OK, I'll admit it. I'm a virgin ... to The Kids in the Hall.

I'd never seen any of the Canadian comics' work on Comedy Central and HBO, and I had never heard of the boys' movie, Brain Candy -- until last week.

But because I am a fan of sketch comedy, I was more than happy to review the comedic troupe's latest DVD, Tour of Duty, a taping of their live show at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver, British Columbia. Even if it was sub-par, I was sure I'd have at least one good laugh. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Very wrong.

Now, I'm sure these highly popular comedians, led by Dave Foley, have done some great work in the past. Many of my friends have heaped tons of praise on Brain Candy, for instance, and the group's live tour of Canada and the United States was touted as highly successful.

Unfortunately, Tour of Duty did little to validate this praise, as the "humor" was too over-the-top to draw even the slightest laugh from this reviewer, at least.

Many of the skits on the DVD were simply absurd, making the entire presentation seem more annoying than funny. Depicting a crazed blues musician in one skit, a comedian did little more than make irritating voices and scream into his microphone. Instead of laughing out loud, I found myself reaching for the remote and turning down the volume.

The next scene, in which a young man hits on his elderly mother's friend, was not much better. Void of any humorous phrases and developments, the sketch seemed to go nowhere. Many other scenes on the DVD can't help but suffer the same fate.

Tour of Duty even stumbled when lampooning real-life issues like the continuing war on terror, topics that programs such as The Daily Show have spoofed successfully. A skit in which two American salesmen tried to sell rubber bands as "flag wavers" had me struggling to find even the slightest bit of humor.

Perhaps Tour of Duty fails because it was not meant for any medium other than the stage. The DVD is a taping of the group's live act, which may be more entertaining in person. This tidbit, however, did little for me as I was literally trying to keep my eyes open while watching.

That's not to say the potential wasn't there. In an early skit, "Dr. Seuss" narrates the story of Jesus Christ's crucifixion with his trademark nursery school rhymes. Now, the concept was great -- anything that mixes Dr. Seuss and Christianity should be funny in my book.

The problem was that there weren't any hilarious zingers, smart dialogues, or appalling jokes that would leave an audience both shocked and entertained.

Without these attributes, Tour of Duty is no laughing matter.