The Whitest Kids U' Know
The Whitest Kids U' Know is an American sketch comedy troupe best known for their television program of the same name. The group consists of Trevor Moore, Zach Cregger, Sam Brown, Timmy Williams and Darren Trumeter, though other actors occasionally appear in their sketches. They were accepted into the HBO U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in 2006 and won the award for Best Sketch Group.
History
The Whitest Kids began in 1999 when Trevor Moore, a young comedian from Charlottesville, Virginia, transferred to New York's School of Visual Arts film program. Moore previously produced a local TV sketch-comedy show in Virginia titled The Trevor Moore Show, but it was later canceled.After making the rounds at local New York City comedy clubs, he eventually met fellow SVA film student Sam Brown from Massachusetts and SVA Graphic Design student/actor Zach Cregger, from Arlington, Virginia. By chance, all three 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".
The troupe started off as an officially sanctioned club at School of Visual Arts. During the early years, WKUK included horror writer and director Jon Kovel, Oliver Lyons, Anthony Mair, singer Tina Tiongson. Timmy Williams also joined in late 2001 and was the only member at the time who did not attend SVA.
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, a famous stand-up comedy club in Times Square.
Television
In 2005, the group began working with noted comedy producer Jim Biederman. In early 2006, Biederman and the Whitest Kids sold the show to the Fuse network after the Whitest Kids won the Best Sketch Group award at the Aspen Comedy Festival. Production of the first season took place in New York City, during the summer of 2006. The first season of The Whitest Kids U' Know premiered in March 2007. It was an instant hit for Fuse, and the show was picked up for a second season immediately.However, due to what Fuse perceived as extreme comedy, the second season order came with limitations on content. The group considered walking away from the pick up order over the new content restrictions. Then former head of Fuse programming, Jennifer Caserta, left to become the General Manager of the IFC network and brought the Whitest Kids along with her to IFC. At the time, Fuse and IFC were both part of Rainbow Media. The Rainbow Media executives felt that the Whitest Kids program was more appropriate for IFC than Fuse, so they approved the switch.
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 would move to the Independent Film Channel. According to Moore, they were excited about the channel switch because it allowed for no commercial breaks, with vulgarities and obscene content uncensored. However, IFC began airing commercials during their programming on December 8, 2010, and the show was censored at certain times of day, despite promises that it would remain unedited.
Shooting for season two of the show started on August 13, 2007, and debuted on IFC on February 10, 2008.
The season one DVD was released on February 5, 2008. It was stated several times on the show that the season will be first released uncensored on DVD. However, IFC started to air uncensored episodes of season one just two 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 third season, which premiered on IFC on January 27, 2009, in the 10 pm time slot, was composed of ten 30-minute episodes as well as 20- and 15-minute episodes. Both formats played on IFC.
The fourth season premiered on June 11, 2010, on IFC, continuing with the 10/30-minute and 20/15-minute episode formats.
The fifth season premiered on April 15, 2011, and was the final season of the show. The format of 10 half-hour episodes remains, with each episode ending with a segment of The Civil War on Drugs, a full-length film starring Whitest Kids troupe members reimagining the American Civil War as a war on drugs.
Recurring characters
Abraham Lincoln – The 16th President of the United States. He is seen in the sketches "Abe Lincoln," "John Wilkes Booth," and "The Civil War on Drugs." Abraham Lincoln is played by Zach Cregger and John Wilkes Booth is played by Trevor Moore. In "Abe Lincoln" and "John Wilkes Booth", he is the victim of John Wilkes Booth's assassination attempts, though in each sketch the circumstances are quite different. In "Abe Lincoln", Lincoln disrupts a performance of Hamlet, frustrating Booth sitting in the audience, and is consequentially bashed to death. In "John Wilkes Booth" the president is victim to constant harassment by Booth, who sneaks into the theater and hits him with a variety of objects while saying Sic semper tyrannis. In "The Civil War on Drugs," Trevor Moore and Sam Brown portray activists who travel to Washington D.C. to see Abraham Lincoln and make marijuana legal, thinking the entire American Civil War was about it.Adolf Hitler – Hitler is played by Trevor Moore and appears in the sketches "Charlie Chaplin", "Little Hitler" and "Triumph of the Ill", a rap song about his desire to stop being the Führer and instead become a rapper. Hitler also makes appearances in some sketches filmed when the troupe was still part of the SVA. There are also references to Nazism and the Nazi regime.
Billy Matherson/Masterson – Billy Matherson/Masterson has appeared in multiple sketches and is depicted as a young male child. 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 and situation seems to vary from sketch to sketch. Usually, he is played by Timmy Williams. In "Dear Black People," his name is changed to Danny Matherson.
Mr. Welburn – A powerful and rich executive of a company whose purpose or product is unknown. The Boss is well known for considering unusual and violent situations as normal and not worth making a big deal out of. He appears in "Sniper Business"/"Business Battle," where he calmly explains to his employee Jenkins at his office that business is about hard work and integrity – while trying to avoid and kill a sniper hired by rival business Bergman-Sachs. He is also seen in "Asian Hooker," where he tries to coordinate and run an office meeting while chained to a bed and a screaming Vietnamese hooker. As the meeting progresses, the hooker's pimp enters and stabs her repeatedly, while Mr. Welburn continues to run the meeting to the best of his abilities, despite objections from his colleagues. Mr. Welburn reappeared in "Not Particularly Sure," claiming that he does not know what his company actually does. The character is usually played by Trevor Moore, and is characterized by his deep, official, and serious voice.
Caleb – Not strictly a recurring character, but Caleb is typically a name that has been used several times, along with the names "Brian", "Rick" and "Candice". Unlike most other characters that share a name, Caleb's character is relatively consistent. He is usually depicted as an average teenager who is always getting in some sort of trouble. He appears in "Blue Whale Dick," "Homeschool," "Walk of Shame," and "We Buy Drugs", and is mentioned in "Call of Duty," played by different Whitest Kids members each time, but most commonly Darren. His last name varies, with "Matthews", "McLaughlin", and "Carlyle" having all been used.
Candice – The most common woman's name in the sketches of this comedy troupe. Almost every time a female name is mentioned it is Candice.
Jerry Bronham – The chairman of the National Hunting Board, 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. Moore confirmed him as a recurring character in the commentary of the season one DVD.
Meredith – Much like Candice, Meredith is usually the name of a character's spouse. Whenever a character's wife is mentioned, her name is usually Meredith. Her marriage is usually troubled, or she has already been divorced, as seen in the "Office Sniper" and "Helicopter Wife" sketches.
Sasha The Fabulous – Pops in the end of several sketches in the fourth season to say her catchphrase: "Oh, Hell no!"
Satan – The Lord of Hell. His appearance varies throughout sketches. In "Demon Ouija Board," he is a disembodied booming voice who reminds Balthalthazar that the sole job of demons is to entertain. In contrast, he appears in Act 3 of "Opus Acts 1–4" as a horned humanoid who rants about people making assumptions on who he is. Satan is also mentioned several times by various Whitest characters throughout the sketches.
SuperDog – Perhaps more of a prop than a character. SuperDog has made appearances in several episodes of season three, with Sam carrying him around. SuperDog also has a cult following of humans who think of him as a god.
Films
Moore and Cregger wrote, directed and starred in the 2009 comedy film Miss March.In 2012, Moore wrote on his website that a true Whitest Kids U' Know movie was planned, and that the script was currently being written.
On February 11, 2017, Moore announced via Instagram that the film's script had been completed.