Scott Thompson: graphic novelist

Abstract

Drastically. I've always put a great premium on my friends and family, but I do so much more now. It's made me feel time a little more. I'm in more of a hurry, but at the same time, I take life a little easier. I don't beat myself up as much as I used to. For a number of years, I questioned a lot of my choices. After cancer I realized if people misunderstand me, that's not my problem. So I don't second-guess myself any more - because they can't kill me.

As the Kids in the Hall funnyman gears up for Comic Con, he talks to Gayle MacDonald about comedy, cancer and the trauma of growing up in Brampton

What was it like growing up in a household with so much testosterone (your poor mom)?

Let's just say we weren't a family that sat around talking world issues. My brothers and I were always competing for our parents' attention, so at the dinner table we'd go over the day and make fun of anyone we'd met. I steal a lot of lines from my brothers, who are all funny. I think boys use humour to assert themselves, or to prove themselves, especially if they're not a big athlete or a warrior. I have this theory that comedy is violence for physical cowards. The language of comedy is very violent, very masculine in a way.

When the Kids in the Hall reunited last year for the CBC miniseries Death Comes to Town, you returned to your birthplace, North Bay. How was it going home?

I spent the first nine years of my life in North Bay. To film the show last year, we stayed in cabins on Lake Nipissing, which is where I learned to swim. And they were a mile from Trout Lake, which is where I was born. For me, it truly was like going home again. Those first nine years were paradise. But then we got kicked out of the Garden of Eden [when his engineer dad was transferred], and we ended up in Brampton.

But you can't knock Brampton when you consider that some of this country's top comedic talent - yourself, Russell Peters and Michael Cera - all hail from there. Is there something in the drinking water?

Yes, it's crack. I'm not sure what it is about Brampton that produces funny. I think maybe Brampton is to Toronto what Canada is to the United States: It's like a satellite that's not taken seriously.

How would you describe your brand of humour?

Take no prisoners, unless the prisoners are gorgeous.

You came out in university at the age of 23. Was your family supportive?

It was a two-tiered coming out. I first announced I was bisexual after a screening of Rocky Horror Picture Show . I told a few select people, including my girlfriend, which seemed to be important. Then in 1983, I told my friends and family. My parents did not take it well at first. But that was 1983 and it was a very different world. Homophobia was so prevalent, and AIDS was beginning to ravage the world. I can't imagine how my parents felt. But over time they've accepted it. One of my brothers also took some time, but now everyone is fine.

What impact did the school shooting have on you?

That's an involved question. I was on my way to class, and I was running late. I was in the hallway when I heard it, and I ended up hiding in a classroom with a bunch of kids. The killer lived down the street from me, and he sat behind me in class. He shot my English teacher, with whom I had a complicated relationship.

I was the best student, but I always got into trouble. It was very traumatic, and creatively, it made me feel like nowhere is really safe. I have a very strange way of looking at the world. I'm much more comfortable on a stage in front of 2,000 people, or wandering a Third World country by myself, than being alone in a church or a classroom. I believe if [death] wants to find you, it will find you.

So you've done a graphic novel based on your Kids in the Hall persona, Danny Husk. Are you planning any illustrated novels based on your impersonation of Queen Elizabeth II or the effeminate socialite Buddy Cole?

I hope so, yes. The graphic novel is a medium I'm thoroughly enjoying. I like the freedom. It's a pure way of telling stories, a wonderful combination of books and film. There are three books coming out in the Hollow Planet series, and we are discussing a Buddy Cole book next.

How did cancer change you?

Drastically. I've always put a great premium on my friends and family, but I do so much more now. It's made me feel time a little more. I'm in more of a hurry, but at the same time, I take life a little easier. I don't beat myself up as much as I used to. For a number of years, I questioned a lot of my choices. After cancer I realized if people misunderstand me, that's not my problem. So I don't second-guess myself any more - because they can't kill me. I mean sure, they can, but they're not chemo.

You divide your time now between Los Angeles and Toronto. What do you miss about home when you're back in the States?

I miss the way you can get around Toronto. I miss public transit, my bookstores, and the clubs I can perform in by just walking in. I miss my family. I miss the Don Valley. I miss the old Redpath building. I miss my favourite restaurant, a Vietnamese place called Ginger, on Yonge Street. And I miss Canadians. I love the way we look at the world. We are funny people.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

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THE BIO

Scott Thompson

Stand-up comic, actor, cancer survivor, graphic novelist

Age: 51

Born in North Bay, Ont., Mr. Thompson grew up the second eldest of five boys in a rambunctious household in Brampton. He was a student at the Brampton Centennial Secondary School in 1975, when classmate Michael Slobodian went on a rampage, killing two people and injuring 13. Mr. Thompson, a smart student but a trouble-maker, attended York University before he was asked to leave in his third year for being "disruptive." He soon met his Kids in the Hall co-star Mark McKinney. The comedy-sketch troupe was formed in 1984. The Kids' series aired for five seasons on the CBC and HBO, starting in 1989, and was thrice nominated for an Emmy. In March, 2009, the openly gay Thompson was diagnosed with lymphoma. He is now cancer-free, and attending Toronto's Comic Con this weekend to promote his first graphic novel called Danny Husk: The Hollow Planet , based on the straight-laced middle manager he played in Kids in the Hall .