Over the past two decades, Kenny Hotz has made a name as a comedy writer, producer, entertainer, and television star. His biggest role, though, was that of himself on Kenny vs. Spenny.
The beloved Showcase series, which ran from 2002 to 2010, featured Hotz and his roommate Spencer Rice facing off in a variety of insane and sometimes disgusting competitions from their home in Toronto.
Fans will recall ridiculously over-the-top premises like “first guy to touch the ground loses” and “who can commit the most crime?”
The challenges, ranging from physical feats to social experiments, often involved deception and sabotage, usually on Hotz’s part. To add insult to injury, each contest had a loser who was forced to perform an act of humiliation selected by the winner.
After its eight-season run concluded the equally crude and hilarious show developed a cult following and has since become a classic of reality TV.
While Hotz has found success in other projects over the years, writing for South Park, hosting a radio show, and even opening his own Toronto restaurant, the legacy of Kenny vs. Spenny endures.
Now the duo is hitting the road for their 20 Year Anniversary Tour and bringing their toxic relationship to towns across Canada.
Kenny vs. Spenny / Facebook
We spoke with Hotz about the ongoing tour and his love/hate relationship with Rice.
What is the worst part about being on the road with Spenny?
Spenny. That’s the answer.
How does making fun of him on stage compare to doing it on the show?
I don’t know if I’m just making fun of him or exposing him.
Well, actually, Spenny needs to be angry to be funny. So the idea of the show is I get the audience to hate him, which they already do. But once he realizes that they hate him, then he gets extremely angry, and I break his brain.
An angry Spenny is a funny Spenny.
It follows the same comedy dynamic as Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, Ernie and Bert. It’s this oil and water duo.
You’ve recently started a series of Kenny vs. Spenny commentary videos on your YouTube channel. Looking back on the show, have there been any moments where you felt like you went too far?
Yeah. Everything.
In fact, the commentary is — a lot of it is me regretting the stuff that I actually did in the show. Because I feel like I damaged our ability to market the series.
But you know, things were crazy back then. I was competing with Jackass and Tom Green and Family Guy. I regret doing some things and saying some things, but I’m not sure whether saying those things and doing those things was detrimental to my career or actually made it.
I’ll never know.
What was your least favourite humiliation?
One of the worst ones was when I was sitting on a toilet buck naked at like the busiest intersection in Toronto, which is probably one of the biggest intersections in the country.
And it was just so demeaning and horrible. And I was just sitting there thinking, “What have I done with my life?” even though people were giving me high fives.
It was terrible. In fact, I did everything in my power not to be humiliated. I didn’t care about the competition. Spenny thought if you win the competition, you’re the winner. I thought if you do the humiliation, you’re the loser.
What are the chances that we get another season of Kenny vs. Spenny?
Well, I think if we wait long enough, one of our fans is going to end up owning a network. So, it’s coming.
The show did so well and was such a unique international hit that Mickey Rooney came up to me once. David Bowie even saw an episode. People know the show and I think it really deserves to come back.
You know, people are like, “You’re too old” or whatever. The older we are, the funnier and more pathetic it is.
Fans of Hotz can watch old episodes of Kenny Vs. Spenny on his personal YouTube channel.
Additional content is available on his Patreon page.