BriTANicK () is an internet sketch comedy duo from

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, 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. They attended

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

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

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

CollegeHumor Dropout, incorporated as CH Media and formerly known as CollegeHumor, is an Internet comedy company based in Los Angeles that produces content for release on its streaming service Dropout (streaming platform), Dropout as well as YouTube. Dropou ...

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 rest ...

, and

FunnyOrDie Funny or Die, Inc. is a comedy video website and 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 regular staff o ...

. BriTANicK was nominated by the

ECNY Awards The ECNY Awards (formerly the Emerging Comics of New York Awards) were created by Derrick Gordon to honor rising stars in the New York Comedy world in various genres, including sketch, stand up, improv, musical comedy acts, and video. The awar ...

as Best Sketch Comedy Group in New York in 2008 and by

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

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

Joss Whedon Joseph Hill "Joss" Whedon ( ; born June 23, 1964) is an American screenwriter, director, producer, comic book writer, and composer. He is best known as the creator of several television series: the supernatural drama ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer' ...

's adaptation of ''

Much Ado About Nothing ''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a Shakespearean comedy, 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. ...

''.

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 comedie ...

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 ...

. 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 (UCB) is an improvisational and sketch comedy group that emerged from Chicago's ImprovOlympic in 1990. The original incarnation of the group consisted of Amy Poehler, Matthew Walsh, Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, Ad ...

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. A pilot for a ''BriTANicK'' TV show was ordered by

in 2014. The pilot, which was ultimately never sold, was written by and starred the duo alongside

Natalie Palamides Natalie Palamides (born January 6, 1990) is an American actress, comedian and television writer. Career Aspiring to work at ''Saturday Night Live'', Palamides moved to Los Angeles and joined the Upright Citizens Brigade after college. She bega ...

Maya Erskine Maya Erskine (born May 7, 1987) is an American actress and writer. She is known for her roles as Maggie in '' Man Seeking Woman'', Mikki in '' Betas'', and Mizu in '' Blue Eye Samurai''. From 2019 to 2021, she starred in Hulu's original TV comed ...

, and

Jessy Hodges Jessy Hodges is an American actress. She is known for starring as Joanna in the NBC sitcom '' Indebted'' and Melanie in the VH1 drama ''Hindsight''. From 2019 to 2022, she appeared as Lindsay in the HBO dark comedy series '' Barry''. Early life ...

. In 2016, Kocher and McElhaney were hired as writers by

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

's ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

''.

Internet sketches

BriTANicK were one of the sketch comedy groups only on Cracked.com and CollegeHumor both, 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 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, we ...

''. 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 333 cities in 59 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition became ...

'', 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 333 cities in 59 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition became ...

'' "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 ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers ...

'' and ''

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

'' magazine as well as praise from

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

Stephen Fry Sir Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer. He came to prominence as a member of the comic act Fry and Laurie alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring in ''A Bit of ...

, and

Ashton Kutcher Christopher Ashton Kutcher (; born February 7, 1978) is an American actor, producer and entrepreneur. His accolades include a People's Choice Award and fifteen Teen Choice Awards, in addition to a nomination for a Screen Actors Guild Award. K ...

. 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, Comed ...

' "Best Viral Original" and the

' "Best Comedic Video". In 2022 and 2024 they performed at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

. In 2024 they directed

Demi Adejuyigbe Oluwademilade "Demi" Adejuyigbe ( ; born August 2, 1992) is a British-born American writer, comedian, and social media personality. He is best known for co-hosting the podcast '' Gilmore Guys'' and writing for the NBC comedy series ''The Good Pl ...

's performance at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Personal life

Nick Kocher married Scottish actress

Karen Gillan Karen Sheila Gillan (; born 28 November 1987) is a Scottish actress and filmmaker. She gained recognition for her work in British film and television, particularly for playing Amy Pond, a primary companion to the Eleventh Doctor in the scien ...

in May 2022 at

Castle Toward Castle Toward () is a nineteenth-century country house in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. Built in 1820 by Glasgow merchant Kirkman Finlay, it replaced the late medieval Toward Castle, formerly the ancestral home of the Clan Lamont. It was grea ...

Dunoon Dunoon (; ) is the main town on the Cowal peninsula in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is located on the western shore of the upper Firth of Clyde, to the south of the Holy Loch and to the north of Innellan. As well as forming part of the cou ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Filmography

*''

Searching for Sonny ''Searching for Sonny'' is a 2011 independent film and the feature film debut of writer/director Andrew Disney. The film released on October 22, 2011 and stars Jason Dohring as one of several people involved in a murder mystery. Plot Elliott ( Ja ...

'' (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 ''How I Met Your Mother'' (often abbreviated as ''HIMYM'') is an American sitcom created by Craig Thomas (screenwriter), Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005, to March 31, 2014, follows main char ...

'' (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. Produced by Columbia Pictures in association with Marvel En ...

'' (2014) as television eyewitness

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Britanick American comedy troupes Tisch School of the Arts alumni American comedy duos Entertainers from Atlanta American Internet celebrities Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Writers Guild of America Award winners