On the first day of SXSW 2009 at the Lake Creek Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, TX, Eric Melin interviews Trevor Moore and Zach Cregger from The Whitest Kids U’ Know on a live sketch comedy tour to promote the Fox Searchlight comedy “Miss March.” Is there a Whitest Kids U’ Know movie on the horizon? Will IFC renew the absurdist comedy troupe for a fourth season? Trevor and Zach answer these questions and talk about writing and directing “Miss March,” getting bottles thrown at them on The Whitest Kids U’ Know tour, and how cool it is that kids have to sneak into theaters to see their rated-R teen sex comedy.

Tags: 2009, alamo drafthouse, interview, miss march, SXSW, Trevor Moore, video, Whitest Kids U' Know, Zach Cregger

This is the first in a series of reports from the SXSW Film/Interactive Festival, which is still taking place in Austin, TX. Scene-Stealers hosted the Bacon-Flavored Interactive Afterparty, the Harpoon Happy Hour, and the free SenoReality screening, all of which were held at the coolest bar in town, Red 7. while we were down there. Dustin (our executive producer) and I attended several screenings and did lots of cool interviews with the directors and stars as we could. Enjoy!

Friday, March 13

Dustin and I arrived in town at 11am, and immediately went to work getting the PA and equipment together for our band, Bacon Shoe. These guys not only performed at the party Sunday night, but they flew into town Saturday morning (leaving at 6am after John played a show the night before in a different band–superstars!) to get some buzz going early by peforming what they call “street attacks.” More on that later. We got our rental car, checked into the hotel, and went straight to find a powered mixer for them to use in the SUV.

Then it was time to stand in line for an hour or so to get badges, schwag bags, and our first beer. It was in the line for the schwag that I recognized famed producer Jeff Dowd, the Coen brothers’ inspration for The Dude.I didn’t get a pic of him, but the line is in the shitty cell phone photo below.

We borrowed some PA speakers from Chris, my old friend from the Ultimate Fakebook days, who is the singer for an awesome Austin band called Schatzi on the way to the Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek location.

There we watched a live performance of the sketch comedy group The Whitest Kids U’ Know, who had been on the road for two months. The tour ended that night, coinciding with the release of “Miss March,” a comedy that was written by, directed by, and starred troupe members Zach Gregger and Trevor Moore. Online videos are a big part of why the Kids have been successful. They’ve been able to grow a loyal fanbase with online vids and through their own show, which started on Fuse, and is now a staple of IFC, the Independent Film Channel.

What really impressed me with the live material, mostly culled from the series,was how really absurd the humor was. The sketches didn’t serve as a setup for a couple one-liners. They were more conceptual than that and were extremely well thought out and plotted, even when they used potty humor, which was a lot. (Who cares as long as its done in a clever way?) These guys aren’t just dicking around onstage and improvising either. The absurdity was always taken to its most extreme level, sometimes breaking the fourth wall and getting the audience involved. It was obvious that each member had their own stamp they put on the material, probably because main authorship also comes with the added bonus of being able to play the lead part.

“Miss March” screened the night before we left town and I was busy getting ready and packing, so I missed it. Since Fox Searchlight came to them with the idea for the movie, I’m wondering if it was as clever as some of the sketches. From the looks of the trailer, I’ll bet not. It looks like they were working within a pretty familiar formula (teenage sex road comedy), but maybe they were able to do something interesting with it. Has anyone seen it? I know that they are hoping to use this as a springboard to a Whitest Kids movie eventually, so this is not the last we’ll be hearing from them in the world of film anyway.

We’ll have a video of my interview with Zach and Trevor up as soon as we can. For now, check out one of the sketches they performed at the show (only suitable for work if you have headphones!):

Next SXSW 2009 entry>>

Tags: 2009, alamo drafthouse, live, miss march, SXSW, sxsw film, sxsw interactive, The Whitest Kids U' Know, Trevor Moore, Zach Gregger

…and here I thought the ’80s teen sex comedy was dead! From the looks of it, we got one on our hands right here. This movie is written and directed by two of the stars of IFC’s sketch comedy show “The Whitest Kids U Know.”

Scene-Stealers has 75 ‘admit-two-passes for an advance screening of “Miss March.” The movie is Thursday, March 12 at 7:30pm at the Cinemark Palace on the Plaza (500 Nichols Rd. Kansas City, MO 64112). One lucky winner will be also picked at random to win a promo item prize pack (shot glasses, seduction dice, and who knows what else).

From the studio: The film tells the story of a young man (Zach Cregger) who awakens from a four-year coma to hear that his once virginal high-school sweetheart (Raquel Alessi) has since become a naked centerfold in a men’s magazine. He and his sex-crazed best friend (Trevor Moore) decide to take a cross- country road trip in order to crash a party at the magazine’s legendary headquarters and win back the girl.

The first 75 people to sign up below will get one ‘admit two’ pass in the mail, and we’ll draw one winner from those 75 for the prize pack! If you sign up, you win. Simple as that.

Good luck!

Tags: free, free advance passes, giveaway, kansas city, miss march