Inevitably, the first question for Canadian comedian Bruce McCulloch is: when will the Kids in the Hall revival (which recently wrapped filming) appear on Amazon Prime?
B次元官网网址淚n the spring, when there are flowers,B次元官网网址� deadpans McCulloch, who comes to SidneyB次元官网网址檚 Mary Winspear Centre on Nov. 4, in the middle leg of a three-stop tour starting in his hometown of Edmonton.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 directing right now and one thing I always try to be able to have is something to look forward to, something to energize me,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淢y first love is to walk on stage and just commune with people and lay down some jokes and some weird riffs.B次元官网网址�
So what can audiences expect from the Amazon special?
B次元官网网址淲e havenB次元官网网址檛 done the show, obviously, for many years,B次元官网网址� McCulloch said. B次元官网网址淭he last thing we did was a murder-mystery, Death Comes To Town. But for this thing, we decided we wanted to go OG, which of course means, Original Gangster. We are kind of replicating our old show. We have the Shadowy Men (on a Shadowy Planet), we have some of the characters from the old show, new characters and new pieces, but it really is our older carcasses and points of view doing things that are interesting to us. Some of our characters will have aged, which is probably not comforting and horrifying for the viewers.B次元官网网址�
Distilling humour out of apparently mundane, but ultimately awkward situations has been the trademark of McCulloch and fellow Kids, Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney and Scott Thompson.
ALSO READ:
The themes in McCullochB次元官网网址檚 one-person Sidney show, titled Tales of Bravery and Stupidity, point to a comparable tension. It features what he called the B次元官网网址渨eird thingsB次元官网网址� from his life that put him in B次元官网网址渨eirdB次元官网网址� situations.
Those include his description of attending a version of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat performed by 12-year-olds B次元官网网址� before he had children himself. B次元官网网址淲hen people said, B次元官网网址榳hy you are here, who are your children?B次元官网网址� I said, B次元官网网址業 donB次元官网网址檛 have one.B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�
While this and other stories are personal reflections, McCulloch sees them as carriers of a larger message.
B次元官网网址淲e are all brave,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 doing a one-person show, but itB次元官网网址檚 not about me. ItB次元官网网址檚 about the world. ItB次元官网网址檚 about the audience and we are all in this together.B次元官网网址�
Getting through current times requires bravery, he noted.
B次元官网网址淎nd is it stupid to go to a theatre? No, I donB次元官网网址檛 think it is. ItB次元官网网址檚 brave to keep at it in life, to have children, when it doesnB次元官网网址檛 seem like we should, or to find people in our lives, to find romance, to find love. ItB次元官网网址檚 about us, all of us keeping at it because we have no other choice.B次元官网网址�
If this sounds more like philosophy than comedy, will audiences still laugh at the end?
B次元官网网址淥h yeah, but you will not only laugh,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淧eople who may know my work the most, or are trying to figure out which of the Kids in the Hall I am, there is the sort of poetic thing to what I do in my storytelling.B次元官网网址�
To get a flavour of it, consider McCullochB次元官网网址檚 recent appearance on the The Moth Podcast, where he talks about his decision to dress up as a dead dog on Halloween to appease his grieving children. B次元官网网址淟aughter is what can get us through the dark times, not just as a society, but in our own lives.B次元官网网址�
ALSO READ:
So how did McCulloch handle the pandemic? B次元官网网址淏etween Kids in the Hall and doing another show on CBC which I just finished shooting, called Tall Boy, I just worked through the pandemic,B次元官网网址� he said.
Living a block away from a hospital, McCulloch and his family (wife, children, two dogs) would also bang pots and pans every night at 7 p.m. in support of health care workers during the height of the pandemic, a experience he described as very moving. B次元官网网址淚t has been a tragedy for everyone, every child, every person, every couple, every family, but we just got to keep moving,B次元官网网址� he said.
McCulloch sees himself as someone who has persevered and then some, by branching out into music, directing (including episodes of SchittB次元官网网址檚 Creek) and producing, among other creative areas. As a member of an iconic comedy troupe with admirers far beyond Canadian borders B次元官网网址� often mentioned in the same breath as Monty PythonB次元官网网址檚 Flying Circus B次元官网网址� McCullochB次元官网网址檚 legacy in comedy is secure.
But he sees himself first and foremost as a worker.
B次元官网网址淚 used to drive trucks for Canada Dry and frame houses. That is what I do. IB次元官网网址檓 working every day when I am directing 12 hours. ThatB次元官网网址檚 hard work. But I have the greatest job because I am building the coolest things.B次元官网网址�
Bruce McCulloch plays the Mary Winspear Centre at Nov. 4, 7:30 p.m. For ticket information, visit .
Do you have a story tip? Email: vnc.editorial@blackpress.ca.
Follow us on and and like us on
