Since we recently had Lee Daniels’ The Butler (his name out front because of a film with the same title in 1916), perhaps this should’ve been Josh Levy’s The Immigrant. Wouldn’t want anybody to confuse it for the 1917 Charlie Chaplin movie of the same name.

There’s also another The Immigrant coming out this year, starring Jeremy Renner, Marion Cotillard, and Joaquin Phoenix. Sure, that has a cast of Oscar winners, but this one has a cast that includes some of the funniest people around.

It stars Scott Thompson and Dave Foley, from the best comedy troupe ever – The Kids in the Hall. It has Margaret Cho, Michael Cera, and Will Forte in smaller roles playing themselves, and trying to avoid the favors Thompson is asking.

He plays a once famous comedian who had a TV show, and has been deported back to his native Canada. He wants to attempt a comeback, but first that means getting back into Hollywood. Literally. He uses human smugglers to sneak him across the Mexico/US border, and ends up in East L.A.

His former manager doesn’t seem all that interested. It’s one of the funniest scenes I’ve ever heard dealing with a manager that isn’t interested. It rivals Dustin Hoffman yelling at his manager (Sydney Pollack) in Tootsie.

Thompson is resourceful, though. He may not have money, but he hooks up with Luiz and Gerardo – migrant workers that get him doing some landscaping.

He’s told when approaching a car for people looking to hire workers “If they don’t have pants on, come back.”

One of the cars that approaches has his former co-star from the TV show Boys on a Houseboat (played by Dave Foley). He plays a smug jerk subtly and perfect.

Imagine my surprise when I’m laughing and having a great time, only to have the movie end on me! Apparently I wasn’t aware it was just a 20 minute short.

Hopefully as the film makes the rounds of various film and comedy festivals, you get a chance to see it. I would’ve enjoyed watching a few hours more of these fun characters.

Thompson was always so versatile on Kids in the Hall. He didn’t just play gay characters, but when he played a serious cop, who would just slightly squint his eyes in anger – it was a thing of beauty. Just thinking of the variety of characters he pulled off on that show – this is somebody that we should be seeing more of. Not since The Larry Sanders Show went off the air have I seen him consistently.

Let’s hope The Immigrant is picked up as a series.

This short gets 4 stars out of 5.

INTERVIEW WITH SCOTT THOMPSON

Josh Board: When I saw you at The Improv in Irvine, it was a fun show (with fellow Kids in the Hall member Kevin McDonald). As me and my friends were leaving, you were standing near the door. We told you it was a great show, but didn’t stay to talk with you. My sister had just flown in and was tired. Then when I saw you at Comic Con a few years ago, I wanted to talk with you, but this guy in a wheelchair was talking your ear off. I was standing there, wearing my Kids in the Hall shirt like a geeky fan…

Scott Thompson: Yeah, I remember that.

Josh Board: You do? Because I was wearing that shirt?

Scott Thompson: No. That guy in the wheelchair. He was an asshole!

(we both laugh).

Josh Board: When he wanted you to take a picture with him, you were kind enough to help him move his wheelchair and take the best photo where you could sit next to him. Everybody has a camera these days. It used to be that you might run into a celebrity, and maybe you had them autograph a matchbook or scrap of paper you have in your wallet. Now everyone wants a photo that they can put on Facebook.

Scott Thompson: Oh, I know. There are so many pictures, it’s all so weird.

Josh Board: I always thought when I saw a photo of a friend with somebody famous, they just ran up, pestered them for a picture, and left. It could’ve been a cardboard cutout. It’s not like they were hanging out and talking over dinner.

Scott Thompson: And the photos could be photo-shopped, you never know.

Josh Board: What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever been asked to autograph?

Scott Thompson: A penis.

Josh Board: Oh, that’s right! I heard you do a bit about that in your stand-up. It was a hysterical story. I just assumed you were making it all up.

Scott Thompson: Well, it’s a true story, but I exaggerated it. I talked about how you usually just see my initials, but depending on his mood, you might end up seeing my full name – John Scott Thompson.

