Posted by On June 6th, 2025 I was equally surprised and pleased to find myself in St. John’s for a performance starring Kevin McDonald at the Black Sheep. I assume that you are similarly surprised. If not, perhaps this will help:
First of all (in case the name doesn’t jump out at you) Kevin McDonald was a solid 20% of Canada’s answer to the Monty Python question that few were asking: The Kids in the Hall. And I do mean “solid”. Sure, he wasn’t the one who got famous for crushing people’s heads (that was Mark McKinney) or the These Are the Dave’s I Know guy (Bruce McCulloch), he wasn’t the “I’m a bad doctor” guy (Dave Foley) nor is he the wonderful Buddy Cole, sitting atop his barstool reciting flamboyant soliloquies of comedic gold like Liberace-without-a-piano performing concerto’s of pure, unadulterated gaydom (Scott Thompson)…actually, Kevin didn’t create a whole lot of memorable/quotable characters during the show’s five-year run but he was always one of my favourite Kids nevertheless (neck-in-neck with – or perhaps slightly behind – Scott Thompson).
And not only was this cog in one of Canada’s greatest comedy wheels rolling into St. John’s of all places, he was performing at the Black Sheep. Not the Holy Heart Theatre nor the recently renovated Majestic theatre, but the Black Sheep; one of the smallest, grittiest live music venues on small, gritty George Street. Now don’t get me wrong, I quite like the Black Sheep – partly because it’s small and gritty but mostly because it presents good, original live music – but I never would have dreamt that the Black Sheep would host a bona fide, genuine biggish-name comedian like Kevin McDonald. But sure enough it was, and tickets were only $30 taboot*.
M’lady and I arrived early enough to snag a rare pair of chairs – there are probably no more than seven tables in the place – but so early that we didn’t bother to snag one of the truly good spots, which would require standing on the fringe of the tiny dancefloor for an hour or two without a table. But no worries, like I say, the place is small.
So small that there is absolutely no space that can act as a makeshift dressing room, so when Kevin arrived early for his show he was left to awkwardly wander the small and already busy room avoiding any and all eye contact by keeping his head steadfastly tilted down, staring at the floor. He looked older than I expected – but don’t we all – and I couldn’t believe how…untall he was. Which is to say: sure, Kevin McDonald is pretty short, maybe 5′ 5″ or so, but I didn’t notice that as much as I noticed how not tall he was. I don’t know, it must be his body shape or something, but I always thought he was pretty tall. Weird that I watched the show so religiously and never noticed that he isn’t. Must be a tv thing.
Another thing that television did a good job of hiding was Kevin’s obvious social oddness and his clear emotional scarring. But before we delve into that I suppose I should mention the opening act.
Sarah Walsh’s warmup set made me feel like I could be a comedian, and if I wasn’t utterly convinced that I would be nervous to the point of nausea (and why would I do that to myself?), I would try it. It’s not that she was bad – she wasn’t – but it just seems so easy (and maybe even a little bit fun) to stand up there and tell a couple of amusing tales with a handful of punchlines built in.
And while Miss Walsh didn’t knock my socks off with the main body of her set, she closed by reading some “random thoughts” off of her cellphone that were pretty funny. Unfortunately she didn’t seem very confident in the material, racing through the Steven Wright-esque non-sequiturs without breaking for the laughs her oddservations seemed to deserve.
On the other hand, Kevin McDonald’s set was pretty odd in an overall sense. He didn’t do stand-up per se, instead relying on curiously self-curated storytelling instead. The stories were almost entirely inside snippets of his life as a Kid in the Hall and his relationships with the other Kids (though he brought things back to his abusive alcoholic father as often as he could; way more than the rule of three’s would dictate). However, even within these insightful fly-on-the-wall vignettes I couldn’t keep it straight if he actually enjoyed working with Scott Thompson (for example), or hated the guy. Same thing with the other three troupe members, though in the end I do think that he really liked working with Thompson, even if they never once wrote a skit together).
Was it funny? Yes. Was it hilarious? No. Would I go see Kevin McDonald again? Probably not. Did I surreptitiously crush his head from my seat just a dozen feet away even though he wasn’t Mark McKinney? Of course I did.
And did I enjoy my surprising and pleasant night out in Town? Absolutely!
*There was a meet-and-greet option for $80 but c’mon now, it’s just Kevin McDonald.
Todd Man Out 