Christmas With Dave Foley #13: The Grand Finale

Dave's done a handful of other Christmas things over the years, most of which were too short to write whole blogposts about, so here's a roundup of all the ones I know about.

Waaaay back in 1996, the emotional heart of Kids In The Hall: Brain Candy took place at Christmas.

Sidebar: Remember how in Newsradio's second Christmas show, Dave and Lisa manage to visit his parents' house, but they can only stay a few minutes? It always reminded me of this scene.

In between full-length stories from the Prep and Landing elves, Wayne and Lanny had a shorter, special quest to fulfill in 2010's "Operation Secret Santa."

And just last month, Wayne and Lanny got another adventure, at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida, with a big projection/fireworks show, "Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM!" It's pretty standard as far as these types of things go, with a melange of quotes from wintry and Christmas scenes from the best-loved things in the Disney canon. It has a nice framing story, as the elves have to rescue Santa from Oogie Boogie.

And even more recently, just two weeks ago today, Dave appeared at a Christmas cabaret, and read a new poem, playing off one of my favorite KITH skits (which I linked to earlier this month), and it's a Seussian retelling of our frettingest, most cretinous, upsettingest election ever.

Finally, two holiday reminiscences from Dave. First, a short interview he gave for Coopers' Christmas, with a recollection of his childhood Christmases. Next, a memory of his favorite and best Christmas present.

And now, if I may, a short recitation:

On the twelfth day of Christmas, Dave Foley gave to me:
Twelve bad relations,

Eleven naughty children,

Ten elves a prepping,

Nine scammers dancing,

Eight Parks-a-singing,

Seven Dans-a-fighting,

Six guest stars singing,

Five silver blades!

Four moms and dads,

Three minutes home,

Two gravied trouts,

And a Pepsi with Fibber McGee.

Thanks, Dave, for a great December.

I wish you a Merry Christmas! I wish you Happy Holidays! I wish you the best Bellini Day ever!

Christmas With Dave Foley #4: KITH "Santa Claus"

I can imagine how this came to be written, and I bet you can too. I haven't done any research about it, but I KNOW it: one too many holidays was ruined by parents hectoring for grandchildren. I just know it. And like with our parents, we all love Santa, even if we don't want to get pushed around by them.

There's not much Dave in this, but it's so seasonal I can't NOT write about it. I love Mark's version of Santa, with hints of Jim Backus and a perfect childlike tantrum when he hears a "dirty" word. I would've liked to see Santa come back for more sketches, where he had to react to real life, but I'm pretty sure Mark already had enough iconic recurring characters.

As a Christmas sketch, I rate this one 9/10. It's a perfect juxtaposition of Santa's holiday idealism with reality, and the problems in that intersection.
As a KITH sketch, I rate this 7/10. It's short, and simple, and the premise is everything. It could work almost as well on SNL or Laugh-In, though the twist at the end is wonderfully KITH-y.
As a spotlight for Dave, I rate this 3/10. He's onscreen for less than a minute, but one of his three lines has a nice twist in the delivery.

Christmas With Dave Foley #2: Kids in the Hall "Bellini Day"

I'm not doing this series in strictly chronological order, so our next thing, randomly chosen, is a holiday sketch I adore.

This won't make a lot of sense if you haven't seen a lot of Kids In The Hall, or at least enough to know the recurring use of writer Paul Bellini as a silent, bizarre absurdity. (If you're not familiar, stick around after the sketch to hear Dave and Kevin explain a little of that history.)

Obviously, the unnecessary slam on religion is a memorable part of this sketch, and I can imagine that putting a lot of people off. But it's by no means the most heretical thing the Kids ever did, and the way Mark overplays it makes it funny, even the third time it happens.

I've always loved Bruce's kid characters, and his clueless laughter at 1:18 gives me life. Of course, we're nominally here for Dave, and he shows up in the mostly thankless role of dutiful mother (though he gets to show some leg, and even a stylish hairdo).

I'd hoped to find enough Christmassy or winter-themed KITH sketches to make 15 or 20 minutes into a compilation, but this and the next sketch I post will have to do. Sorry.

As a KITH sketch, I rate this 7/10. It's too inside for people who aren't familiar with the show, though it works hard to reach the heights of absurdity the show consistently depended on.
As a Christmas sketch, I rate this 9/10. It has all the hallmarks of an old-fashioned "true meaning of Christmas" scene, with everything twisted a little to make it hilarious.
As a scene for Dave, I rate this 5/10. Mom is kinda one-note, and even her hair is overshadowed by everything else around.