Mark McKinney’s two decades in show business will be recognized at this year’s Banff TV fest when the multi-talented actor, comedian, writer and producer picks up CTV’s prestigious Sir Peter Ustinov Award for outstanding comedic contribution.

McKinney says the best part about the prize is the ‘fantastic company’ he finds himself in, which includes previous winners Brent Butt, John Cleese, Bob Newhart, Martin Short and Rick Mercer.

‘Brent is one of my true heroes to do what he did in Canada and give us our first great Canadian sitcom [Corner Gas],’ said McKinney, on the phone from Winnipeg where he was wrapping production on the final episodes of season two of the Citytv comedy Less Than Kind, for which he is senior story editor, producer and showrunner. McKinney appeared in a 2005 episode of Butt’s Corner Gas.

The Ottawa-born funnyman is best known for his acting chops on CBC’s long-running cult sketch comedy series The Kids in the Hall (1989-95). McKinney went on to star in Saturday Night Live (1995-97), then co-created the acclaimed Canuck series Slings and Arrows (which he wrote and starred in for all three seasons – 2003-06), and eventually acted on NBC’s Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (2006-07).

McKinney fondly remembers his days on Kids in the Hall, and says he didn’t fully realize the impact of the show until the troupe reunited for a North American tour in 2000 – five years after the show ended.

‘We opened [the tour] in Vancouver to this insane reception with people chanting our skits along with us… it was a neat moment,’ he recalls, adding that they became aware of the power of syndication. ‘More and more people had seen the show, and our fans were young as ever.’

McKinney also has film credits under his belt, including the Kids in the Hall movie Brain Candy and the SNL spin-offs Superstar, The Ladies Man and A Night at the Roxbury. He had a leading role in the Spice Girls’ movie Spice World, and also starred opposite Isabella Rossellini in Guy Maddin’s acclaimed tragic comedy The Saddest Music in the World.

The 49-year-old renaissance man lists comedy troupes Monte Python, SCTV and Newfoundland’s Codco as some of his biggest influences, explaining that they felt ‘organic and original.’

‘Monte Python was the first comedy troupe I was obsessed with,’ he recalls.

McKinney is set to start production in August on Death Comes to Town, an eight-episode serialized comedy – co-written by and co-starring McKinney and fellow Kids in the Hall members Dave Foley, Scott Thompson, Bruce McCulloch and Kevin McDonald. The half-hours will debut on CBC in 2010.