Kids in the Hall’s Mark McKinney on new TV show, his SNL stint and his greatest fear, Canada Reviews

Acclaimed actor, comedian and all around funny guy, Mark McKinney, of Toronto sketch comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall and Superstore fame, has a new TV show on CTV all about hobbies and the fanatical community that partakes. Mark McKinney Needs a Hobby airs on Wednesday nights.

What inspired the creation of this new show dedicated to hobbies?

It was a gradual realization. I remember walking on the Danforth and just passing a hobby store and remembering that I was into models and toy soldiers when I was a kid. The next thing I knew, I was out $150 worth of models, and I still haven’t taken it out of the bag. That was four years ago, but two years ago was a writers’ strike, and there was just this quiet, and it was like, “Well, who am I when I’m not working?” And I realized I needed a hobby from my original hobby, which was improv comedy.

And do all these groups have their own quirky communities?

Oh yes. You go birding and you meet all the birders. They all showed up. They turned up at this regular meet-up in Hamilton called Birds and Beers that you’ll see in the episode. And you know, the medieval re-enactors go out three or four times a year and they go to Italy. They all go together and they build armour and teach each other sword fighting.

Any other interesting ones?

The barbershop quartet people. They all have day jobs. But they have this outfit called the Aristocrats, and they travel to these big conventions and talk about community. Did you know that there’s an 80-acre summer spot up north that is called Harmony Ranch, and it’s entirely populated by people who do barbershop quartet singing?

Were there any you considered taking up after the show?

Well, I put the birding app on my phone. I would love to get back to sing with the Aristocrats. I’m really interested in following up singing and dancing and bodyboarding in the waves. It’s kind of like when I was on tour with Kids in the Hall. Every time we go to a city I’d be in, like, you know, Columbus, Ohio, wow. What a great place. You know, you find something interesting, right?

What was the most challenging?

They were all kind of interesting ones and difficult ones, but probably puppetry. We went to Ottawa for the International Puppet Festival. I think that that was a little challenging because my performer nerves kicked in.

What are you hoping people take from the show?

Well, I hope it’s entertaining. And I hope I draw people into considering hobbies. I think it’s a fantastically healthy thing. I hope people just like the interaction and the play and that it is something worthwhile to lean into.

Saturday Night Live just had its 50th anniversary. What was it like being a part of that iconic show?

Starting from my very first exposure to it, which was, like, I was working at a Second Cup in Toronto. I was 25 and one week, and the next week I was at SNL giving notes on my sketch to Madonna. It was endlessly thrilling, often terrifying. I went once as a writer, and then I went back after Kids in the Hall as a performer. It’s a hard show to do, but it’s like, whenever you meet anyone who’s worked at SNL, you have a kind of secret handshake or look, because we have this thing, this fantastic career-making thing.

All right. Now I have just a few kind of short answer questions for you. What was your first job?

If you take out babysitting and, you know, yard work as a teenager, it was actually working at these huge government buildings in Quebec after I flunked out of high school. Later on, my early favourite job was repairing used pianos in Calgary. And I also drove for Dial-a-Bottle.

What’s your great extravagance?

Wasting time playing video games.

What is your greatest fear?

Embarrassment.

What Torontonian would you most like to hang out with?

Maybe Catherine O’Hara, she’s from Toronto right? I also think it’s cool to hang out with Drake, because I think he did improv comedy, and I bet we’d get off because we both played the Rivoli back in the day.

Where do you send visitors to the city for the first time?

I think Kensington Market and Little Italy are unique. When I’ve recommended friends to just walk around there, I haven’t had a bad report.