The Canadian sketch comedy group, Kids in the Hall, had a weekly TV show that first aired in 1988 and ran for five seasons. This group of five men are consistently in each week’s sketches, which focus mainly on absurd situations and, as they are men, often requires them to crossdress to add to the humour. Saturday Night Live (SNL) is a live American late-night show that premiered in 1975 and is still running today, on it’s 43 season. Every episode is hosted by a different celebrity and throughout its run has featured over 140 cast members. SNL is geared more towards parody of pop culture and politics. These two shows are comparable because they were airing at the same time, they are both sketch comedy shows, and involve some of the same producers
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The 80’s were a time of hatred and disdain towards gay people for fear of the AIDs epidemic. One of the members, Scott Thompson, is gay and he uses this to feature many gay characters and situations into his sketches. Terry Sweeney was SNL’s first and only openly gay male cast member for 27 years. While he did play feminine roles, sketches during this time would not heavily feature a gay character. While now SNL features and parodies LGBT persons, this was unheard of 30 years ago. Canada’s and America’s perception on sensitive issues like this is a great example of different countries’ tastes. The Kids in the Hall were performing a sketch on gay people and the polarized opinions on them at the time (acceptance and disapproval). Their New York performance was received badly. This would be because “the Kids' stuff is decidedly different, exposing and challenging their audiences' prejudices. In the Rivoli club, on Toronto's trendy Queen Street, where the Kids had been the Monday night "house band," audiences had cheered the sketch.” (CITE THIS) Unlike the Canadian, as seen in this sketch’s reception, Americans at this time could laugh and point out the flaws of their idolized celebrities but had trouble being made fun of themselves. The audience is really the true decider of who enjoys comedy because even it is funny in one place, it could flop in
The 80’s were a time of hatred and disdain towards gay people for fear of the AIDs epidemic. One of the members, Scott Thompson, is gay and he uses this to feature many gay characters and situations into his sketches. Terry Sweeney was SNL’s first and only openly gay male cast member for 27 years. While he did play feminine roles, sketches during this time would not heavily feature a gay character. While now SNL features and parodies LGBT persons, this was unheard of 30 years ago. Canada’s and America’s perception on sensitive issues like this is a great example of different countries’ tastes. The Kids in the Hall were performing a sketch on gay people and the polarized opinions on them at the time (acceptance and disapproval). Their New York performance was received badly. This would be because “the Kids' stuff is decidedly different, exposing and challenging their audiences' prejudices. In the Rivoli club, on Toronto's trendy Queen Street, where the Kids had been the Monday night "house band," audiences had cheered the sketch.” (CITE THIS) Unlike the Canadian, as seen in this sketch’s reception, Americans at this time could laugh and point out the flaws of their idolized celebrities but had trouble being made fun of themselves. The audience is really the true decider of who enjoys comedy because even it is funny in one place, it could flop in