The Whitest Kids U' Know
is an American sketch comedy troupe and television program of the same name. The group consists of Trevor Moore, Sam Brown, Zach Cregger, Timmy Williams and Darren Trumeter, though other actors occasionally appear in their sketches. Some of their sketches can be downloaded from their official website [1]. They were accepted into the HBO U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in 2006 and won for "Best Sketch Group" by the Jury.
The show has been renewed for a third season, [2] which began airing on IFC starting Tuesday, January 27 at 10PM PDT. [3]
The show has been renewed for a fourth season, starts filming, August 3, www.whitestkids.com
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History
The Whitest Kids began in 2000 when
Trevor Moore, a young comedian from
Virginia, transferred to New York's
School of Visual Arts film program. Having previously produced a local TV sketch-comedy show,
The Trevor Moore Show, back in Virginia, Trevor decided to start a comedy troupe with the eventual goal of replicating his earlier success on a national level.
After making the rounds at local New York City comedy clubs, he eventually met fellow SVA film student
Sam Brown [4] from
Massachusetts and SVA Graphic Design student/actor Zach Cregger, also from Virginia. By chance, all
three attended the school, and they also all lived in the same dormitory. According to an IFC interview, Trevor Moore says that the group's name originated during a freestyle rapping session on a subway, when one of their friends said, "You guys are the whitest kids I know."
[5]
Much of The Whitest Kids U Know' early history was spent as an officially sanctioned club at
School of Visual Arts, which meant they had to accept, more or less, any SVA student that wanted to join. During the early years WKUK included Jon Kovel, Oliver Lyons, Anthony Edwards, and Tina Tiongson.
Timmy Williams also joined in late 2001 and was the only member at the time who didn't attend SVA. Unofficially, however, the core trio of Moore, Brown and Cregger tried to keep the group as lean as possible. At its peak, the group had ten members, but almost all sketches were written by one of these three.
The Whitest Kids U' Know held near-monthly free shows at SVA's amphitheater, which would frequently fill to capacity. Finally, in 2003, as Moore approached graduation, the group separated officially from the school, and all but Moore, Brown, Cregger and Williams left the troupe. Darren Trumeter, an actor and filmmaker who had worked previously with Cregger, was then added that same year.
Starting in 2003, the reinvented troupe started touring the various comedy venues in New York City, concluding in early 2005 with a well-attended show at
Caroline's, the famous club in Times Square. The group still regularly performs at Pianos in the Lower East Side and Rififi's in the East Village.
Film and television
In 2007, the Whitest Kids got a deal with the cable network
Fuse TV for a half-hour sketch comedy show.
On
July 12,
2007, Trevor Moore posted a message on the Whitest Kids U'Know's official website stating that the second season of the
Whitest Kids
TV show will move to the
Independent Film Channel (IFC). According to Moore, they were excited about the channel switch because this allows for no commercial breaks, vulgarities and obscene content uncensored and "If you get the FUSE network - odds are you get IFC. So everyone who already watches the show, still can!"
[6].
Shooting for season two of the show started on August 13, 2007, and debuted on IFC on February 10, 2008.
Season One DVD was released on February 5, 2008. It was stated several times in the show that the season will be the first to be released uncensored on DVD. However,
IFC started to air uncensored episodes of Season One, just 2 months before the DVD release.
The tenth episode of season two was broadcast live on IFC. The sketches performed on stage were based on their stage shows.
The most recent third season, which premiered on IFC on January 27, 2009 in the 10PM timeslot was comprised of 20 episodes each running for 15 minutes an episode.
Season 4 is already being shot and will probably air somewhere around early 2010
Trevor and Zach recently completed production for their film
Miss March
, which they both wrote and directed and in which they both starred. It was met with extremely negative reviews and a poor box office performance.
International broadcasts
- Super Channel - Canada
- NRK3 - Norway
- ZTV - Sweden
- Virgin 17 - France
- Five USA - United Kingdom
Recurring characters
Certain characters with similar traits are used in sketches every now and then.
Jerry Bronham
- A hunter seen in the sketches "Sexy Fawn", "I Don't Know Bob", and "Point/Counterpoint", played by
Trevor Moore. He is incredibly tasteless, promoting things such as baby skull seeking bullets and making jokes about his best friend's death. He is not above killing innocent people, and has even killed a baby before (though by accident). Moore confirmed him as a recurring character in the commentary of the season 1 DVD.
Satan
- The Lord of Hell. His appearance varies depending on the different Whitest Kids sketches. In "Demon
Ouija Board", he is a disembodied booming voice, who reminds Balthalthazar that the purpose of Hell is to entertain. In contrast, his appearance in "Opus" is a horned humanoid who makes unprecedented rants against people who make assumptions of what the Devil is. Satan is also mentioned several times by various Whitest characters throughout the sketches.
Abraham Lincoln
- The 16th President of the United States, seen in the sketches "Abe Lincoln" and "John Wilkes Booth". Abraham Lincoln is played by Zach Cregger and John Wilkes Booth is played by Trevor Moore. In both of these, he is the victim of
John Wilkes Booth's assassination attempts, though in each sketch the circumstances are quite different. "John Wilkes Booth" shows him as an upset victim of Booth's harassment, while in "Abe Lincoln" he severely annoys and harasses Booth until Booth kills him out of anger.
The Boss
- A powerful and rich executive of a company whose purpose or product is unknown, The Boss is well known for considering extremely strange and violent situations as normal and not worth making a big deal out of. In "Sniper Business"/"Business Battle", he explains to an employee at his office that business is about hard work and integrity, while trying to kill a sniper hired by a rival business. The Boss is also seen in "Asian Hooker", where he tries to coordinate and run an office meeting while wearing a BDSM leather harness while holding a chain attached to a bed which contains a struggling and screaming Asian hooker who is handcuffed to the bed frame. As the meeting progresses, the hooker's pimp enters and stabs her repeatedly, while The Boss continues to run the meeting to the best of his abilities, despite his peers shock and horror at the situation. The Boss reappeared in "Not Particularly Sure", claiming that he does not know what his company actually does. The Boss is played by
Trevor Moore, and is characterized by his deep, official and serious voice.
Billy Matherson
- Billy Matherson has appeared in multiple sketches and is a young male child (according to the show). He has appeared in the sketches "Irresponsible Television", "Genie", and a few others. Not much can be said about Billy Matherson himself as his character seems to vary from sketch to sketch.
Album
On September 12, 2005, The Whitest Kids U'Know released their
self-titled album, with 12 tracks of songs and skits, including some which hadn't been featured on the television show. The Album is available from independent label What Are Records?.
References
- The Whitest Kids U'Know
- IFC expands lineup, renews 'Whitest Kids'
- IFC Whitest Kids Site
- DeBartolo, Dick; ''MAD'' magazine #468; February 2008; Page 26.
- The Whitest Kids U'Know on "The Whitest Kids U'Know"
- Whitest Kids U Know » Blog Archive » BIG NEWS: WHITEST KIDS MOVE TO IFC!!!