The five members of Kids in the Hall have seemed to steer clear of the kind of controversy that would prevent them from being able to cross the American border.
Yet a member of the comedy troupe, Dave Foley, has claimed a recent court order prevents him from being able to set foot in his home and native land.
Foley explained during an interview on comedian Marc Maron's podcast that he was recently ordered by an Ontario Family Court judge to pay his first wife and two teenage sons more than he has been able to earn.
"I'm happy to give away half my money, that would be great," said Foley. "But I'm literally obligated to give away 400 per cent of my income, or otherwise go to jail."The judge even said, if I was paralyzed from the neck down, I would still be responsible for having to earn a million dollars a year."
The enforced ruling has motivated Foley, who also starred in the sitcom "NewsRadio" during the Kids in the Hall's mid-to-late-1990s hiatus, to pursue a solo stand-up comedy career at age 48.
Maron's podcast, on which he discusses the often-unfunny side of show business with seasoned comedians, will surely bring Foley's financial frustrations to the attention of Hollywood.
But ex-wife Tabatha Southey, now a humour columnist for The Globe and Mail, might see things differently.
The couple met in the early days of Kids in the Hall, who caught their big break after performing in the back room of Toronto's Rivoli club in the mid-1980s, when she was the girlfriend of Foley's best friend.
However, according to the interview with Maron, their relationship was mostly non-physical for the 11 years it lasted, notwithstanding the birth of their two children. Foley and Southey divorced in 1997.While he was re-married to American actress Chrissy Guerrero a few years later, and the couple had a daughter in 2003, Foley said the strain of having to pay spousal and child support for his first marriage contributed to the recent dissolution of the second one.
Foley explained the latest ruling stated he remains on the hook to Southey whether or not he is able to earn the money, and whether or not he is alive.
So, for the time being, Foley has planned to hunker down in Los Angeles.
"I don't think I would take to jail well," he said.
