KITH Behind the Scenes - Part One

(The following post was originally presented in April, 1994, and resulted from a Toronto trip to see a taping of the Kids in the Hall's final season. Except for formatting, this post is being presented as it originally was - punctuation and spelling errors included. Enjoy this TARDIS-free journey into my past...and was updated on December 18th, 2020) 

I'm back from my recent sojourn into Toronto to give you, my fellow Prodigy users, some behind the scenes info about all the love (as well as hard work and effort) that goes into making each KITH episode. I attended two tapings--Wednesday night and Saturday night--and will give you all the news that's fit to print about what happens in a series of notes under this topic. Feel free to ask anything, and I can try to answer it. {and all times are EST} Here goes the first chapter in my narrative: 

CHAPTER 1 - BEFORE AND AFTER TAPING - There are usually two tapings on Wednesday and Saturday (which used to be Wednesday and Friday)--one at around 7:15 pm (letting fans in around 6:30) and one around 10:00 pm (letting fans in around 9:15). And--get this--there are two entirely different shows. I almost didn't make it Wednesday night, due to a one hour layover in Detroit and missing meeting my fellow KITHers (although, through the miracle of a Toronto cabbie and the White pages, I was able to witness history--I made it). We (meaning 31st Helen and a KITH fan from Genie) got to the studio around 7:00, and found no line, so we decided to wait. Unfortunately, some Canadians came around and took the head of the line, but luckily, they were really really cool, and we discussed our favorite KITH episodes. We were met by a couple of Canadian friends (including Chadwick, who goes to school with Scott Thompson's cousin), and we continued waiting in line for the 10:00 taping. Sharon Jamison, audience coordinator came out around 7:20, and said, "Why don't you go away and come back in an hour? It's too cold", to which I responded, "Hey, I'm from Chicago--this ISN'T cold" The Saturday taping, however, was a little different--not only a different episode, but the weather was nicer, it was earlier (around 6:30), and I caught a glimpse of Bruce passing a football with Brian Hartt and an unknown young lady. Also, some people cut in front of us because they knew someone in line. Of course, we did that very blatantly, but hey, we're imperialist, gosh darn it--we're expected to do it. Well, what they do is herd everyone into the really, really small studio (contrary to popular belief, the Kids do NOT tape in the state of the art CBC Tower, but in a smaller studio). You get to sit in bleachers in front of a variety of sets, with monitors hanging from the ceiling (so that, if you can't see a particular sketch, you can watch, and they show filmed pieces during set ups). Most tapings last about an hour and a half--that way, they allow for flubs, stuff that will get cut, etc. Both tapings we were serenaded by Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet--they not only did a small set before each taping, but they played during breaks (when there weren't filmed pieces showing). My personal fave came when they did their famed "Classic Rock Medley" Saturday night--they played the first few bars of some rock classics (some too numerous, but stuff like "Smoke on the Water", "Smells Like Teen Spirit", "The Boys Are Back in Town" etc), and the audience roared when they snuck in a few bars of their own "Having an Average Weekend" (aka the Kids in the Hall theme). More next note!