The Whitest Kids U' Know

''The Whitest Kids U' Know'' (''WKUK'') is an American sketch comedy television series starring the comedy troupe of the same name. The group consists of Trevor Moore, Zach Cregger, Sam Brown, Timmy Williams and Darren Trumeter. The series ran from 2007 to 2011, originally airing on Fuse before moving to then-sister network IFC.

Formation

The Whitest Kids began in 1999 when Trevor Moore, a young comedian from Charlottesville, Virginia, moved to New York to attend the School of Visual Arts film program. Moore had previously been commissioned by a local PAX Network in his hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia to produce his own public access show titled ''The Trevor Moore Show'' which aired from 1997 to 1999''.''

Whilst performing at local New York City comedy clubs, future ''WKUK'' member Sam Brown, from Massachusetts, introduced himself to Moore after a show. The two later found out that they both attended SVA and lived in the same student housing, the Hotel St. George.

The two then met graphic design student Zach Cregger, from Arlington, Virginia, who also lived in their student housing. He became the third member of the troupe. Other early members included Jon Kovel, Oliver Lyons, Jordan Cooper, Anthony Mair, and Tina Tiongson. Moore said the group's name originated during a freestyle rapping session on a subway when they were called "the whitest kids I know" by one of their friends.

On September 11, 2001, Moore, Brown and Cregger met Timmy Williams in a Hotel St. George student accommodation while attempting to observe the twin towers during the 9/11 attacks.

Cregger later introduced Darren Trumeter, an actor and filmmaker who he had worked with on a student project, to the troupe.

''The Whitest Kids U' Know'' held monthly shows at SVA's amphitheater, which would frequently fill to capacity. In 2003, as Moore approached graduation, the group separated officially from the school and was reduced to its core 5 members.

Beginning in 2003, ''The Whitest Kids U' Know'' started touring comedy venues in New York City, concluding in early 2005 with a show at Caroline's, a stand-up comedy club in Times Square. They held a regular spot at Pianos before Fuse network picked up a television series from the group.

Television

In 2005, the group began working with comedy producer Jim Biederman. In early 2006, Biederman and ''WKUK'' sold a self-titled sketch show to the Fuse network after the group 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 and premiered in March 2007. The show was a success and was picked up for a second season.

However, due to what Fuse perceived as extreme comedy, the second season order came with limitations on content. The group considered walking away due to the new content restrictions, however, head of Fuse programming Jennifer Caserta left to become the General Manager of the Independent Film Channel (IFC) and brought the show along with her to the network. At the time, Fuse and IFC were both part of Rainbow Media. On July 12, 2007, Moore posted a message on ''WKUK'''s official website announcing that the second season of the show would move to IFC. According to Moore, they were excited about the channel switch because it allowed for no commercial breaks, with vulgarities and obscene content uncensored. IFC later began airing commercials during their programming on December 8, 2010, and the show was censored at certain times of day, despite initial 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 was going to 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. Trevor Moore stated the live episode was a response to the season being one episode short.

The third season premiered on IFC on January 27, 2009 in the 10 p.m. time slot and was composed of ten 30-minute episodes as well as twenty 15-minute episodes. Both formats aired on the network.

The fourth season premiered on June 11, 2010, on IFC, continuing with the ten 30-minute and twenty 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 ''The Whitest Kids U' Know'' troupe members reimagining the American Civil War as a war on drugs.Whitest Kids U' Know are back on IFC April 15
Moore later revealed that the feature-length version of the film would be released on Amazon with a commentary by him and the rest of the troupe.

Return

On May 6, 2020, Moore started a short-lived internet series during the COVID-19 pandemic titled ''Trevor Moore's Quarantine Show'', uploaded to a newly-created YouTube channel called OfficialWKUK. Moore, Brown, Cregger, Trumeter, and Williams began uploading posting content more frequently to the channel, including high definition uploads video of their sketches from the show. They would also upload a ''Dungeons & Dragons'' campaign entitled "Buckerson and Meyers" where they humorously attempt to complete the campaign laid out by Williams.

On September 5, 2020, the group started live streaming on Twitch with weekly scheduled shows with no permanent timeslots:

* ''Collective Souls'' – Cregger plays '' Dark Souls III'', where he attempts to achieve a "No Death Run" and occasionally takes calls from fans or other members of the group during play. On December 29, 2020, Cregger successfully achieved a no death run of Demon's Souls.
* ''Timmy Plays Animal Crossing'' – Williams plays '' Animal Crossing: New Horizons''.
* ''Sam's Show For Depressed Losers'' – Brown hosts the show with no particular topic or plan in-mind, occasionally streaming with Trumeter or viewers that call-in through Discord.
* ''Sexy Socks'' – Originally titled ''Sexy Stocks'', Trumeter and Brown discuss the stock market and converse with the Twitch chat room.
* ''Zucchini Boyz'' – Williams cooks from recipes, live, usually taking requests from the Twitch chat room.
* Newsboyz – "The flagship show" according to Moore, the show features co-hosts Moore and Cregger reading news articles and discussing their week. Moore and Cregger spend the week avoiding news in an attempt to give more realistic takes while on the show. They refer to the show as "the best show on the network," much to the chagrin of the rest of the troupe.
* Self Suck Saturday – The most popular show on the Twitch channel, the stream consists of the entire troupe watching sketches from their IFC television show, conversation with chat, and viewing fan art.

Money raised from the YouTube and Twitch supported production of the animated film ''Mars''.

Following Moore's death on August 7, 2021, the remaining members have continued to stream occasionally.

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 being written.

On February 11, 2017, Moore announced via Instagram that the film's script had been completed.

On November 17, 2020, Cregger revealed the name of the film to be ''Mars'' and will be animated instead of live-action. Cregger also mentioned instead of being funded by a studio they preferred to raise the money themselves.

On February 16, 2021, ''The Civil War on Drugs'' was released in its entirety on Amazon. The film had been originally aired in segments in the final season of ''The Whitest Kids U' Know'' in 2011.

On August 23, 2021, Cregger, speaking of Moore's passing and the film while livestreaming, stated: "We are going to finish ''Mars''! All of Trevor's lines are recorded, he has given notes on the animatic, everything that we need to get done is done. So, the ''Mars'' that is going to be completed is the ''Mars'' that — I want everyone to know — Trevor signed off on." In September 2022, Cregger stated that the film has almost wrapped production, and that, as a result of Trevor's death, it would be the troupe's final project.

On April 17, 2024, it was announced that ''Mars'' would premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 6, 2024, with encore screenings on June 8 and 15. The film was directed by Sevan Najarian.

Album

''The Whitest Kids U' Know'' is the debut album of the New York City–based sketch comedy troupe, released in 2006.

References

External links

Official website
*


on public radio program The Sound of Young America

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitest Kids U Know, The
2007 American television series debuts
2011 American television series endings
2000s American black comedy television series
2000s American satirical television series
2000s American sketch comedy television series
2010s American black comedy television series
2010s American satirical television series
2010s American sketch comedy television series
IFC (American TV channel) original programming
Fuse (TV channel) original programming
American comedy troupes
American parodists
Parody musicians
American satirists
American satirical musicians
American comedy musical groups
Television series by Lionsgate Canada