Kenny Lucas and Keith Lucas (born September 13, 1985), collectively referred to as The Lucas Brothers, are American identical twin brothers who work together as writers, filmmakers, producers, actors, and comedians. They co-wrote and co-produced ''

Judas and the Black Messiah Judas Iscariot (; ; died AD) was, according to Christianity's four canonical gospels, one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. Judas betrayed Jesus to the Sanhedrin in the Garden of Gethsemane, in exchange for thirty pieces of s ...

'' (2021), for which they were nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award (also known as an Oscar) for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best ...

and the

Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay The Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay is one of the three film writing awards given by the Writers Guild of America. Woody Allen holds the record for most wins and nominations for the award, with five wins out of twenty ...

; they won the Paul Selvin Award and the

NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture This article lists the winners and nominees for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture. The award was first presented in 2008. Winners and nominees For each year in the tables below, the winner is listed first and highlig ...

. The film itself was nominated for six Academy Awards, including the

Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards (also known as Oscars) presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film a ...

Early lives

The Lucas Brothers were born and raised in Newark,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. They also spent some time in High Point,

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. They moved to

Irvington, New Jersey Irvington is a Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 61,176, an increase of 7,250 (+13.4%) from the 2010 Uni ...

and both graduated from Irvington High School.Kuperinsky, Amy
"The Lucas Brothers wrote ''Judas and the Black Messiah.'' The N.J. duo is just getting started."
NJ Advance Media for

NJ.com NJ.com is a digital news content provider and website in New Jersey owned by Advance Publications. According to ''The New York Times'' in 2012, it was the largest provider of digital news in the state at the time. In 2018, comScore reports that ...

, April 19, 2021. Accessed March 11, 2022. "When they were growing up in Newark, Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were pillars of the school curriculum.... They later moved to Irvington with their mother, but attended several different high schools — High Point Central, Newark’s St. Benedict’s and Science High — before graduating from Irvington High.... The desire for a reliable income was part of what drove him to the idea of becoming a lawyer (the Lucas Brothers had studied philosophy at TCNJ before graduating in 2007)." The brothers both graduated with honors from

the College of New Jersey The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) is a public university in Ewing Township, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. Established in 1855 as the New Jersey State Normal School, TCNJ was the first normal school, ...

in 2007 with degrees in philosophy. Kenny attended

New York University School of Law The New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it was the first law school established in New York City and is the oldest survivin ...

and Keith attended

Duke University School of Law The Duke University School of Law is the law school of Duke University, a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. One of Duke's 10 schools and colleges, the School of Law is a constituent academic unit that began in 1868 as the ...

until the final week of their third year of law school, when they dropped out to pursue stand-up comedy full-time. The Lucas Bros were inducted into

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

honors society as alumni members by

The College of New Jersey The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) is a public university in Ewing Township, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. Established in 1855 as the New Jersey State Normal School, TCNJ was the first normal school, ...

in 2022.

Career

They made their late-night debut on ''

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show was the third installment of the '' Late Night'' franchise. Hosted by Jimmy Fallon,

'' in 2012, and have appeared as guests multiple times after. The duo created the animated series '' Lucas Bros. Moving Co.''. They starred in truTV's series ''

Friends of the People ''Friends of the People'' is an American sketch comedy television series. It was slated to premiere on TruTV in summer 2014, but was pushed to October 28, 2014, as part of the network's shift in their programming direction. Many of the cast me ...

''. They appeared in the feature film ''

22 Jump Street ''22 Jump Street'' is a 2014 American adult buddy cop action comedy film directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, written by Jonah Hill, Michael Bacall, Oren Uziel and Rodney Rothman and produced by and starring Hill and Channing T ...

'' (2014). In July 2014, they made ''Variety'' magazine's "Ten Comics to Watch in 2014" list. The brothers also appeared in episodes of the highly acclaimed Fox TV series '' The Grinder'' in 2016 and have played themselves in the Netflix series ''

Lady Dynamite ''Lady Dynamite'' is an American comedy television series starring Maria Bamford, and is loosely based on her life. It was created by Pam Brady and Mitch Hurwitz, on Netflix. The twelve-episode first season was released in its entirety on May ...

''. The Lucas Brothers released their first comedy special, ''On Drugs'', on Netflix in April 2017. ''

Paste Paste is a term for any very thick viscous fluid. It may refer to: Science and technology * Adhesive or paste ** Wallpaper paste ** Wheatpaste, a liquid adhesive made from vegetable starch and water * Paste (rheology), a substance that behaves as ...

'' ranked it as the 9th best comedy special of 2017. They have additionally provided content for Fox and the associated YouTube channel

Animation Domination High-Def Animation Domination High-Def (also called Animation Domination HD, Fox ADHD, and ADHD) was a late-night programming block broadcast by Fox. Originally premiering on July 21, 2013 as a spin-off of ''Animation Domination'', the block originally ...

including the short-form web-series ''OG Sherlock Kush'' starring

Peter Serafinowicz Peter Szymon Serafinowicz ( ; born 10 July 1972) is an English actor, comedian, director and screenwriter. His film roles include the voice of Darth Maul in '' Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace'' (1999), Pete in '' Shaun of the Dead' ...

and

Rich Fulcher Richard Fulcher (born November 18, 1963) is an American comedian, actor and author. He played Bob Fossil and other characters in the British comedy series ''The Mighty Boosh'', and Edward Sheath in the American series ''Jon Benjamin Has a Van''. ...

. More recently, the Lucas Brothers co-wrote and co-produced ''

'' (2021), the biopic of

Fred Hampton Fredrick Allen Hampton Sr. (August 30, 1948 – December 4, 1969) was an American activist and revolutionary socialist. He came to prominence in his late teens and early 20s in Chicago as deputy chairman of the national Black Panther Party and c ...

, which was co-written, along with Will Berson, and directed by

Shaka King Shaka King (born March 7, 1980) is an American film director, screenwriter, and film producer. He is best known for directing and co-writing the 2021 biopic '' Judas and the Black Messiah''. Biography An only child, King was born on March 7, ...

. For their contributions, the Lucas Brothers received nominations for the

and the

. They won the Paul Selvin Award and the

. They are also developing a comedy project with

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller Philip Anderson Lord (born July 12, 1975) and Christopher Robert Miller (born September 23, 1975) are an American filmmaking and acting duo. Their films are known for subversion of genre and detailed visual sensation, spanning various styles of ...

, who directed ''22 Jump Street''. In addition, they are set to write and star in a semi-autobiographical film to be produced by

Judd Apatow Judd Apatow (; born December 6, 1967) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and comedian known for his work in comedy films. Apatow is the founder of Apatow Productions, through which he wrote, produced, and directed his films ''The 4 ...

. They are paid regulars at the

Comedy Cellar The Comedy Cellar is a comedy club in Manhattan where many top New York City comedians perform; it is sometimes referred to as the "Harvard of comedy clubs". Operations It was founded in 1982 by then-stand-up comedian, and current televisio ...

Filmography

Actors

Writers

References

External links

Official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lucas, Kenny and Keith 1985 births Living people African-American male actors African-American stand-up comedians American stand-up comedians American twin actors African-American male comedians American male comedians American television writers American male television writers Irvington High School (New Jersey) alumni Entertainers from Irvington, New Jersey Comedians from Newark, New Jersey People from High Point, North Carolina Duke University School of Law alumni New York University School of Law alumni Screenwriters from New Jersey Screenwriters from North Carolina Identical twin male actors 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people Comedians from North Carolina Writers from Newark, New Jersey