Josh Board: I had you guys all sign my Kids in the Hall DVDs after a performance you did in Anaheim. I’m happy with things like that being signed.

Tell me about how the story of The Immigrant came about.

Scott Thompson: I was living in West Los Angeles, in West Hollywood. I had moved back to Canada, but then thought I’d go back to the States and give it another chance. I didn’t have a lot of money, I had immigration problems. I don’t want to get into all the problems I had with that, but I had to sneak it at the Canadian border. I was picked up in Niagara Falls. I ended up living in places I hadn’t lived in before. I lived in the back of a house in West Adams, in East L.A. It was a completely black and Latino neighborhood. I had never seen the area before. Not a hipster or Starbucks to be seen. I thought it was cool, and kind of fell in love with it. It was all inspired by some of my stories about being off the beaten track. It wasn’t like you’d find gay bars that you see in Frontiers Magazine. It seemed like a great idea for a TV series. A comeback in East L.A. It’s basically being an immigrant but through a Canadians eyes.

Josh Board: It worked.

Scott Thompson: It seemed inherently comedic. The juxtaposition of it. Four years ago I got cancer and came home. It took me a couple years, and then I wanted to make a comeback. Nowdays you can just start making movies on your own. You don’t have to beg lots of people. Josh Levy was an old friend, and he makes these little films. I wanted to do stuff, and not wait for the green light. We made a couple of films and then thought…why don’t we take The Immigrant and make kind of a pilot. It begins in Los Angeles, getting over the Mexican border, with a middle-age white comedian.

Josh Board: I remember a bit in Kids in the Hall where Kevin McDonald walks by these drug dealer types that recognize him but can’t remember the show. They say something like “You’re from that TV show…Boys in the Band,” before he corrects them. How many experiences like that made it into this movie?

Scott Thompson: Well, living there was a very interesting experience. On the corner, there’d be a bunch of guys hanging out. Young black guys, smoking doobs and selling pot. I would see them and they’d nod at me. One day one of them, in a lineup at a store, I used a Canadian bill. The woman behind the counter was laughing at how funny it looked. I thought – that’s different. They belong here, but I’m not from here. They realized I wasn’t from there, and it was kind of like they had my back. There was one time where my friends dogs got out. I was looking for them down the street, and they recognized me. The shady boys at the corner said, ‘There’s that TV guy.’ They all fanned out and helped looking for the missing dogs. One was on a bike looking. This would’ve never happened in West Hollywood.

Josh Board: Did you find the dogs?

Scott Thompson: Yeah, we did! We got them all back. It all just got me thinking…that nobody talks about this kind of L.A. Things like race and ethnicity, sexual things. I’m a gay man in that neighborhood. Attitudes aren’t the same as they are in West Hollywood. There was drama, comedy. That’s how the idea came about. We thought maybe we could turn it into a series. We filmed hours and then edited them down. We came up with this idea about a guy who had burned all of his bridges. Sort of like an Andy Dick character. We wondered if this guy could make a comeback. Basically, this guy ends up getting what he needs, but not what he wants. He discovers this gift for gardening. It’s mystical…this magic Caucasian.

Josh Board: Since I’m a huge Kids in the Hall fan, I have to ask about the possibility of another movie like Brain Candy, or another tour.

Scott Thompson: Yeah, we’re talking about a run in Toronto. That might lead to a tour, possibly another movie.

Josh Board: I saw three different shows when you guys toured. One of them had mostly classic skits we remembered from the show. One of them had a lot of new material. It’s strange because…as much as I loved the skits on the show, seeing them on stage isn’t as funny when we know the punchlines already. Yet the crowd also went nuts when they’d see the characters they know and love – the gossipy secretaries or the head crusher. How do you guys decide what type of material you’ll do live?

Scott Thompson: We have a big fight.

Josh Board: (laughing)

Scott Thompson: No really, we do! We have to decide what parts of it will work, and how much of the classic stuff we’ll throw in.

