As a fan of comedians and a collector of autographs, one of the most thrilling sets of autographs I got to complete was with the comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall. And as anybody knows that has tried to complete sets – it’s always a bit more fun when it doesn’t all come at once.

Sure, we’d love to have the entire 1969 Mets team sign a baseball at one sitting. Yet if you spend years catching up with, let’s say the cast of American Graffiti to have them sign your poster…it’s so much more fun when you glance at it on the wall and remember the time you got one signature. You paid for it at an event. Another one you got when a friend of a friend, told you they were eating at a certain restaurant, and you showed up in the parking lot stalking the actor like you were Lee Harvey Oswald.

With The Kids in the Hall, it’s not like it was all that difficult. I had previously bought a signed picture from the cast through an auction. It was missing cast member Scott Thompson, though.

The Kids in the Hall had a five year run on TV, and they had disbanded and gone on to other things. Movies, stand-up comedy, TV shows, etc. So when they got back together for a tour – and they were coming to my hometown of San Diego – I was thrilled. I bought my tickets and headed to the venue.

I got there super early, to possibly catch them at the soundcheck. After 20 minutes of waiting, I saw Kevin McDonald and Bruce McCulloch walking down the street. Bruce said “Hey man, nice shirt!”  (side note: It’s always a geek move to wear a shirt of the band you’re going to see, but it helps tremendously if you’re asking them for autographs)

Kevin kept his head down, but signed my DVDs. I had a solo CD that McCulloch released, but was bummed to find that during my walk from the car to the venue, the cover slipped out somewhere. He gladly signed the actual DVD. I was trying to be funny when I said, “I love your show so much…and I’m not even gay.”

Bruce laughed. Kevin said, “Neither am I!!!”

It didn’t help that I immediately followed that with, “Is Scott here?”

You see, he’s the one gay member of the troupe. I didn’t feel like explaining to them, “I have a picture signed by everybody but him.”

I never did see him before the show. And after the show, I had that dilemma all of us autograph collectors are faced with – the girlfriend (or wife), that doesn’t want to stand around for hours in the cold waiting to meet somebody. Perhaps they would do that if they were 14, and it was Duran Duran. Since this was a relatively new relationship, I didn’t want to insist. So I went home without Thompson’s signature.

A year later, they toured again – and were in a different area of San Diego. After the show, I got all their signatures again. This time, it including Thompson. The girlfriend didn’t mind. You see, during the months in between, I showed her the DVDs. She instantly became a fan. And better still…a few years after that, she surprised me with tickets to their show up in Anaheim. At that show, they signed autographs before hand, and were being funny as they came up to the handful of fans waiting. Only Scott Thompson didn’t sign before the show. He was running late and snapped at us, “I’m running late guys. Not now! I’ll sign after the show.”

We all know how often celebs say that, and it rarely happens. Yet these guys did. They came out by the merch booth and signed lots of autographs for the fans. It’s always a smart move because…as soon as they came out, most of us bought various items from the merch booth to have them sign – pictures, programs, and I couldn’t resist the T-shirts that said “30 Helens Agree…” (you’d have to know the show to get that).

I remember telling Dave Foley how much I loved his pause during a Chicken Lady skit. He said, “Because of that pause, I got the job on News Radio. The producer said he saw that skit and that pause, and thought I’d be perfect in that role.”

I told Bruce McCulloch during the picture we were taking together, that my girlfriend and I agreed he was our favorite member. He put his head on my chest and said “Thanks” as the photo was taken.

I can’t remember everything I said to the various guys, but I’ll tell you one great thing about me as an autograph collector. Once I get the signature, I step back and let other fans get their autographs, pictures, and questions in. A lot of people don’t do this, and it’s annoying.

One nice thing about having their complete set of signatures is that when I see them at other events, I can just say hi, ask a quick question, and move on. I saw Thompson at Comic Con a few years ago, had a brief chat, and moved along. I saw him perform at the Improv in Irvine with Kevin MacDonald, and didn’t have to wait around afterwards for a signature.

The other day, a great opportunity fell my way. I saw a funny short film called The Immigrant, which was co-written and starred Scott Thompson. It also had a nice role for Dave Foley. I spoke with the director, Josh Levy, and also Thompson. Since I brought up autographs with Thompson, I thought I’d share the interview here:

Josh Board: When I saw you at The Improv in Irvine, it was a fun show (with fellow Kids in the Hall member Kevin McDonald). As me and my friends were leaving, you were standing near the door. We told you it was a great show, but didn’t stay to talk with you. My sister had just flown in and was tired. Then when I saw you at Comic Con a few years ago, I wanted to talk with you, but this guy in a wheelchair was talking your ear off. I was standing there, wearing my Kids in the Hall shirt like a geeky fan…

Scott Thompson: Yeah, I remember that.

Josh Board: You do? Because I was wearing that shirt?

Scott Thompson: No. That guy in the wheelchair. He was an a******!

(we both laugh).

Josh Board: When he wanted you to take a picture with him, you were kind enough to help him move his wheelchair and take the best photo where you could sit next to him. Everybody has a camera these days. It used to be that you might run into a celebrity, and maybe you had them autograph a matchbook or scrap of paper you have in your wallet. Now everyone wants a photo that they can put on Facebook.

