever. Yeah, yeah. You mentioned news radio, you know, and then, you know, Bruce was, by the way, can I tell you real quick aside? Bruce behind the scenes

was the most successful. Bruce behind the scenes. Oh, yes. And he just did something called Tall Boys. Yes, yes. But they were, and I won't name the street

to keep a little mystery here, but down the street on Lakeshore, someone came to the door, knocked on the door, not Bruce, but someone knocked on the door and said,

oh, just so you know, we're going to be filming at this corner, so don't be, you know, we need these parking spots. It was like a thing, a producer, someone on the show was doing this, right? And I said, oh, I have a podcast and I'm a big fan. I would love Bruce to drop over to do what we're doing right now. And she said, look, I can give a letter.

If you write a handwritten letter to Bruce, I can personally deliver it to Bruce. Bruce doesn't take emails. It's the second time in the last decade. There's only two times in the last decade. There's only two times in the last decade I've written a handwritten letter. I wrote Bruce a letter, a nice kind invitation

to visit me for an episode, and I wrote Don Cherry. These are the two times I've written a... Did Don Cherry write back? Don Cherry phoned back. Oh, that's nice. So that thing.

So Don Cherry phones me. Nothing from Bruce. Nothing from Bruce. Crickets, not even... I put on my phone number, email, I said, you know I told him the address

you could waltz over because I knew he was at the corner I'll tell him about you ask him if you got my love letter I'll have to write him a handwritten letter

but okay that was a quick quick Bruce Bruce tangent but was there any professional jealousy to see Dave for example

who I would guess I would argue and Mark of course SNL and everything but Dave Foley probably the most successful in terms of... Well, when Dave was, as I said before, this is a good way to finish that part, I was jealous of him.

I didn't know, I didn't think I was, but going to the SkyTree, I realized I was, and then I thought, I can't be jealous of friends anymore. I have very talented friends, and I'm happy with my career but what if i don't make it bigger than them it can't be competition so i'm i will i willed myself i mean the first comedy friend i ever had for a year um we took second city workshops together we

started troop was mike myers like i would have a lot to be jealous about uh to be bitter right so um i made a decision i remember one morning i woke up um this happened once this happens for magic things i woke up and i wasn't jealous of my friends anymore i i once we rescued five cats um and i uh i was really allergic to them and i said i i just couldn't do it i woke up one morning and i wasn't allergic you can sort of do that if you really will you can do that that's amazing even if it's fake it's working because psychosomatic in reverse something okay in reverse uh i haven't been allergic to cats and i have two now and uh and i i it's impossible for me to get jealous of my friends and that was that's been like 23 years and really kevin if i make because we're wrapping up here like uh not only does my

five-year-old love you because you're in Lilo and Stitch, but I mean, we talked about Seinfeld, you know, in the Outcast video. You were Pastor Dave in that 70s show, which a lot of people probably recognize you from that high-profile gig.

You appeared in Friends, for example? Yeah, yeah. Arrested Development, one of my favorite comedies of all time. That was one of the shows where not only was I happy

to be on it, but I thought the script, yeah, I'm about to be pompous. Good way to end it, be on it but I thought the script I'm about to be pompous good way to end pompous but I thought the script was as funny

as something the kids in the hall would have written that's high praise you were on Ellen yes that was fun too and she was really

amazing to work with like I was an equal I like to see her work and be close to that experience you show up in lots of great things

and one thing you showed up in that was not great is you're embracing yourself. One thing. One thing I'll mention. Epic movie, Godson. This is going to be Ladies' Man. Oh, that's way better

than the ones I mentioned. Epic movie and the Godson. Well, I don't care. To me, it wasn't like... like no it's not on you it's not on you no no no i mean even as a thing to me it was if anything it was maybe in the middle compared to some of the other things i've done it was so much fun i know tim meadows and and i had a scene with will ferrell which i think was cut and uh it was a real fun thing to film but i did the epic movie in the godson you know what those those aren't even on my radar and it was a real fun thing to film. But I did Epic Movie and The Godson.

Yes, you know what? Those weren't even on my radar. Well, Epic Movie was my only movie, because Leland Stitch was number two, released number two, and Galaxy Quest was, I think it was also number two. The only number one movie I've ever been in

was Epic Movie. Oh, wow. I never would have guessed that. One of those parody movies, and that's, I shouldn't say that. Actually, the other movies they made before those two writer-director guys, they're very funny

and those movies were very funny. I somehow ruined Epic Movie. Well, you're very funny. You've won, how many Gemini Awards have you won? I don't know. I don't know. A lot, right?

