A group of teens have launched a new sketch comedy series online with hopes of finding themselves on prime time television today. Created in the same tradition as the grassroots launch of the 1980s Nickelodeon comedy sketch hit You Can’t Do That on Television, featuring the upcoming star Alanis Morissette, the show created by teens is quickly becoming a YouTube favorite.
“We created the show to have some fun and show off some of our comedy talent,” said 16-year-old co-founder DeVante Warren, a Dallas native and fan of Jim Carrey. “We posted a few of our silly shows on YouTube and all of a sudden we had a fan following and people were asking for more episodes.”
From the launch of the first episode a few weeks ago, the comedy troupe has create three short sketch videos, about five minutes each, with fans still asking for more.
“We never expected it to take off like this,” said 17-year-old co-founder Chase Wright, a native of Columbus, Mont. and fan of Dan Schneider. “We started posting it on other online video sites, creating fan pages on Twitter, MySpace and Facebook and before you knew it we had hundreds of fans all over the world.”
The viral comedy video has been catching on and the team is now releasing a new episode every Thursday.
Even though the videos are created, written and produced amazingly professionally by teenagers, the comedy sketches are actually relevant to viewers of all ages.
“Even though we are teenagers, we are no only trying to make our videos funny for only teens,” Warren said. “We think everyone can enjoy them and have a laugh.”
Amazingly, both Warren and Wright already have considerable comedy experience. Warren worked with Larry David on Curb Your Enthusiasm and Zoey 101, meanwhile Wright has worked on Without A Trace and several student films. Warren has also worked on his acting skills with Diane Hardin, veteran acting coach and mother of “The Office” star Melora Hardin.
The next stop for this comedy group may actually be their own starring roles prime time. After all many famous comedy series, including Saturday Night Live, got their start small and grew big through viral grassroots tactics.
“We could be the next Saturday Night Live,” Wright said. “But first, I better make sure I get good grades in my senior year of high school and stay out of detention.”
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To check out the videos online, and to become a fan of Detention Distractions, please check them out on YouTube at http://youtube.com/
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Media Contact:
Nancy Newhaus
Phone: 818-915-1743
