‘Saturday Night Live’ Adds Online Comedy Duo BriTANicK To Its Writing Staff

Ahead of its season premiere on Oct. 1, storied comedy franchise Saturday Night Live has reportedly hired seven new writers — two of whom rose to prominence within the online video community. BriTANicK, a comedy duo comprising Nick Kocher and Brian McElhaney — whose videos have racked up millions of views on YouTube, CollegeHumor, and Cracked — will serve as writers on SNL’s 42nd season, Splitsider reports.

The duo, who have been making videos since 2008 and who created a TV pilot for Comedy Central in 2014, are also regular live performers and have appeared on How I Met Your Mother as well as served as writers for It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia. Kocher and McElhaney both hail from Atlanta and began performing together during college at NYU.

Other new writers reportedly tapped for SNL‘s 42nd season include: Joanna Bradley, Anna Dreen, and Kristen Bartlett of the Upright Citizens Brigade, Zack Bornstein of Jimmy Kimmel Live, and Julio Torres of The Chris Gethard Show, according to Splitsider.

This isn’t the first time that SNL has mined the Internet in order to snatch up new talent. In 2013, for instance, the show tapped five new cast members and writers with web ties for its 39th season, including Beck Bennett and Kyle Mooney of the YouTube sketch channel GoodNeighborStuff. And in 2014, SNL hired Sasheer Zamata, who had starred in a handful of videos for online comedy network Above Average (which is owned by SNL creator and producer Lorne Michaels) as well as several web series of her own creation.

BriTANicK’s addition to the SNL team arrives on the heels of a substantial shakeup at the show. Three new players — including former SNL writer Mikey Day, Maya & Marty head writer Alex Moffat, and America’s Got Talent finalist Melissa Villasenor — were named as featured cast members earlier this week. They will replace Taran Killam, Jay Pharoah, and Jon Rudnitsky, whose contracts were not renewed.