I don't know. At least a lot of nominations. I don't know how many you guys actually won. Maybe two or three. Do you have them somewhere still? I always want to know where people keep these Gemini Awards. I think they're with my Stevie Wonder CDs.

I don't know. In a box? In a box somewhere, yeah. Okay, last question. You mentioned a few times that you, I guess you fell in love with a Winnipegger? Yes. Lovely Paula.

Okay, so tell me a little bit. So where do you meet Paula, and how does she, I guess you're in love, so you'll move anywhere, but that's pretty. A lot of people move to Winnipeg for love. There's a lot of Nordic people, and they all have high cheekbones, and it's just a place to fall in love. Well, I was living in Los Angeles.

I had just done what's called dips and chips, ships and dips. Ships and dips. Right, like chips and dips. Get it. And I was doing the Winnipeg Comedy Festival hosting one night or something. And then her friend was the assistant to my friend who ran the festival. And so I never go to parties after. I go to the hotel.

And in those days, put on TV. There wasn't Netflix to put on. But my friend Dan Redican, he said he was coming to the party. And he was lying to me, of course, because he was producing the TV version of it. And so I went to the party and her friend kept saying, my friend Paula's coming. And I got obsessed.

And then when her friend we hit it off and then through a series of emails and phone calls, I moved to Winnipeg. From where? From LA? From Los Angeles. Wow. And then you're going back to LA because you mentioned that as well. Yeah, yeah. And she's okay with that. Yeah, yeah. She's waiting for me to do

everything. I'm the one being slow. But that's quite the culture shock, Winnipeg to LA. Yeah, yeah. Well, they have similar jokes. Jokes aren't the right word because it's not funny. But LA, the quote-unquote joke is that everything is 20 minutes away and in Winnipeg, everything is 10 minutes away. so it's similar here we go all right kevin mcdonald i promised an hour i can't believe i did it but i think it was all killer no filler

in rivoli this friday again this will be online with phyllis diller with phyllis she was great by the way i'm not making fun of her. And I'm happy for you and Paula. Thank you very much. You seem happy, but I don't know what to compare it to because it's the first time I met you. Maybe you've always been happy. Off the record,

I'll tell you about my other relationships. All right. And that, oh, by the way, I can't wait for this kids in the hall, whatever reunion thing this is going to be, whatever shape it takes. You'll hear about it in a couple of minutes.

Off the record. When you have it announced, officially, make sure Bruce comes over here to apologize for not responding to my handwritten letter. He doesn't have to apologize. He's Bruce McCullough. And also, it may still die. That's why I'm not saying it. So don't get excited yet. Okay. And that!

That's how I ended. It may still die! Thank you! Good night! Death comes to town, part two. And that brings us to the end of our 557th show you can follow me on Twitter I'm at Toronto Mike he's at Kevin the K-I-T-H

that stands for kids in the hall but Kevin the K-I-T-H do you do your own tweeting? yeah that's why I don't do it very much I'm going to tweet this link at you so share it if you feel comfortable. What's this, Lois to the Low? I'm seeing them on Saturday.

Oh, my God. Which is two days away. Oh, I should... At Lee's Palace. I'll leave it Saturday morning. At Lee's Palace? Oh, I could get you in. I should change my flight.

Let me know, man. I am dead serious. Off the record, I'll change my flight. And the opening act is Sky... So, Lois to the Low, they're FOTMs, but Sky Wallace is opening. She's fantastic. She's an FOTM. I can't wait. So, that's Saturday night they're FOTMs. But Sky Wallace is opening. She's fantastic. She's an FOTM.

I can't wait. So that's Saturday night at least. I wish I could be there. You never know. You never know. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta. Sticker U is at Sticker U.

Brian Master, you write him at letsgetyouhomeatkw.com. And Banjo Dunk is at Banjo Dunk with a C. Right. Banjo dunk. Is that banjo dunk with a C? See you all next week. The wind is cold, but the smell of snow won't stay today. And your smile is fine, and it's just like mine, and it won't go away. Because everything is rosy and green.