Josh Board: I always think you can do more monologues. You can be on stage doing a Buddy Cole monologue, while they prepare props for another skit. After the next skit is done, Dave or Bruce can do one of their funny takes on something. I’m always surprised when I meet somebody in the States that shares my love of Kids in the Hall, and they rave about the head crusher. Nothing wrong with that character, but there was so much funnier material you guys did.

Scott Thompson: I know. Everyone loves the head crusher, but…it was no chicken lady!

Interview with director Josh Levy

Josh Board: Tell me about the first time you saw Kids in the Hall, and tell me your favorite skit.

Josh Levy: My brother Robi and I used to watch KITH together when we were in high school, and we never missed an episode. As a gay kid coming out in the early 90′s, KITH was a revelation. I’d never seen gay stuff on TV before, or anywhere really. So it wasn’t long until Thompson was my own personal hero. I mean, this was well before Ellen, and Philadelphia, so seeing an openly gay guy doing comedy and accepted by a band of straight brothers was amazing. I don’t think Thompson gets enough credit for that – he was the first!

Hard to pick a favorite sketch, but the one where Scott emerges from his house and gets called “Fag” by a kid on a bike then ultimately gets his revenge in a bear suit really stuck with me. I realized I didn’t have to be afraid – I could just defend myself, stand up for myself and bash back.

Josh Board: When writing and working with Scott, are you intimidated because you were a fan of his show or is it a comfortable experience?

Josh Levy: Scott and I have been close friends for many years now, so at this point it’s a pretty trusting and comfortable relationship. We have a really strong creative chemistry and we share a lot of the same world view, so it’s easy to draw the best out of each other. He’s been the greatest mentor a guy could ask for and taught me a lot about life and comedy.

Josh Board: What about the possibilities of a full-length film. I couldn’t help but think of Brain Candy when I saw Dave Foley show up. Some of it also reminded me of Cheech Marin’s Born in East L.A.

Josh Levy: Brain Candy was my very first job in the film world – I was the Set P.A.! We would definitely like to do more with The Immigrant. Currently we’ve been developing it as a TV series, but we have a solid idea of what a feature might look like as well, so we’ll see what’s most feasible. I would really enjoy following Bob down to Mexico and tracking the whole journey across the border… I think that would be a story worthy of a full length film.

Josh Board: There were a lot of great lines in The Immigrant. When Thompson said he apologized for taking a crap on the floor and Will Forte responds, “I would argue you shouldn’t have crapped on the floor in the first place,” or Thompson’s manager saying he doesn’t sound so gay any more, before Thompson responds “Until I talk.” This is great stuff. When you come up with a funny line, does it sound funny on the page or do you need the actors saying them first? I remember reading an interview with Warren Beatty where he said Ishtar wasn’t bad when he read the script. He thought some of the jokes worked and they could clean up the ones that didn’t. How do you know when you have a line that works?

Josh Levy: I guess my main approach is not to force it. With The Immigrant in particular, I aimed to keep the performances real and grounded and let the comedy come through naturally. The truth is, when you’re working with talents like Thompson and Foley, the best thing to do is stay out of the way and not mess it up! As a director I always strive to surround myself with talented folks who are more knowledgeable than me and then I just try to inspire their best work, and lead everyone down the same path. I myself am most definitely not a comedian, but I like to think I have good taste in comedy.

Josh Board: What other projects are you working on?

Josh Levy: I just finished directing a comedy web series for The CW called Backpackers. It’s about a guy backpacking through Europe with his buddy searching for his missing fiancé. We shot it all over Europe in the spring. It was a mad, fantastic experience. We had an incredible cast and crew and we became a big family on the road. I think it turned out great. You can watch the first episode now at www.cwseed.com.

I’m also working on a feature called We Play Dead. It’s a thriller – a bit of a departure for me, and I’m very excited to try something different.

Josh Board: What age were you when you started working on films and how did your love of it come about?

Josh Levy: I wrote and acted in plays in high school and summer camp, then went to film school at YorkUniversity. Basically, I’m an imaginative guy and a team player, so film seemed to be the right outlet for that.