Troy Shantz
The stars from hit TV show Kenny vs. Spenny are taking their act to the stage in Sarnia this week.
Comedians and reality TV show personalities Kenny Hotz and Spencer ‘Spenny’ Rice are performing at the Station Music Hall on Jan. 26, to give audiences a taste of their unique and sometimes outrageous brand of humour.
Kenny and Spenny first made themselves known in the early 2000s, when they created and starred in “Kenny vs. Spenny,” a reality TV show that pitted the two against each other in hilarious and at times disgusting challenges.
The challenges ranged anywhere from “who can dance the longest,” to “who can break the most laws.” And the loser of the challenges was forced to compete in a public humiliation, often on a busy street corner.
After six seasons, the show wrapped in 2010, but they’ve since adapted their ridiculous love-hate relationship into a live comedy act, that they’ve toured around Canada since 2014.
“It keeps evolving into something different because there’s no aspect of scripting what we do or what we’ve ever done,” Spenny told The Journal. “It’s essentially really us trying to prove to the audience that the other guy is an idiot and try to win them over - which I’m at a supreme disadvantage.”
A disadvantage because Spenny is known as the morally conscious member of the duo who makes a concerted effort to follow the rules of the challenges during the show.
But Kenny, not so much.
Spenny says the live show is a definite departure from what they did in their TV series, but their character dynamics of good guy vs. bad guy are maintained.
“By and large it’s sort of a fresh approach,” he said. “Rude, crude, honest.”
Spenny said the content has brought heckling in the past, but he welcomes it.
“It gets me angry and lets me interact with that person, and I know how to crush people because I’ve been doing this a long time,” he said. “It’s very hard for a heckler to get the best of me because whatever they say about me I’ve heard a 1000 times.”
But be warned: if the heckling goes on for too long, Spenny isn’t afraid to walk you out of the building, as he did with one fan in Montreal recently, “...which of course the crowd loved," he said. "They almost thought it was planned because it was so good.”
IF YOU GO
WHAT: Kenny vs. Spenny Live in Sarnia
WHEN: Friday, Jan. 26. Doors open at 7:30 p.m., show at 8:30 p.m.
WHERE: The Station Music Hall, 505 Campbell St.
TICKETS: $39.95 for general admission and $95.00 for VIP meet & greet.
Available at www.ticketscene.ca or at Cheeky Monkey.