The freaks and geeks of Illinois flocked to the Rosemont Theatre, 5400 N. River Road, Rosemont, last Thursday.

They journeyed in hopes of finding abject hilarity and obscure comedy. They journeyed in hopes of finding the Kids in the Hall.

At the promised land of comedy was Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney and Scott Thompson (more Mcs than an Irish wake).

They met the geeks’ needs for famous sketch comedy and the freaks’ needs for new routines that are begging to step over any line society has drawn in the sand. Whether it’s religion mixed with Dr. Seuss or high school graduates hitting on senior citizens, the Kids in the Hall have it all.

The comedy troupe, which has spent more than a decade together, has a unique way of making audiences laugh while slapping their sensibilities and standards out of their mouths.

It was no less apparent than at their live show. Whether it was Buddy Cole sharing his homo-erotic tales from Afghanistan or McCulloch and McKinney telling us that if we don’t keep waving our little American flags than the terrorists have won.

The group’s new tour, titled Tour Of Duty, is the live show to see this year. It’s the only live show this reporter had seen that truly deserved two standing ovations. It was two hours of blood, sweat and laughter with non-stop gags that had the Kids laughing at their own goofiness right along with the crowd.

It’s been two years since the troupe’s last live tour, which also was met with a tremendous response. The DVD documentary of the 2000 tour, “Kids in the Hall – Same Guys, New Dresses,” is available.

Along with the new material that the Kids toss out, they bring back the classics that made them famous. Sir Simon Milligan and his servant to him and Satan, Heckubus, crawled out from the pit of ultimate darkness while Gavin still was asking asinine questions.

The Kids’ show is tight and truly funnier than the garbage that “Saturday Night Live” shovels out or a Second City comedy shakedown. All other live comedy shows play skanks to the pimping of the Kids in the Hall. They crush the heads of other comedy shows, just like Mr. Tiscic played by McKinney.

The group has been crushing heads and pinching funny bones since 1984. They debuted on television in 1989 and the show “The Kids in the Hall” ran for five seasons. Re-runs still can be found at 1 and 1:30 p.m. weekdays on Comedy Central. From the TV show came the box-office disaster, 1996’s “Brain Candy.” The movie seemed like the last dose of disturbing comedy, until the Kids resurrected in 2000 for a live tour.

It’s great that they did, because there’s nothing but low-brow comedy out there, and we need the guys that started it to come back. Over the summer, the Kids in the Hall have unconfirmed dates to be back in Illinois, so check your wallet and your wall calendar.