Vish Khanna reviews books about Kids in the Hall and the Beastie Boys

The Next Chapter columnist Vish Khannais a journalist,radio personality anda lover of all things relating to comedy and music. He chats with ShelaghRogers about two recent reads about a classic hip-hop group and a legendary Canadian comedy troupeBeastieBoys Book by Michael Diamond and AdamHorovitzand The Kids in the Hall: One Dumb Guy by PaulMyers, respectively and howthe "two forces of nature" helped shape today's pop culture.

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BeastieBoys Bookby Michael Diamond and AdamHorovitz

"This is the autobiography or memoir of the surviving members of the Beastie Boys: Mike Dand Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz. They've done something really innovative as they've done throughout their careers they did something with a form and made it their own.

"It's like a mixtape,a reflective journey for them. They are bickering with each other in the prose and correcting each other's memories. It is also an homage to their lost brother, Adam "MCA" Yauch,who passed away in 2012.

"Yauch is missed and missing in this book... you get a sense of Yauch in terms of what an idea generator and innovator he was and how he was the guy really pushing the band forward."

The Kids in the Hall: One Dumb Guyby PaulMyers

"Paul Myerswrites that when he interviewed Kevin McDonald for the book, the troupe member notes that individually the group are made up of as five really smart guys but when they come together they're essentially 'one dumb guy.'

"Much like Beastie Boys, they were friends as kids and have great chemistry. When their TV show ended, so did the group, in a way. Members like Dave Foley had really great success and went on to do sitcoms. But there's something about your core, when you're in a unit like this, that shines through when you're away from it. And I think they realized that The Kids in the Hall is something they're bound to. They're married to it, whether it's dysfunctional or not.

"When I was reading both books, which were were published around the same time, you get the sense of that collective visionof how significant it was that these people had this chemical reaction with one another."

Vish Khanna's comments have been edited for length and clarity.