Scott Thompson: Oh, I know. There are so many pictures, it’s all so weird.

Josh Board: I always thought when I saw a photo of a friend with somebody famous, they just ran up, pestered them for a picture, and left. It could’ve been a cardboard cutout. It’s not like they were hanging out and talking over dinner.

Scott Thompson: And the photos could be photo-shopped, you never know.

Josh Board: What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever been asked to autograph?

Scott Thompson: A penis.

Josh Board: Oh, that’s right! I heard you do a bit about that in your stand-up. It was a hysterical story. I just assumed you were making it all up.

Scott Thompson: Well, it’s a true story, but I exaggerated it. I talked about how you usually just see my initials, but depending on his mood, you might end up seeing my full name – John Scott Thompson.

Josh Board: I had you guys all sign my Kids in the Hall DVDs after a performance you did in Anaheim. I’m happy with things like that being signed.

Tell me about how the story of The Immigrant came about.

Scott Thompson: I was living in West Los Angeles, in West Hollywood. I had moved back to Canada, but then thought I’d go back to the States and give it another chance. I didn’t have a lot of money, I had immigration problems. I don’t want to get into all the problems I had with that, but I had to sneak it at the Canadian border. I was picked up in Niagara Falls. I ended up living in places I hadn’t lived in before. I lived in the back of a house in West Adams, in East L.A. It was a completely black and Latino neighborhood. I had never seen the area before. Not a hipster or Starbucks to be seen. I thought it was cool, and kind of fell in love with it. It was all inspired by some of my stories about being off the beaten track. It wasn’t like you’d find gay bars that you see in Frontiers Magazine. It seemed like a great idea for a TV series. A comeback in East L.A. It’s basically being an immigrant but through a Canadians eyes.

Josh Board: It worked.

Scott Thompson: It seemed inherently comedic. The juxtaposition of it. Four years ago I got cancer and came home. It took me a couple years, and then I wanted to make a comeback. Nowdays you can just start making movies on your own. You don’t have to beg lots of people. Josh Levy was an old friend, and he makes these little films. I wanted to do stuff, and not wait for the green light. We made a couple of films and then thought…why don’t we take The Immigrant and make kind of a pilot. It begins in Los Angeles, getting over the Mexican border, with a middle-age white comedian.

Josh Board: I remember a bit in Kids in the Hall where Kevin McDonald walks by these drug dealer types that recognize him but can’t remember the show. They say something like “You’re from that TV show…Boys in the Band,” before he corrects them. How many experiences like that made it into this movie?

Scott Thompson: Well, living there was a very interesting experience. On the corner, there’d be a bunch of guys hanging out. Young black guys, smoking doobs and selling pot. I would see them and they’d nod at me. One day one of them, in a lineup at a store, I used a Canadian bill. The woman behind the counter was laughing at how funny it looked. I thought – that’s different. They belong here, but I’m not from here. They realized I wasn’t from there, and it was kind of like they had my back. There was one time where my friends dogs got out. I was looking for them down the street, and they recognized me. The shady boys at the corner said, ‘There’s that TV guy.’ They all fanned out and helped looking for the missing dogs. One was on a bike looking. This would’ve never happened in West Hollywood.

Josh Board: Did you find the dogs?

Scott Thompson: Yeah, we did! We got them all back. It all just got me thinking…that nobody talks about this kind of L.A. Things like race and ethnicity, sexual things. I’m a gay man in that neighborhood. Attitudes aren’t the same as they are in West Hollywood. There was drama, comedy. That’s how the idea came about. We thought maybe we could turn it into a series. We filmed hours and then edited them down. We came up with this idea about a guy who had burned all of his bridges. Sort of like an Andy Dick character. We wondered if this guy could make a comeback. Basically, this guy ends up getting what he needs, but not what he wants. He discovers this gift for gardening. It’s mystical…this magic Caucasian.

Josh Board: Since I’m a huge Kids in the Hall fan, I have to ask about the possibility of another movie like Brain Candy, or another tour.

Scott Thompson: Yeah, we’re talking about a run in Toronto. That might lead to a tour, possibly another movie.

Josh Board: I saw three different shows when you guys toured. One of them had mostly classic skits we remembered from the show. One of them had a lot of new material. It’s strange because…as much as I loved the skits on the show, seeing them on stage isn’t as funny when we know the punchlines already. Yet the crowd also went nuts when they’d see the characters they know and love – the gossipy secretaries or the head crusher. How do you guys decide what type of material you’ll do live?

Scott Thompson: We have a big fight.

Josh Board: (laughing)

Scott Thompson: No really, we do! We have to decide what parts of it will work, and how much of the classic stuff we’ll throw in.

Josh Board: I always think you can do more monologues. You can be on stage doing a Buddy Cole monologue, while they prepare props for another skit. After the next skit is done, Dave or Bruce can do one of their funny takes on something. I’m always surprised when I meet somebody in the States that shares my love of Kids in the Hall, and they rave about the head crusher. Nothing wrong with that character, but there was so much funnier material you guys did.

Scott Thompson: I know. Everyone loves the head crusher, but…it was no chicken lady!

Read more: http://fox5sandiego.com/2013/08/30/the-immigrant-review-and-intervi...