Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
Logo of The Spectrum
Thursday, March 28, 2024
The independent student publication of The University at Buffalo, since 1950

The return of Wednesday night weirdness

Prepare yourselves for booze, cannabis and infinite amount of phallic and anal anecdotes because Blake, Anders, Adam and the reckless Workaholics crew have finally returned.

The Comedy Central phenomenon continues its third season Jan. 16 and will pick up where the three telemarketers in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., left off.

Season three's first half featured the trio dropping acid with their boss, a taste of '90s nostalgia with a cameo by Lori Beth Denberg, over-the-pants hand jobs and the hilarious story of how the three met in college and ended up at TelAmeriCorp.

The workaholics, along with director Kyle Newacheck (who plays drug dealer Karl on the show), first hit the comedy scene in 2006 with their "Mail Order Comedy" sketch-comedy group, which toured the United States and then progressed into a viral YouTube series.

By 2011, their appearances in various comedy clubs and increased popularity landed them the opportunity to film and write a show based on their real-life antics together for Comedy Central.

Cast member Adam DeVine, who plays the raucous Adam DeMamp, considers himself a caricature of his character, as is the rest of his cast, but warns that his character probably couldn't make it in today's world.

"I think I would be dead," DeVine said. "Adam DeMamp couldn't survive in the real world because he's always chugging stuff you're not supposed to chug, jumping off things you're not supposed to jump off of and falling off things, for that matter. He lives a dangerous, rock-and-roll lifestyle."

DeVine and Anders Holm (Anders "Ders" Holmvik) held telemarketing jobs before they found their niche in comedy, according to DeVine

"That's how both Ders and I had that experience. He did political fundraising and I sold steaks over the phone," Devine said. "[I sold] steaks, steak knives, vacation packages, Time-Life books."

Last summer, the show accumulated 2 million viewers and was the highest-rated series in its timeslot. The instant recognition is comparable to winning the lottery and DeVine attributes it to the demographic that predominantly watches his show.

The group recently went viral after participating in a question and answer session known as "AmA" on social news and entertainment website Reddit, where they received and attempted to answer over 11,000 entries from Reddit users.

And while DeVine expresses that 99 percent of Workaholics fans are "rad" and offer the cast substantial amounts of their favorite strands of marijuana, the boys do get their fair share of peculiar gifts from their admirers.

"I remember a show where this girl made me cupcakes and I was like 'Oh, kick ass. Thanks for the cupcakes,' and I went home and found a lock of her hair in the cupcakes ... like she wanted me to devour her hair or something bizarro," DeVine said.

As for what's coming up, despite the sudden death of Jessie "Jet Set" Hudson, DeVine and his colleagues have written larger roles for the supporting cast of Workaholics.

The cast also has their sights set on life outside their show. DeVine recently had a self-proclaimed "medium" role in Pitch Perfect alongside Rebel Wilson and has written an action/comedy screenplay with Holm, Anderson and Newacheck, which will be produced by actor Seth Rogen (The Guilt Trip) and producer Evan Goldberg.

Workaholics will air every Wednesday night at 10 p.m. on Comedy Central.

Email: arts@ubspectrum.com


Comments


Popular









Powered by SNworks Solutions by The State News
All Content © 2024 The Spectrum