Amazon orders two-part doc on Canuck comedy troupe Kids in the Hall

The Kids in the Hall: Comedy Punks will debut later this year

Amazon Prime Video has commissioned Blue Ant Studios to produce a two-part documentary chronicling influential Canadian comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall.

The five-piece group made their name in the mid-1980s and were catapulted to fame in 1988 when Canadian pubcaster the CBC premiered a sketch comedy series fronted by the troupe. The show ran for five seasons and became one of the most popular Canadian comedies in history.

While reports of a revival had been floating around for more than a decade, it wasn’t until March 2020 that Amazon confirmed a rebooted version was forthcoming.

Production on the revival was halted by the pandemic but got underway in May last year. Produced by Toronto-based Project 10 and original producer Broadway Video, the revival is set to premiere later this year.

The new doc, The Kids in the Hall: Comedy Punks, features never-before-seen archival footage from the early years of the troupe, as well as in-depth interviews with members Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney and Scott Thompson.

It spans 40 years, from the group’s post-punk era origins in the mid-1980s, to the five-season run on CBC, to the Amazon revival. It also features interviews with comedy figures Fred Armisen, Lauren Ash, Jay Baruchel, Lewis Black, Janeane Garofalo, Eddie Izzard, Mae Martin, Eric McCormack, Lorne Michaels, Mike Myers, Matt Walsh and Reggie Watts, who discuss the group’s impact and legacy.

Material is drawn from the biography The Kids in the Hall: One Dumb Guy by Paul Myers, who serves as an executive producer. The doc is produced by Nick McKinney and directed by Reg Harkema. The exec producers for Blue Ant Studios are Laura Michalchyshyn, Sam Sniderman and Jennifer Harkness, while Kim Creelman is also a producer on the project.

The documentary’s world premiere is scheduled to take place at Texas-based festival SXSW in March. It will launch globally later in the year on Prime Video. In Canada, it will also premiere on Blue Ant Media channel A.Side.