Kids in Hall still good for laughs

GRAND PRAIRIE -- Thirty Helens agree: The Kids in the Hall can still bring the funny.

Two decades after they first made a splash, the Canadian comedy troupe brought Live as We'll Ever Be -- its first major national tour in six years -- to Nokia Theatre on Wednesday night. The Kids, arguably Generation X's answer to Monty Python, have inspired legions of acolytes (The State and Human Giant, among others, owe the fellas a sizable debt of gratitude). However, they don't come off as graying elder statesmen, but energized veterans.

The crisp, 90-minute set revealed just how well the Kids' signature brand of surrealism and silliness has aged. Instead of coasting on the hits made famous by their early-1990s television series, the Kids created mostly fresh material for this tour, utilizing classic characters (Buddy Cole, the Chicken Lady, Cathy and Kathy) but injecting timely elements into the sketches.

In fact, Live as We'll Ever Be brings Bruce McCulloch, Scott Thompson, Mark McKinney, Dave Foley and Kevin McDonald back to their roots -- performing live in front of rowdy audiences. Moreover, the quintet isn't afraid to let themselves have fun; one of the evening's highlights -- a sketch about a gay couple imploding because of one man's rediscovered heterosexuality -- wasn't side-splitting because of content so much as all five comedians struggling to keep a straight face throughout most of it.

It wasn't the only time the Kids broke character. While the inclement weather lashed at the theater (rumbling thunder underlined just about every sketch), the fans paid no attention -- except during a Foley/McDonald bit about invisible girlfriends and imagined relationships. "I'm going to try really hard not to imagine a tornado," deadpanned Foley.

Aided only by a video screen that would provide the occasional backdrop or play pre-taped clips, the Kids freely tackled a wealth of topics, from sex and religion to politics and hot-button social issues, rarely failing to make some taboo subjects truly fall-down funny.