CAMERON SHARP/THE LANTERNStars of the comedy troupe The Whitest Kids U Know Zach Cregger and Trevor Moore pose in their hotel room before their show at Hitchcock Hall Thursday afternoon. The troupe’s new movie, ‘Miss March,’ will be in theaters March 13.
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Director Zach Cregger and actor Trevor Moore visited Ohio State last Thursday to promote their upcoming film, “Miss March.” The New York-based sketch comedy group, The Whitest Kids U Know, performed in Hitchcock Hall.
So why the name?
“When we started the troupe back in 2000, people would always tell us that we were the whitest kids they ever saw,” Moore said. “Regrettably, the name stuck.”
Though many consider them to be the next great comedy act, Zach and Trevor are just two regular Joes trying to make it big with a smorgasbord of toilet jokes.
The show’s topics range from the assassination of President Lincoln for mocking John Wilkes Booth, to a re-interpretation of Satan as a misunderstood nice guy.
In 2007, the Independent Film Channel picked up the second season of their show, predicting the group’s future success. The third season just premiered on IFC at the prime-time 10 p.m. slot.
“IFC is a perfect match for us,” Moore said. “We have never experienced so much creative freedom.”
IFC lacks sponsors and commercials, which gives writers a greater range than they might experience at a network that has to keep advertisers happy.
“The bleep is nonexistent here,” Creggor said amid chuckles.
The performance in Hitchcock Hall featured live skits and videos, both covering the same edgy material at the TV show.
Trevor and Zach recently completed production for “Miss March,” a film they wrote, directed and starred in. With the irreverence typical of this duo, the film tells the story of a man whose girlfriend leaves him to become a playboy bunny – during his four-month coma.
According to the group’s Web site, Moore was once the youngest cartoonist in America. He started at age 12 and was published by the time he was 19. Moore left his home in Virginia at age 19 to make it in Hollywood.
“I was always obsessed with people like Weird Al Yankovic,” Moore said. “It always seemed amazing to me that more people did not take his lead.”
Both Moore and Cregger met at New York’s School of Visual Arts. After graduation, they made rounds at local NYC comedy clubs like Piano’s and Rififi’s. Their big break came when they played for a full house at the famed Times Square comedy club, Caroline’s.
“The Whitest Kids U Know” is currently in pre-production. It will focus on the group’s most well-known characters, and filming should begin sometime next year.
Maurice Arisso can be reached at [email protected].
