This Time I Know Where The Thought Came From

Back when I lived in the dorms, I started watching Kids in the Hall. I'd only heard of it through a high school chum, but Comedy Central was showing it for a couple of hours every afternoon, and I had that time free at least some days of the week, so I tuned in. And I laughed. Quite a bit. This was around the same time A&E was showing reruns of Newsradio in the late morning, so I was getting plenty of Dave Foley*.

There was one sketch in particular that came to mind this week. It involved a Mr. Heavyfoot. It's Dave Foley, in a conservative suit and hat, and he's an ordinary fellow - who happens to have very heavy feet. Within the episode I saw (Youtube shows me he appeared in more than one, because I've never seen the skits they've got), they did three sketches with the character, the first two dealing with the issues that come from having disproportionately heavy feet, while a jaunty tune plays**. For example, in the first skit, Mr. Heavyfoot is on a date, and arrives at his date's home, flowers in hand. But woe, her house is up a steep hill, and we watch as he endeavors to climb all those steps leading to her home, with hilarious consequences. The second skit provides different circumstances, but still more woe for Mr. Heavyfoot.

So at this point, things seem pretty lousy for our protagonist. He's certainly remaining upbeat and determined to make the best of things, but life sure is hard with these heavy feet. And that's what makes the last bit so nice. It's "Mr. Heavyfoot Goes to the Moon". That's right, somehow our put upon feelow has made it to the Moon (without a spacesuit, no less) And guess what? On the Moon, with its weaker gravity, his feet no longer feel so heavy. He can jump, and kick his heels together, and oh, he looks so merry now! All his years of perseverance have been rewarded***! It's what really makes it work for me, is that after all his travails, which I have laughed at, I get to see something work out for him, and share in his joy for once.

I felt like sharing that.

* Not too much. This time in my life convinced me you can never have too much Dave Foley.

** I could try and describe it, but here, this link should take you to the clip I found, so you can listen for yourself.

*** When I started thinking about this skit, and I started thinking about how he's on the airless Moon without a space suit, and he's finally free of the shackles of his heavy feet, I started thinking of it as an analogy for him having died, and this is his conception of Heaven. I wish I wouldn't have thought of that. It was kind of depressing. So let's just assume his heavy feet store oxygen or something, like a camel And that he's resistant to intense heat and cold. . . because of his feet.