BriTANicK () is an internet sketch comedy duo from

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, Georgia, that consists of Brian McElhaney and Nick Kocher. McElhaney graduated from the

Atlanta International School Atlanta International School (AIS) is a private elementary, middle and high school in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. An International Baccalaureate school, it was opened in 1985. Faculty, parents and students at Atlanta International School ...

and Kocher graduated from

The Paideia School The Paideia School () is a private independent school in the Druid Hills neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia. It enrolls children ages 3 through 18. History In November 1970, when there was a rush among southern communities to open segregation aca ...

. They attended

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

together. The duo's videos have been featured on internet video sites including

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

CollegeHumor CollegeHumor is an Internet comedy company based in Los Angeles. Aside from producing content for release on YouTube, it was also a former humor website owned by InterActiveCorp ( IAC) until January 2020, when IAC withdrew funding and the websi ...

Cracked Cracked may refer to: Television * ''Cracked'' (British TV series), a 2008 British comedy-drama television series that aired on STV * ''Cracked'' (Canadian TV series), a 2013 Canadian crime drama series that aired on CBC * "Cracked", a Season 8 ( ...

Break Break or Breaks or The Break may refer to: Time off from duties * Recess (break), time in which a group of people is temporarily dismissed from its duties * Break (work), time off during a shift/recess ** Coffee break, a short mid-morning res ...

, and

FunnyOrDie Funny or Die is a comedy video website and film/television production company owned by Henry R. Muñoz III that was founded by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Mark Kvamme, and Chris Henchy in 2007. The website contained exclusive material from a re ...

. BriTANicK was nominated by the ECNY Awards as Best Sketch Comedy Group in New York in 2008 and by

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programmin ...

's inaugural Comedy Awards for best web video. In 2012, BriTANicK appeared in Joss Whedon's 2012 adaptation of ''

Much Ado About Nothing ''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' ( W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. 1387 The play ...

''.

History

Both members of the duo started performing and creating videos while they were students at

. They started officially performing as BriTANicK in 2008, when they opened for

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...

at the

SF Sketchfest SF Sketchfest, or The San Francisco Comedy Festival, is an American comedy festival founded in 2002 by Bay Area actor-comedians David Owen, Janet Varney and Cole Stratton. It takes place every January and February in a variety of Bay Area venues a ...

. Since then, they have continued to create internet sketches, as well as performing around the country. They have performed three shows at the

Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre (shorter UCB Theatre) is an American improvisational theatre company and training center founded by the Upright Citizens Brigade troupe members Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh. Prior t ...

in New York: "Begging for Approval", "The Infinity Prison", and their current monthly live show "The Monthly Mankerthon". Kocher and McElhaney perform sketch regularly at UCB as well as stand-up and improv comedy around New York City. In 2016, Kocher and McElhaney were hired as writers by

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

's ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

''.

Internet sketches

BriTANicK is one of the only featured sketch comedy groups on both Cracked.com and CollegeHumor, where they are featured regularly.. Their sketch "Pillow Talk" features ''Private Practice'''s

Chris Lowell Christopher Lowell (born October 17, 1984) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the roles of Stosh "Piz" Piznarski in the television series '' Veronica Mars'' (2006–2007), William "Dell" Parker in the television series '' Priva ...

. They have also been featured as "Kings of DotComedy" on G4's ''

Attack of the Show! ''Attack of the Show!'' (''AOTS'') is an American live television program and that aired on G4. AOTS features segments on pop culture, video games, and movies. After an initial run from 2005 to 2013 (which originally aired from 2005 until 2013 ...

''. In the spring of 2020, the duo directed three episodes of ''Making Fun with Akilah and Milana'' for

digital.

Reviews, awards and festivals

BriTANicK has been reviewed in the ''Charleston City Paper'' and ''

Time Out Chicago ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 328 cities in 58 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition beca ...

'', and was named a ''

Time Out New York ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 328 cities in 58 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition becam ...

'' "Don't Miss" critic's pick in 2009. The duo has performed in SF Sketchfest, NYC Sketchfest, Chicago Sketchfest, and Piccolo Spoleto in

Spoleto Festival USA Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina, is one of America's major performing arts festivals. It was founded in 1977 by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Gian Carlo Menotti, who sought to establish a counterpart to the Festival dei Due ...

. In 2008 they won the Seattle Sketchfest Video Contest and NY Comedy Festival's "Web Video Cram-Off". Their sketch, "Academy Award Winning Movie", resulted in coverage on the websites of the '' Huffington Post'' and ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'' magazine as well as praise from Roger Ebert, Joss Whedon,

Stephen Fry Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...

, and

Ashton Kutcher Christopher Ashton Kutcher (; born February 7, 1978) is an American actor, producer, entrepreneur, and former model. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a People's Choice Award, and nominations for two Young Artist Awards, a ...

. They were nominated for

The Comedy Awards The Comedy Awards was an annual award ceremony run by the American television network Comedy Central, honoring the best of comedy. It was held twice, in 2011 and 2012. The 2011 ceremony took place on March 26 and aired on April 10 on CMT, Comedy ...

' "Best Viral Original" and the ECNY Awards' "Best Comedic Video". In 2022 they performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Filmography

*'' Searching for Sonny'' (2011) as Calvin Knight and Gary Noble *''

'' (2013) as First and Second Watchman * ''Balls Out'' (2014) as Grant and Chance *'' How I Met Your Mother'' (2014) in the episode "Sunrise". *''

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 ''The Amazing Spider-Man 2'' (internationally titled ''The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Rise of Electro'') is a 2014 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. The film was directed by Marc Webb and produced by Avi A ...

'' (2014) as television eyewitness

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Britanick American comedy troupes New York University alumni American comedy duos People from Atlanta American Internet celebrities Year of birth missing (living people) Living people