The Birthday Boys

Anytime a group of Ithaca College graduates get a TV show, I'm going to write about it here. The Birthday Boys debuts tonight (Friday, October 18th) at 10:30 Eastern/9:30 Central (we'll go with 2:30 Mountain since I really have no idea what time this show airs in Denver ) on IFC. Here's a description of The Birthday Boys from the IFC website.

The Birthday Boys formed their sketch group at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre Los Angeles in 2007. In addition to staging monthly sketch shows at UCB, they have performed at a number of festivals, including the Montreal Just for Laughs Festival. Their recent collaboration with Bob Odenkirk has produced a variety of live shows in L.A. and San Francisco. The group’s combined writing credits include IFC's Comedy Bang! Bang!, the MTV Movie Awards, and projects for Comedy Central, Fox, and Funny or Die. Members of the group have also appeared in The Office, Parks and Recreation, Childrens Hospital, Conan, NTSF:SD:SUV:: and Portlandia. Their most popular online work includes videos with names like "Ham Hat" and "Pooljumpers."

Bob Odenkirk, who is part of the show, introduced The Birthday Boys in this video.



The Ithaca College View also gave a really good portrait of The Birthday Boys and their Ithaca College history. (This is the first few paragraphs of the story.)

In Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, an electric red and yellow trolley car, aptly named Trolley, used special tunnels as a portal between the real world and the Neighborhood of Make-Believe.

Sketch comedy group the Birthday Boys didn’t make it so easy for Car-y, a red convertible appearing in the pilot of their eponymous new show, which premieres on the Independent Film Channel this fall. The remote-control car’s path to the (apparently far less accessible) Land of Pretend takes Car-y down traffic-heavy U.S. Route 101 in Los Angeles and into increasingly dangerous situations. But Car-y’s true journey started almost a decade ago and more than 2,500 miles away—at Ithaca College.

In the car for the wild ride are IC alumni Jefferson Dutton ’05, Dave Ferguson ’06, Mike Hanford ’05, Tim Kalpakis ’05, Mike Mitchell ’05, and Chris Van Artsdalen ’05, who, along with Matt Kowalick, make up the Birthday Boys. “Our own TV show is some­thing we’ve been working toward forever,” says Ferguson. “It’s the ultimate goal for a sketch comedy group” and a new challenge for “the boys,” who have become known in Los Angeles for live shows at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre and online for viral comedy videos.



Plus, Rob Owen of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette likes the show!

Hopefully, this show is a huge success, and The Birthday Boys can join the list of distinguished IC graduates. Go Bombers!