GG will stand for "giddy guy". .. dave on the today show 2/8/03 GG: this morning on today's entertainment, the kids in the hall -- are back. the canadian sketch comedy troupe is out with a new pay per view special, and a dvd, all featuring dave foley, one of their founding members, and an alum of the nbc sitcom newsradio. [dr. seuss bible clip] as part of the kids in the hall, foley hams it up in hats , and in pantyhose [rusty clip], and everything inbetween. [hecubus clip, fur trappers clip] dave foley, good morning. there you are! DF: there i am! there i am. what character, what crazy character am i in this morning? GG: what a funny looking guy he is, oh my gosh there he is..! DF: i know there we go (?) [laughs] GG: okay now before i start this. you've got a cup of coffee in your hand. and -- DF: i do and it's almost empty.. [panicked look off to the side] GG: and people, an -- yeah! -- and if it is, you're freakin' out! 'cos you drink like, i mean is this real? you drink 50 cups of coffee a day? DF: wh- when i'm working. when i'm working i'll, i can often go through 50 cups. GG: how do you do that? DF: uhmm, by not doing much of anything else? it pretty much takes the place of all physical activity for me. GG: [excited!!] heh! it keeps you fit and trim. . . and the svelte guy that you are. DF: but you know what, at 50 cups? drinking coffee *is* an aerobic activity. [off-camera crew laughs] GG: that's good! DF: so.. GG: i don't drink any coffee and i think i'm in big trouble with you. DF: i'm, i'm putting out an exercise video. this is going to be... GG: lift! hoist, maneuver! DF: yup; [lifts mug to mouth] sigh! [sighs] [crew laughs] GG: okay, tell me about kids in the hall for people who don't know, i mean, this is basically... saturday night live for canadians, right? DF: it's it's sort of that, or it's... uh s-saturday night live uhh, for people who like less successful comedy. [GG laughs] uhh.. so uhh.. we're, yeah it's a - we were a sketch group that started out of a, came out of a club scene in toronto. [talking over live clip of 'rusty'] GG: okay but tell me about that; you say sketch group as compared to stand up comedy 'cos you started off, like you dropped out of high school and thought: "i'm gonna be a stand up comedian," -- DF: i did.. GG: -- and then got into sketch comedy why? DF: well not only did i drop out of high school thinking i was going to be a stand up -- i thought i was going to drop out of high school and be lenny bruce. GG: right. DF: and uh, and that is just, looks ridiculous on a seventeen-year-old. y'know, GG: it doesn't work. DF: dig it man! you know uh.. GG: what do you like about being able to go behind these characters and play these, eccentric, unbelievable characters? DF: well i think it's, for me it's more from 'cos my sense of humour tends to come out of conversation, i, i tend to be -- GG: i noticed that. DF: -- more comfortable [laughs] yes, thank you, uhh rather than sort of telling jokes i was never really comfortable with that, that pretend conversation you have with an audience when you're doing stand-up, GG: right. DF: uh. it always made me feel a little awkward. GG: people know you from, newsradio... DF: [eyes widen, deadpan] yes i hope so-- GG: and they also know you from... bugs life, DF: oh yeah. [talking over newsradio clip] GG: even if they don't know it was you, they remember from bugs life the voice of this of this wonderful ant let me see if we can play a clip from bugs life here. [a bug's life clip] GG: you're, you're flik, right! the -- DF: i am flik! GG: the star, if you will, of bug's life! GG: how did you get that? DF: well i, i auditioned repeatedly, uhh... actually i went in to audition at first and uh, and i got bumped that day by uh, uh carol burnett, who came in so carol burnett went ahead of me which was fine! i would, GG: you didn't have any problem with that at all, DF: i like carol, i always let carol burnett go ahead of me, she's uh kind of royalty, so GG: did you do something, i mean did you did you do something fun with your voice from the onset? DF: naahno not really, well actually first i went in to read for the character slim that david hyde pierce wound up doing, and then i think they just felt really badly about bumping me, that day, so they let me come in read for flik, 'cos i guess they'd already cast david hyde pierce, [laughing] so i think that was just, they were just throwing me a bone, and then they just liked what i did. GG: tell me about, i mean, doing, i mean, movies, obviously voiceovers, that kind of thing, versus, the sketch comedy you do; i mean you've got this dvd, you've got this special tonight, i mean, is that, is that where your heart lies? DF: ummm... i'm not sure what the question was! [laughing] where, where.. GG: well i mean is that what you love to do, the sketch comedy... DF: the sketch comedy? GG: is that - yeah! DF: i love, well... eh, well really any, any sort of comedy, whether it's sketch comedy, or the sitcom or doing ah, feature films, to me it's it's all basically doing the same gig, it's all just making sure you time the jokes right. GG: okay, last quick question, i read that you like to watch, dick van dyke, bob newhart -- DF: oh yeah. GG: -- those old comedy shows as compared to the newer ones, why? DF: w-well... they still, those guys are still the best at it, you know they, they did.. GG: what do you see in them that you don't see today, in other comedy. DF: uh.. they're just really well-rounded and just perfect timing i mean bob newhart is, you know, he's the inheriter of jack benny's legacy, i guess, he was like the perfect slow delivery; dick van dyke was just, you know, he was just so great at being the the the center of that show and being the focus, you know and letting all those other characters bounce off of him.. GG: dave foley. . . DF: [excited] and i got to meet both of them this last year... GG: and dave foley walking in their footsteps. DF: oh well, thank you very much. GG: nice to have you here. DF: alright, thanks. GG: the kids in the hall tour of duty is on pay per view tonight at 8 o'clock, the dvd is available next month, and still to come on today, giving yourself the spa treatment at home. how you can fix up facials, hair-treatments, even milk baths, i'm sure dave's going to have, his way with this one.. DF: mm? [laughing] GG: from your very own kitchen. . . but first these messages.